It’s been a while since I’ve posted some interesting news from Russia…here’s a few articles (some of which are several weeks old)…

Rule Breakers Get Killed, U.S. Official Told
During trade negotiations, a Russian energy official told Assistant U.S. Commerce Secretary William Lash that “People that don’t understand the rules get killed” after the discussion turned to the reasons behind Russia’s decision to strip ExxonMobil of its rights to a major field in the Far East. “We asked for clarification — if he meant financial disaster — and he clarified and said, ‘No … physically killed,’” Lash told reporters Wednesday. “It’s the most surprising answer I’ve heard in over 80 countries.”
A dark and dusty peek into the Russian soul
When I went to St. Pete in 2002, our Resident Director sent us to watch a performance of Dostoevsky’s The Dream of a Ridiculous Man. Now, I don’t know about you, but when I think of “performance” I imagine that it will be held in a theatre, not some sketchy flat at the top of a run down Petersburg apartment building. The performance itself was insane…read the above article to get an idea of what we sat through…I can’t describe it any better than the author:
When we got to the theatre, I was surprised to find the old woman waiting for us. She told us we were not to go into the theatre, but that we would be going on a little field trip. With the nine other people of the audience, I and my friend followed her out of the theatre entrance and into a backstreet of Petrograd Island. It led to a dark and dingy apartment building, where, we were told, the play was to take place.
“Now don’t be surprised at anything you see here,” she warned as we abandoned the broken elevator to walk up the crooked stone steps. “All of you will get out alive.” As the old woman probably intended, her comment was more unsettling than reassuring.
We gingerly followed her as she stepped into a room that was even darker and dingier than the building’s staircase. As I passed through the Russian doors, a musty smell wafted into my nostrils and my eyes smarted from the dust in the air. When my vision had recovered, I beheld such a sight that it was necessary to rub my eyes again, this time in disbelief.
Who’s a Pirate? Russia Points Back at the U.S.
A Russian industry and product designer are asserting that the United States has been abetting intellectual-property pirates to suit its own needs, by directing copies of Russian merchandise around the world.
The complaint is not about software or music. It makes no mention of movies or video games. It is about the Kalashnikov assault rifle, the most prolific firearm ever made….
…The automatic Kalashnikov, made in a factory here, is in many ways Moscow’s Ford. It is a quintessential national product: extraordinarily successful, widespread, a name closely connected to the identity of a state.
‘Reverse air-rage’ on Russian jet
Two flight attendants have attacked a passenger in an unprecedented case of reverse air-rage, according to Russia’s leading airline. An Aeroflot spokeswoman said the incident occurred after the passenger, named as Artyom Chernopup, said the men were drunk and not doing their job.
Did Lenin die of syphilis?
For decades it was no more than a whispered rumour in the corridors of Soviet medicine but now a team of doctors claim to have proved that Lenin, communism’s greatest icon, died of syphilis.
Ilyas Akhmadov, the former Foreign Minister of the Chechen Republic, has been granted asylum in the United States
When I was a sophomore at GW, Akhmadov spoke to my “Human Rights in the Soviet/Russian Government” class. He was a truly amazing speaker. Russia has accused Akhmadov of involvement in terrorism, but an investigation by US authorities determined that Akhmadov had no connection to any terrorist activities.
Top Students Busted for Producing High Quality Speed
Chemistry students at Moscow State University (the “Harvard of Russia”) have been arrested for producing high quality amphetamines with university equipment.
Moscow Policeman Shoots Subway Passenger for Free Ride Attempt
A policeman shot a Moscow subway passenger who was trying to bring in his friend through the turnstile without a token Saturday…
Wow, and I thought the DC metro cops were tough…
Furious Putin Tells Soccer Team to Stop Chewing and Start Singing
A furious President Vladimir Putin has told Russia�s gum-chewing soccer team to kick their habit and sing their national anthem…
Georgians Project Insulting Slogans on Russian Embassy in Tbilisi
A group of Georgians have been projecting insulting messages on the facade of the Russian embassy in Georgia�s capital Tbilisi…During the night, Georgians projected anti-Russian slogans on the facade of the building, including �Georgia without Russian troops,� �Russia�s Two-Headed Eagle is a double-dealing bird,� �Take your trench coats and leave� and others. Russia responded by halting negotiations with the Georgian government.

