Sky High Costs

When in September 1962, President Kennedy ..... 

Putting A Man On The Moon Was Costly

...... committed the United States to sending a man to the moon before the end of the decade, he said:

Nationalism Distorts Facts

When nationalism is the primary political ethos of a government, there is always a problem with the truth ....

Indian Nationalism Morphed Into Hindu Nationalism

.... after all, what your essentially promoting is the idea that the country (especially under your leadership), is better than any other country.

Goodbye To Russia?

It appears that my (soon to be ex?) Russian readers will soon be looking at a different Internet from that which the free or Western world views.

Putin's Internet Wall* ...... Going Up Fast

This is because Russia, like China, Iran and North Korea (and possibly other authoritarian regimes elsewhere as the technology spreads), has decided that an open worldwide Internet is too dangerous to the regime, and wants to cut its citizens off from the Internet.

By Jingo - Its A RusBurger

Do you remember 'Freedom Fries' or 'American Fries'?

Freedom Fries - Jingoism At Its Finest

It was that bit of US jingoism which erupted in 2003 when the then Republican Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, Bob Ney, renamed the menu item in three Congressional cafeterias in response to France's opposition to the proposed invasion of Iraq ... an act followed by several other national restaurant chains. My how clever that looks now!! Boy who was right, and who was wrong .... needless to say that the bit of the Anglo-Saxon hubris that 'Freedom Fries' represented was very quietly dropped later, and now its "French Fries" again.

So you would think that the Russians would have learnt something from this episode .... but apparently not, if the antics in the Crimea are anything to go by. In April McDonald's closed its three fast-food outlets in the Crimea, citing 'problems with sourcing ingredients' ... yeah right! Anyway, the abandoned franchise stood empty and then rumours circulated that Burger King would take over the restaurant in Sevastopol (after the CEO of the chain's Russian operation suggested that they could step in), but this didn't happen after the US Parent stepped in.

So, the shop was taken over by a local concern, probably at war-time prices aka a steal. Now at the moment, Russian nationalism is at full tide ... so no chance the venue would retain any American feel in the name. They got their heads together and no doubt many names went through their minds 'Putin Pullets'? ..... No, too political. 'Rah Rah Raspullets'? What to serve, maybe 'Veal Orloff', Chicken Kiev? ..... or maybe Sturgeon fillets with Tartar Sauce? 

The list seemed endless but back came the Russian PR companies advice .... and up went the signs.

Paid A Pretty Rouble For This Name

RusBurger says it only uses Russian produce, such as veal, vegetables and cheese, and so won't have the ingredient problems its US rival faced .... err OK.

In the rest of Russia, Putin's supporters in the consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, have turned on the remaining McDonalds chain with the decision to temporarily shut McDonald's four restaurants in Moscow along with Russian MPs also calling for checks on other US fast-food brands, including Burger King and KFC. The actions come amid continuing rising tensions and sanctions between Russia and the West, over the crisis in Ukraine.

What's the betting that in a few years, the name RusBurger will have been dropped for something like 'Tex Burger' .... its all a storm in a McFlurry.