my grandfather came to ellis island, left soviet russia because of religious persecution, lard to speak english, became a citizen 14 years later. he was a peddler in brooklyn, new york, and his grandson argues cases at the supreme court of the united states. i call that american access channel -- an exceptionally slism. there is no compromise with freedom of speech. there is no compromise with our ability to petition the government for redress of grievance. with this latest decision from hhs regard to contraceptive services, and now the administration is saying they are going to compromise, can you imagine the founders saying the government can tell the catholic church what they can and cannot do. that is the exact opposite of our government. you are witnessing by the way, i think, in over a dozen cases in the supreme court, the greatest attack on religious liberty that we have seen, and this is way beyond the catholic church. this is way beyond the issues of abortion and contraception. this is the idea that the federal government can tell a religious institution for you to operate, you

i cover the former soviet union and russia. i could go on at great length about how boris yeltsin undermined democracy and became a hero democracy. lech walnsa in many ways was not the. working bloke many made him not to be. gorbachev was a visionary who came to power. he saw he needed to change the country. he used his powers to do that. he withdrew from afghanistan. he called for nuclear abolition. he worked with ronald reagan. he understood you need political solutions, not military solutions. when the soviet troops were ready to come out of the barracks so the berlin wall would not come down, he told them to stay in the barracks, the empire is going. we cannot be a country that will be one of glasnost and perestroika if we live the way we have. it is the 20th anniversary of the soviet union, the end of the soviet union. many people in russia blame him for the economic conditions in which they live. they blame him for the end of the country that many felt was the cradle to grave welfare state instead of a totalitarian system

he moved the capital to moscow and decided the cultural heart of russia would instead become an industrial center. then, in 1989, the soviet era ended. st. petersburg regained its original name. since then, russia has gone through a wrenching transition from the old communist system to the new free-market economy. the changes in this city of five million people have affected everyone. the first time i was in st. petersburg was in the late '80s, a few years before the breakup of the soviet union, and i was amazed when i landed at the airport, because as soon as i got in the terminal, i felt that i was in this completely foreign place. i was really an outsider. going back just a few years later, everything seemed to have changed. there were signs welcoming us in english, and it really seemed like st. petersburg once again was reaching out to the outside world. i think the most visible evidence of that really is in the commercial landscape of the city. i noticed in the late '80s, there just weren't goods anywhe. if you did come across anything that you needed to buy, it was probably either in a touristy state store or it was

aloneness founded russia's first company money fracturing balloons aleksandr made his first pollution in the late one nine hundred eighty s. it's lining born inscription saying the first soviet made. ballooning has gained enormous popularity in russia in the past two years this can be seen from the growing number of orders for balloons placed with our company. itself i don't think the shape of balloons or even the wicker baskets is going to change the balloons of the future for more comfort to in-flight pilots. things like better navigation smoother knobs and delicate thin cords instead of course ropes tools void getting entangled. sensors will give way to radio signals reporting temperatures inside the envelope. and all that will be mainly intended for the spectators the balloons are most likely to look like the ones built by the brothers. for a long time to come. all it had was a basket and. one tank costs full two minutes after that it should be changed should be two tanks at all times one of them an x. as you see it and the other as a backup. to . this right here is where the baskets are born these tubs are filled with water. the liquid is used to soak willow. canes are

russia's foreign ministry issued its own accord on human rights. well the us department of state the united states was criticized criticized by the soviet union by russia late later for these reports of this kind we said i remember that america's positioning itself as a judge for other country for the situation human rights so why did russia have decide to follow this example well first of all. i'm working in the in the foreign ministry of the russian federation and definitely as our minister sergey lavrov excellent people did so yesterday during his press conference on the. year two thousand and one where our foreign policy is not an ideological for enforcing and it is. very much preventing one and. that's why when we criticize we do not criticize our way the logical. for a logical reason we have we do. observe and one of the how the situation stands in the united states and some of the countries we do. i would lie on certain issues we have and we do have certain certain problems. we are and it's very important we be using ourselves not just on some conjectures will be using else fails on the assessments given by pretty much authority if international

with the nato issue so that nato no then the west is no longer pushing pushing the former soviet union point of russia in with nato expansion into its you know into its socks. i think you know basically putin has said we're on good terms right there's no big reason for for problems that can last very short question to mr similar to many people many ordinary people read this article said oh it's about the luxury tax there's going to be a special. are you concerned with on us it is necessary because we have a country who. out from the soviet union system and not to come to the new one we are in the middle and if you want to talk in wide somebody you have to say what the hell you are you make the invitation for what he said in the future in a new world all the rich people will be how it's a punish because they are not so good and you are simple people workers the collective farmers you will be together with me where will give some people that is the it's a propaganda nothing else lot of thank you thank you xan thank you letter and just to remind you that my gets on the show today were journalist and film