Hmmm…I don’t get it, why are the Russians mad?

Members of the National Bolshevik Party throw a portrait of Putin out of a window



In Russian courtrooms, defendants are placed in a locked cage. This is Mikhail Khodorkovsky, the richest man in Russia.

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
Received the following in an e-mail from a fellow New Hampshire Clark volunteer…thought it was rather well written:

Women who dared
Author Unknown

The women were innocent and defenseless. And by the end of the night, they were barely alive. Forty prison guards wielding clubs and their warden’s blessing went on a rampage against the 33 helpless women wrongly convicted of “obstructing sidewalk traffic.”

It is jarring to watch Woodrow Wilson and his cronies try to persuade a psychiatrist to declare Alice Paul insane so that she could be permanently institutionalized. And it is inspiring to watch the doctor refuse. Alice Paul was strong, he said, and brave. That didn’t make her crazy. The doctor admonished the men: “Courage in women is often mistaken for insanity.”

Ladies, I think we can all take a few minutes out of our day on November 2nd and honor the sacrifices these women made by going to the local polls and casting a vote in the Presidential election (or in my case, mailing in my absentee ballot).

If you know me well, then surely you are aware of my small obsession with visiting warships. I love them. As a kid, my parents would take me to San Diego to tour the ships that were open to the public. I even convinced my National Charity League group to tour the USS Fort Fisher when we went on a day trip to San Diego (If you have no clue what NCL is, let’s just say that those girls would be more at home in a Nordstrom’s than on a deck of a naval vessel). I think they liked it, though…got to play on the amphibious assault craft and pose with the MK-38 25-mm machine gun…how is that not fun???

Hell, I should probably be in the Navy right now (I actually did consider NROTC while at GW, but never went through with it). Anyways, I dragged my mom, cousin, and aunt down to San Diego so we could check out the USS Midway, the longest serving aircraft carrier in naval history (1945-1992).

It was cool to walk around the deck of this Cold War behemoth…long, detailed history of the ship is here.

Here’s the photos I took. If you’re ever in San Diego and have a few hours to spare, I highly recommend taking a tour of the Midway.

GW finally has a facebook (It’s kind of like Friendster). Check it out at gwu.thefacebook.com. It’s growing rather quickly…

GW named “Hottest School for Political Junkies” by Newsweek:
With a campus next door to the World Bank and down the street from the White House, GW is a poli-sci major’s dream. Professors often consult for the government, which gives their classroom perspective a practical edge. The school also encourages internships at government agencies, think tanks and advocacy organizations. And for a study break, students can check out CNN’s political-affairs show “Crossfire,” which is telecast live from the campus. Another plus: the fixed-tuition plan, which keeps rates flat until graduation. You don’t need to be a policy wonk to appreciate that.

DUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I once had a professor say that GW was the only college he’s ever been to that showed CNN on all the TVs in the food court and gym…apparently other schools show sports. Sports? What the hell is that??? (Oh, and GW has a fixed tuition plan? Huh?)

One of the funniest Onion articles I’ve read lately, Online University Cracks Down on Rowdy Online Fraternity:
More serious infractions involved illegal activities. In 2002, several Alpha Sigma Sigma members were arrested for purchasing alcohol from Wine.com with falsified driver’s licenses and credit-card numbers. Then, in the spring of 2003, fraternity members hacked into the web site of rival University of Phoenix Online, erased its mascot, and placed a downloaded version on their own web site. Although no one was ever charged with the theft of the copyrighted clip art, the online fraternity was warned that further misbehavior would result in serious disciplinary action.

Hmmm…but Alpha Sigma Sigma was the GW College Dems frat! I still have my letters they gave me when I was a freshman…

In the past 12 months, this site has received over 52,000 visits. A majority of them are from people searching for information or pictures regarding Russia, but occasionally I get some visitors that are looking for some crazy stuff. Here are a few search phrases from my recent site logs…there are a ton more, but for brevity’s sake I’ll limit them to the strangest ones…(my comments are in parentheses, of course)

bagpipers palm desert
picture of woman amputees hopping around on one leg (UHHHHH…WTF?)
shrinkwrapping boats
cannibalism fotos
damn! i was hanging out in oceanside
girls in skirts (I don’t like skirts…)
church girls in skirts (And I definitely don’t like going to church)
mary bono scandals (I wish!)
i have not clue where baku azerbaijan
zoo animals that are depressed (Awwww…)
jjf93kw1gyhuzchhs zvzjvd (No clue)
2004 email address officers of japanese amusement parks
will a ice cube melt faster dr pepper or mellow yellow
duct taping children in vermont (Uhhhh…)
a picture of ozzy osborne biting a bats head off (Gross)
ice cream cake in pakistan
what kind of tourists are coming to dc (Annoying ones)
phat ass burbons and old cars on dub (WTF?)
sexy nylons from 1960s
i have a drama act and i need to learn how to talk like im from the ghetto or compton do you know where I can go? (HAHAHAHAHAHAH!)
how to pronounce guacamole (Must not have grown up in California)

Ever since I started posting about life as an Office Depot serf, I’ve received a nice amount of people looking for something related to Office Depot. A few of the searchers appear to be fellow disgruntled employees, while the rest are most likely customers. I imagine that the customers don’t enjoy my site very much since I am complaining about them…I can see them calling up corporate HQ: “There’s this girl on the internet that works for you and she writes about people like me! I saw it on my Compaq! It was on the screen thingy when I typed ‘Office Depot copies’ into my AOL! WAAAAAAAAAAAH!” So here’s the Office Depot searches:
office depot customer service california
address of office depot headquarters (Just mark the address “Hell”)
office depot customer service canon a80
office depot employee transfer
copy of the office depot rebate 4300
office depot employee
office depot shit -officedepot.com -officedepot.ca (Office Depot shit? WTF?)
office depot color coping pictures (Did you mean to search for “office depot color copying pictures?” Hmmm?)
working at office depot retail (It sucks, don’t do it)
working at office depot (…is hell)
i work at office depot email
sarcasm in customer service (Yeah, got tons of that)
office depot customer service stories (I got those riiiiight here)
office depot product protection plan (If you buy one, we get 5% commission…but we would never tell the customer that little tidbit)
office depot hell (HAHAHAHA I can’t believe someone searched for this…it’s so….perfect!)

GWU related searches:
george washington university sucks
i love gwu
gwu sucks
fake diploma from gwu
(plus a ton more on Trachtenberg…weird)

A lot of people come to my site looking for info on Lenin’s Mausoleum in Red Square…these are a few of the Lenin-related searches:
pictures lenin walking out of his mausoleum (that would be a bit hard considering HE IS DEAD)
who is buried in a glass coffin in red square
is lenin s body wax (Why don’t you ask him next time he walks out of his mausoleum?)
what part of lenin s body was preserved? (Ehhhh…)
who is buried in a glass coffin in russia

That’s all the fun search terms for today…will have more in the future!

I am the product of a Catholic School education. More specifically, I am the product of a hellish eight year long boot camp style education thanks to St. Theresa School in Palm Springs, CA.

The reason I bring this up is due to a recent conversation between myself and Katerina in which we reflected on how ridiculous our elementary/middle school was. Since I’m bored and have nothing else to write about, I’ll share some of these experiences with all of my dear readers (some of which are themselves STS alums). If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to spend eight years trapped in a Catholic School, read on…

Public humiliation is good for the soul

Students watch as one of their comrades is humiliated by a facist faculty member

Have you ever dreaded an upcoming birthday? Most kids look forward to their birthdays, yeah? Cake, ice cream, games, clowns…how could you not look forward to that? Well, mention the word “birthday” to a first grader in Sister Kathryn’s class, and it would immediately invoke an image of a rather large paddle that would come into contact with their ass for 7-8 times (One smack for each year you have spent on our good Lord’s earth). Yes, that’s right, ladies and gentlemen, my first grade teacher (A NUN!!!) would paddle you in front of the entire class ON YOUR BIRTHDAY.

An upperclassman exhorts gradeschoolers to climb faster…or else!