soviet union. chief every balloon competition in russia found he. the country's first balloon one a factoring company russia has a total of forty professional balloonists that make frequent flights. each exercise is performed within a radius of two hundred fifty meters other balloons start trailing behind the hair a minute later. before the referee tells contestants what they're supposed to do just like with passenger aircraft balloons a check for any technical folks prussia taking off alexander's wife their i shares his passion for flying she was six years old when she first saw a balloon since then her cherished dream was paying to pilot one. pricey. everyone can participate. with no matter how old you are parents are welcome to come here with children very many men bring their wives along their money but they don't come here is simply to look around who feel right they help a lot. now. says the building in competitions she recalls them a new visit wind speeds and alternative flight paths and schools them accordingly. the first balloon to go up fo

russia and the flex so much the perris of the society and the social and intellectual tendency that has existed for generations actually centuries that it's impossible to ignore. traditionally before the soviet union was created religious -- political and religious authority were fused. bizarre was the devil is starting. his tax and the axe of the government he iraq to cover present the world to be sacred. tsarist russia had had all emission in the world spread the only true religion which, of course was the rush to defend russian religion to all the neighboring countries for their own good, of course. and oddly, this mentality was not rejected by the revolutionaries who, as much as they dislike czarism did not reject the czarist mentality. for them it was simply a matter of an obligation to spread socialism instead of -- russian orthodoxy. they shared the urge to combine theory and practice. and to treat political authority as the ultimate source of authority. the point of reference around which all considerations of based. the extent to which a higher sphere, is fear of transcendent ethics capable of bequeathing some sort, or lending standards were imposing its standards, actually, on poli

captioning sponsored by annenberg/cpb narrator: the region of russia and its neighboring countries once formed most of the old soviet union, or u.s.s.r. many of these old soviet republics differ from one another on the basis of ethnicity and religion. but within the russian federation itself, there are republics that could still fragment along cultural and political lines. one of these is dagestan. dagestan's historical and economic geographies help explain opposing "centripetal" and "centrifugal" forces within russia. as a largely islamic republic adjacent to warring chechnya, dagestan now receives new scrutiny in the war on terrorism. to help explain the differences between chechnya and dagestan, we explore the relationship between diverse cultures and the physical geography of the caucasus mountains. "dagestan"-- the name means "land of mountains." part of the russian federation, dagestan lies in the caucasus mountains on russia's southern border. most people here live in small villages that are often very isolated. in the 19th century, when science still believed in distinct races, a german coined the term "cauc

paternity state and it's of course a very different society from what it was in the soviet union in that sense russia is very much like many other countries in the world and i think that putin actually in that article he acknowledges that russia is not a very fair country you know this is very sad but we have to finish this program stating that living in the first society is means living like all the others in the world thank you thank you so much for that we went out of time but it was a pleasure talking to you just a reminder that my guests were political analysts meet me by beach and sound great and that's it for now from the phone now from all of us here if you want to have your say and spotlight we have some of them on to you think i should into the next round you can always drop below spotlight will be back with more first time comments on what's going on in and outside russia until then stay on r.t. and take your.

soviet mischief making had been removed. the discrediting of social economic planning by the exposure of its disastrous consequence necessary russiand eastern europe, and the removal of soviet obstruction on the united nations and its agencies. these were, and still are, real benefits for which we should be grateful. in the euphoria, which accompanied the cold war's end, just what is church hill's private secretary called the hiatus of 1944 to 1946, we failed to notice other, less appealing consequences of the peace. like a giant refrigerator that had finally broken down after years of poor maintenance, the soviet empire in its collapse released all the ills of ethnic, social and political backwardness which it had frozen in suspended animation for so long. suddenly, border disputes between the successor states erupted into small wars in, for instance, armenia and georgia. within these new countries, the ethnic divisions aggravated by population transfer produced violence, instability, and quarrels over citizenship. the absence of the legal and customary foundations of a free economy led to a distorted robber capitalism dominated

if you're a student of this sort of thing with the soviet russia burr to the cold war, there were meetings in nova scotia with scientists in 1960. the first agreement we really have in the soviet main union that mattered was 1972 so it took 12 years so, obama spoke about these to the talks and the nuclear posture review as april, 2010. so don't expect, you know, the results by the end of the seminar. it takes a long time to exchange views and not necessarily for them to come around to our view but ultimately to be efficient if not to have a treaty but to have an understanding on a common understanding and agreement, code of conduct and rules of the road so you're not in an adversarial position we don't seek to be in the adversarial position with russia or china on any of these military issues. but i hope that this gives you an overall flavor for what was motivating. there has been finally controversy over the actual effectiveness of the systems which we can talk about. as i mentioned they can be overwhelmed, they can be defeated, they can get confused. specified in the missile defense revi

kgb files became open after the fall of the soviet union revealed russia's real fear was not of the united states but of the rearmed germany. there was no attempt to negotiate anything with russia. as stalin pointed out in 1946 the americans, negotiation meant capitulation. the cold war that the u.s. busy for decades and the so-called perimeter defense withheld any disturbance in the world was cause for u.s. military action led to the disastrous of iran, vietnam and so on. it is a long list, well-documented by the new york times reporter and overthrow, and killing hope. the psychological structure of-identity lead to a crisis when the soviet union collapsed. we had no one to define ourselves against. the gulf war of 1991 helped fill the gap for a time but the clinton years were largely meaningless without an enemy. we had no idea who we were so we filled the space with o.j. simpson and monica lewinsky. the islamic world did as the greatest favor of vegetable. attacked us. overnight terrorism replaced communism and george bush jr. like reagan in characterizing the soviet union did not hesit

russia. we want the soviets to be able to read them. and it was -- state department, i had been there. i can understand their point of view. were horrified. eisenhower said let it go. it turned out it was wonderful because we would send cables back and forth to our managers that we had put over there and said, you know, we need forklifts. we need trucks. why aren't you getting them? is it possible that the soviets don't have them? and then no answer, no answer. and then a week later -- >> forklifts. >> huh? >> go ahead. >> a week later a state department courier brings us -- we had one of the first polaroid cameras. there it was. a parade of forklifts and the soviets put on a parade. >> jason, let's look at what one of the forklifts built. so were the goals to introduce soviet citizens to daily american life or the american goods? >> no. it was that. i believe that was cruikhrushch aim. i can talk about that later. to do that so that he could take more of the -- of the defense budget and put it into consumer goods. we wanted to show them what america was, so there was a really broad pi

in the soviet union yes now in russia how how do you how different it how difficult is it you said it's fun and you said the weather the fed receipts you well but that in general everyone in the west talks about how difficult this place is to do business and if you fly in and fly out then any place in the world is difficult to do business you have to understand the culture learn the language trust people build relationships it can't be a commercial transaction it has to be relationship driven and if that happens then it's great but if you want to come here and just do business make money it's not the place for you i would buy we have to speak someone the language at least. but you do have a home in london so so i go to. i'm not sure i'm with my kids on a barge in london right now and so i fly back and forth i have an amazing team here twenty five twenty five russians that are incredible and young and i dressed as if not assume this is the office and this is the other night yeah and they're the ones that drive the business which is great so is it easy to do business here i think if you h

russia. we want the soviets to be able to read them. and state department, i understand their point of view were horrified, eye hour said let it go it turned out wonderful because we would send cab kels back and forth to our managers that we put over there and said we need forklifts, truck, is it possible the soviets don't have them, then no answer, then a week later -- >> forklifts. >> a week later a state department courier bring us, we had one of the first polaroid camera, there was a parade of forklifts, the soviets put on a parade. >> jason, let's look at what one of the forklifts built. was the goals to introduce soviet citizens to daily american life or american goods? >> it was that and i believe that was khrushchev's aim, so he could take more of the defense budget and put it in consumer goods. we wanted to show them what america was, it was a broad picture, you helped me, if i forget some of the things, the pavilion there was the fashion pavilion, we had a fashion show with little kids and grandmas and everybody, we had a mock

kgb came open after the fall of the soviet union revealed that russia's real fear was not of the united states, but for germany. there was no attempt to settle anything. negotiation actually meant failure, and in any case, the cold war kept the u.s. busy for decades and the so-called perimeter defense, holding that any disturbance in the world led to disasters, and it's a long list, well documented by the "new york times" reporter and in the book, "overthrow," for example, or in "killing hope." it's well documented. psychological structure of negative io identity led to a crisis when the soviet union collapsed and we had no one to define ourselves against. the gulf war filled the gap for a time, but the clinton years were largely meaningless without an enemy, we had no idea who we were, and we filled the space with monica lieu win ski. the islamic world did the greatest favor and attacked us. communism replaced -- terrorism replaced communism, and framed it as a war between good and evil, a crew -- crusade. there was no possible discussion of american foreign policy in the middle east p

in honor of of my grandfather who fled soviet russia and and came to brooklyn and opened up a fruit standno compromise and no apologies for america. thank you very much. [applause] ♪ >> ladies and gentlemen, please welcome die stinson. >> good morning. how are we doing? i was asked to say this. laurene from's book signing has been moved to 2:00 p.m. in line -- laura ingram's book signign has been moved to 2:00 down stairs. thank you for going to hotair.com and we are at 50 million clicks per month. before i moved to the washington area, i was living in chicago, ill., known as the land of lincoln, but these days it is better known as the land of rahm emmanuel, pat quinn, dick durbin, and barack obama. a state run by democrats. illinois has racked up unsustainable bills and despite enacting two massive tax increases, they were downgraded by moody's to the lowest state credit rating in the country. it was the worst local let go of our national downgrade under president obama. -- ti was the worst local echo. i have moved it to become a proud member of the commonwealth of virginia. under conse