Obstacle courses, perhaps the ultimate form of public humiliation. How we loathed those damn obstacle courses! (Mainly because we would rather be playing handball or four square). About once a month our PE teacher would setup an obstacle course for us to run. It usually included running around the athletic field, climbing over and balancing on stuff…eh, you know, typical military setup. One day my friend was having a hard time with the monkey bars…she just didn’t have the strength to get across. After the class (minus my friend, who was still on the monkey bars) had finished the obstacle course, my teacher had us (around 40 students) line up so that we could watch my friend attempt to cross the monkey bars. She would fail again, and again, and again. Finally the teacher went up to her, grabbed her legs, and told her to start going across the monkey bars while he held her legs. Well, as you could have predicted, my friend could not make it across the monkey bars, but this time, instead of just letting go and ending up on her feet as she would have usually done, she fell face first into the sand…mmmmm playground sand…tasty.

Just a typical day in PE class…

My PE teacher also enjoyed picking on the kids that couldn’t run very fast. While we were running the obstacle course, he would pick a random student and yell “Anyone that’s behind (insert student’s name) when he/she finishes will have to run the course again!” So if you were slow, well too damn bad, because you’d have to run the course again while all your classmates watched. Got asthma? We don’t care, run it again!

Big Brother is Watching
First graders are pretty gullible – they’ll believe anything. Our teacher used to leave us alone so she could go to the office and make copies, sit around doing nothing, um, whatever it is teachers do in the office. Anyways, we had an intercom system in the classroom, and our teacher had us convinced that there was a camera behind it so she could watch our every move while she performed her tasks in the office (we were stupid first graders, alright? It made sooo much sense back then). Occasionally, the teacher would get on the intercom and yell “(Insert student’s name), I can see you! Stop fidgeting, quiet down, and get to work!” We would freeze up and be like “OH MY GOD SHE REALLY CAN SEE US!” Sometimes the principal would join in the fun…I could just imagine these two old nuns sitting in the principals office getting their kicks out of terrorizing a bunch of first graders via the school’s intercom system.

Individualism is a weakness! It MUST be eliminated! (My little brother, 3rd from right)

Justice Under God (J.U.G.)
I’m proud to say that I was involved in an incident that resulted in the establishment of a strict disciplinary system at St. Theresa School.

We had this system at STS in which you could not leave your lunch table and go off to the playground/sports fields/whatever until a teacher had checked the table for cleanliness and then dismissed the students at that table. Well, one day the teacher on duty was not satisfied with the cleanliness of ANY of the lunch tables, so she refused to allow us to go play (or, as I and my lunch table mates were in 6th grade, “hang out” and talk). We were becoming quite disgruntled…our area was CLEAN, and yet this teacher refused to dismiss us. So myself and my table mates decided to express our displeasure with the teacher by pounding our fists on the table and chanting “Let us go! LET US GO!” The teacher would ring this bell that all teachers on duty carried…the ringing bell signified that we were supposed to shut the hell up, but instead of shutting up, we just got louder. Soon enough, the other tables joined in and we had the entire student body, including the grade schoolers, pounding on the tables and screaming “Let us go!!!!!” Now, unless you ever attended Catholic School, you cannot possibly fathom what a systematic breakdown in discipline this incident presented. It was the first time I could remember when the simmering discontent finally boiled over into an all out revolt against the school authority. Hell, we even made the teacher on duty break down into tears. It was GREAT, until we saw Mr. Routon (the same teacher that held me upside down and made my friend fall face down into the sand) walking down the hall on his way to the lunch tables (I suppose they paged him at the teacher’s lounge to let him know that a small riot was underway). Oh man, once we saw Mr. R walking towards us we knew we were in for it…never seen his face so red…never heard him scream so loudly. Afterwards he took our entire class out to the basketball court and made us stand on the line so he could walk back and forth and scream in our faces like a Marine Corps Drill Sergeant.

It was all fun and games until Mr. R arrived

That week, the administration instituted a new disciplinary system called “Justice Under God.” Under this system, you could basically get detention for anything. Now that I look back on it, I’m not really certain what God had to do with this discipline system, as I’m sure he wouldn’t really mind that much if I took a shortcut across the grass, had my shirt untucked, or snuck in a few words to my friends while we were in line.

While J.U.G. set out the disciplinary measures that could be meted out to students, some teachers took it upon themselves to formulate their own.

Were your pants too low? No problem, a nun will “gently” pull them up for you.

Talking in computer class? Hope you dont mind sitting in a dark closet for awhile.

Chewing gum? Stick it on your nose and report for gum scraping duty after school.

Hell, I was even assigned detention for allegedly participating in a food fight that occurred WHILE I WAS AT HOME WITH THE FLU. I eventually proved to the teacher that I couldn’t have possibly participated in the food fight from my house, however he must have forgotten because the next day he demanded to know why I wasn’t at yesterday’s detention session…ugh.

One of the incidents I remember most clearly (because it happened to me) occured when my 7th grade class was taking a standardized test. We were on the math part of the test, and I remember that there were two sections…one had around 40 questions and the other had 10. Well, after I finished the 40 questions I went on and completed the 10 question section. Well, we weren’t supposed to…guess I wasn’t very good at reading directions…honest mistake, alright? So myself and seven other students who also messed up were ordered outside by Mr. R (are you seeing a trend here?) and told to stand completely still while facing a column. So 15 minutes goes by…the rest of the class was inside completing the section that we had already done…and then Mr. R comes outside and chews us all out for a few minutes. I don’t even remember what he said…just yelling, yelling, yelling. There was an excessive amount of yelling at that school…I remember sitting in darkened classrooms while teachers yelled at us for some ridiculous reason. Once, a teacher even picked up an empty student’s desk and threw it. Honestly, a few faculty members should have gone to anger management.

This really makes for a great learning environment…

Oh yeah, one time I yelled back at a teacher…it was great. He got all in my face yelling at me because I had said a few words to my friend sitting next to me in computer class. After he finished yelling at me, he said “DO YOU UNDERSTAND???” to which I replied “SIR, YES, SIR!” I figured, hey, if you’re going to yell at me like some drill instructor, then I’m going to answer back like an army recruit so you can see how crazy all this yelling is. Anyways, my teacher just backed away and left me alone for the rest of the period, and my classmates thought it was awesome that I yelled back at a teacher.

Students = great source of child labor

A group of students before they embark on the 8 mile walkathon to earn money for their oppressive institution of learning. (Mr. R, resident drill instructor, is at top center)

One of the valuable skills I picked up while at STS was how to be a waitress. When the church “Alter Society” (aka a group of religious old ladies) held their luncheons, we would fill in as waitresses. I hated it because a) uh, well, we were being used as free labor; and b) we had to wear skirts.

STS did a ton of fundraising. We had to sell gift wrap paper, candy, and hit up people for walkathon pledges. God, how I hated selling that stuff…I think that’s why I was such a pathetic salesperson at Office Depot…I was burnt out on a sales career by 5th grade.

After we graduated, some friends and I burnt our school uniforms over a bonfire. We were ready for that shining beacon of freedom: high school.

St. Theresa School, Class of ’96: Burn, burn, burn…

UPDATE:
I was recently informed by someone that this blog post has been circulating amongst the parents and staff of STS and causing a bit of controversy. I was surprised by this, primarily because I had written it over six years ago during one caffeine-inspired night. It received some chuckles from my friends (my primary audience at the time, before this developed into a semi-popular travel blog describing my adventures in far off places like North Korea and Chernobyl) and then promptly fell into the black hole of internet obscurity until it was discovered by a current STS parent and brought back into the limelight. From what I’ve been told, I’m not exactly in the running for a distinguished alumni award thanks to this blog post.

Now, the desert is a small place, and even though I live 2,600 miles away in our nation’s capital, the local gossip is still bound to find its way back to me. My source informed me that a staff member at the school has told other staff members and parents that this blog entry is untrue. Furthermore, the staff member also claimed that I was a “troubled” student who was involved in a lot of drama and always going home to my parents and telling them tall tales. When my source told me this, I could only laugh hysterically. Now, you are entitled to your own opinions, but not your own facts, so I’m just going to set the record straight here. Everything in this blog entry is 100% true, and I have plenty of people who will attest to this.

Now, to address the claim that I was a “troubled” student. If you don’t like me, that’s fine, but you have no right to impugn my character and spread falsehoods about me because you didn’t like a blog entry. I was in no way troubled, a drama queen, or a liar, and you know it. Dig up my school records and you will not see any disciplinary or academic problems whatsoever (except for maybe two stupid detentions that involved a majority of the class). So what was I like during my eight years at STS? Good grades, multiple Presidential Academic Fitness Awards, Top Social Studies student award for class of ‘96, member of the School Safety Patrol (yes, I was one of those dorks who wore the orange vest and tried to prevent the little kids from being run over by errant mini-vans and golf carts). Outside of STS, I played soccer and softball, was involved in National Charity League (a mother daughter organization where you perform community service and dress up and drink fancy tea) and was a flight commander in the local Civil Air Patrol squadron (an ROTC-like military organization). After STS, I attended Palm Desert High School where I made honor roll every semester and was involved in several organizations, including student government. Oh, and one of the social studies teachers at STS brought me back for a day to lecture her class on the U.S. Civil War (an interest at the time…nerdy, I know). I then went on to attend The George Washington University, where I received my BA cum laude. After GWU, I received my master’s degree from the London School of Economics, one of the top schools in the world. That is a far cry from Tijuana Tech and Whitewater U., my friends. I’ve also studied in Russia and, as you can see from this blog, traveled throughout the world. If STS can turn out such “troubled” students with these resumes, then the school should be quite proud of itself.

Lastly, go into the learning center and you will see my parent’s names on the wall of donors, in rather large letters. Donate lots of money and what do you get years down the road? Slander.

Now that this post has become so popular, I might have to put the travel writing on hold for a bit and write multiple volumes about my time in Catholic School. Eight years there gave me plenty of material, and a healthy sense of humor.

You take your car to work, I’ll take my board
Well, I’m back in the hell know as Palm Desert…was in Oceanside for a week. Accomplished quite a bit while I was down there:

- went surfing
- bought a boardbag for my surfboard
- visited the USS Midway (photos up soon)
- ate at Joe’s Crab Shack (it holds a special place in my heart) and the Old Town Cafe (best tortillas EVER)

OK, I’m ready to go back to school now.

You dont get this view with football! (Photo from Surfer magazine)

“What are you laughing at, girl?”
So, Katerina and I were on our way to my cousin’s going away party (his National Guard unit is being sent to Iraq) when we were pulled over by a sheriff’s deputy. Apparently, the deputy was not impressed with Katerina’s ability to stop at a certain location that was marked with a stop sign. I, of course, thought the situation was hilarious, and couldn’t stop laughing. So the deputy looked at me and said “What are you laughing at, girl?” Katerina assured the deputy that I was laughing at her, not him. The deputy told us that the old people in my neighborhood have been complaining about people running the stop sign and speeding (omg, seriously, I think the only thing old people do is COMPLAIN about everything…that’s all they would do at Office Supply Hell). The deputy then asked where we were headed (methinks he eyed the large vegetable platter that was sitting on my lap…good thing I had the veggies instead of the two large bottles of tequila and margarita mix). The conversation went something like this:

Deputy: “Where are you going?”

Kat: “Going away party.”

Deputy: “For who?”

Me: “My cousin.”

Deputy: “Where is he going?”

Kat: “Iraq.”

Deputy: “Business or pleasure?”

(eh, WTF?)

Kat: “Army.”

And guess what? No ticket.

My cousin was showing me all the equipment he was taking over there…damn, that stuff weighs so much…and I’m just talking about what the soldiers are wearing, not including a backpack they may be carrying and their rifle and ammo. Even the body armor is insanely heavy (and yeah, he is taking his own in case the army is slow to issue to his unit). I really couldn’t imagine walking around in the desert heat with all that gear (plus combat boots, BDUs, helmet).

Etc.
I missed the Bartolo Colon Russian stacking doll giveaway at Angel Stadium! Dammit!
Big5 has the Mosin Nagant M44 on sale this week…$79.99 (+ the $20 required by the state of CA…argh). So…tempting…