dufflebag

we did not give him the first term, the system gave him that one, we only gave him the second.

I like Ron Paul, but only when he is taking his L-Dopa.

I calculated that every dollar that oil goes down, Russia loses 22 Billion dollars a year.

Elena tells me that she is worried about economy in Russia and the banks that are collapsing. What is happening in the USA is nothing what will happen in Russia. I was a member of few marriage sites in the past. Although I have found the one ( I hope), I have seen so many people email me from Ukraine and Russia. So can it be that people think there is a disaster pending in Russia and Ukarine? The stock markets are at a 1/4 of what they were and Ukraine government is collapsing into another election.

Elena is really worried about her family, friends and some of her co workers. Many have bought too much with credit and now interest rates are going up.

Can anyone tell me their experiences?

something for mox, akdiver, navaireman to think about........

Where Are They Now?

Some insight on the Mortgage Problem; how we got their and Where they are now.

Franklin Raines wa s a Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at Fannie Mae.

Raines was forced to retire from his position with Fannie Mae when

auditing discovered severe irregulaties in Fannie Mae's accounting

activities. At the time of his departure The Wall Street Journal noted,

" Raines, who long defended the company's accounting despite mounting

evidence that it wasn't proper, issued a statement late Tuesday

conceding that "mistakes were made" and saying he would assume

responsibility as he had earlier promised. News reports indicate the

company was under growing pressure from regulators to shake up its

management in the wake of findings that the company's books ran afoul

of generally accepted accounting principles for four years."

Fannie Mae had to reduce its surplus by $9 billion.

Raines left with a "golden parachute valued at $240 Million in benefits.

The Government filed suit against Raines when the depth of the

accounting scandal became clear.

http://housingdoom.com/2006/12/18/fannie-charges/ .

The Government noted, "The 101 charges reveal how the individuals

improperly manipulated earnings to maximize their bonuses, while

knowingly neglecting accounting systems and internal controls,

misapplying over twenty accounting principles and misleading the

regulator and the public. The Notice explains how they submitted six

years of misleading and inaccurate accounting statements and inaccurate

capital reports that enabled them to grow Fannie Mae in an unsafe and

unsound manner." These charges were made in 2006. The Court ordered

Raines to return $50 Million Dollars he received in bonuses based on the

miss-stated Fannie Mae profits.

Tim Howard - Was the Chief Financial Officer of Fannie Mae. Howard "was

a strong internal proponent of using accounting strategies that would

ensure a "stable pattern of earnings" at Fannie. In everyday English -

he was cooking the books. The Government Investigation determined that,

"Chief Financial Officer, Tim Howard, failed to provide adequate

oversight to key control and reporting functions within Fannie Mae,"

On June 16, 2006, Rep. Richard Baker, R-La., asked the Justice

Department to investigate his allegations that two former Fannie Mae

executives lied to Congress in October 2004 when they denied

manipulating the mortgage-finance giant's income statement to achieve

management pay bonuses. Investigations by federal regulators and the

company's board of directors since concluded that management did

manipulate 1998 earnings to trigger bonuses. Raines and Howard resigned

under pressure in late 2004.

Howard's Golden Parachute was estimated at $20 Million!

Jim Johnson - A former executive at Lehman Brothers and who was later

forced from his position as Fannie Mae CEO. A look at the Office of

Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's May 2006 report

<http://www.ofheo.gov/media/pdf/FNMSPECIALEXAM.PDF> on mismanagement

and corruption inside Fannie Mae, and you'll see some interesting things

about Johnson. Investigators found that Fannie Mae had hidden a

substantial amount of Johnson's 1998 compensation from the public,

reporting that it was between $6 million and $7 million when it fact it

was $21 million."

Johnson is currently under investigation for taking illegal loans from

Countrywide while serving as CEO of Fannie Mae.

Johnson's Golden Parachute was estimated at $28 Million.

Where are they now?

Franklin Raines? Raines works for the Obama Campaign as Chief Economic Advisor

Tim Howard? Howard is also a Chief Economic Advisor to Obama

Jim Johnson? &n bsp;Johnson hired as a Senior Obama Finance Advisor and was

Selected to run Obama's Vice Presidential Search Committee

If Senator Obama has plans to clean up the mess, he's got the right

advisors to help. They made the mess in the first place.

Would you trust the men who tore Wall Street down to build the New Wall

Street ?

I was wit Elena in St Petersburg and we were discussing the affordability of homes in Russia. She is presently renting, but she told me it is almost impossible to purchase a flat with present Russian wages.

Has anyone helped their wives or fiancee to purchase a flat for their parents or have purchased for themselves? What are the prices like in another city.

Alfa Bank Sees Major Real Estate Drop

30 September 2008

Inflated values, the worldwide financial crisis and softening demand will cause real estate to fall to "West European levels," said Tatyana Orlova, the chief economist at Alfa Bank, in a report released Friday.

Russian real estate is extremely expensive by world standards, with the average price for 100 square meters of luxury real estate equal to 156 times per capita GDP, while West European real estate sells at 30 times per capita GDP, the report said.

"Considering that a sharp decline in worldwide real estate prices recently occurred, we are expecting a major contraction in demand and a drop in prices for the Russian real estate market," the report said.

The report also raises inflation forecasts for 2008 from 13 to 15 percent and significantly raises inflation targets for 2009. The latest government revision puts inflation at 12 percent for 2008.

and think I missed pronounced some word when I asked for some juice, because the clerk's eye opened big when I said something. It was shock, then laughter, then a smile.

Did you inadvertantly call the clerk a b!tch?

Juice= sok in Russian, sounds kind of in between the English words - soak and sock. ...... The slang form of b!tch commonly used in Russian is the word = suka, sounding like soooka. It's quite possible you were looking at your handy-dandy little translation guide and sounded it out "ah, .... ya ...ha chooooo. ah, sook...ah" And she was sitting there saying, "oh no he didn't!" Then she thought about it and realized you were sounding it out and said, "Oh. No he didn't. Ha ha ha..... stupid American."

At least with Russian you can learn to pronounce AND read Russian fairly quickly. Reading Chinese is a whole different ball of wax! It isn't that hard to even learn to read Russian letters and words and pronounce them correctly. Just remember a desire and willingness to learn are great incentives. Oh, and practice, practice, practice.

Russian is one of the "easier" languages to learn once you apply yourself. I'm by no means fluent, but it wasn't too hard to pick up enough to get arond OK.

Chinese.... easy to speak, but what's with 18,000 "common" symbols as written language? Get an alphabet already! Don't like ours? Invent one! Worked fine for the Japanese and if you want to see the easiest alphabet in the whole world, all you have to do is look at the Korean penninsula. They didn't have one so they just made one up!

haha maybe that is what happened I called her a b1tch by accident LOL!! Russian look very hard because letters are backwords and they talk like Dracula.

Do you think that it is unfair that the femocrats are attacking her value system? Is it as many have stated that the modern femocrat has destroyed the traditional values of family?

Your repeated use of the word "femocrat" tells me a lot about where you stand politically, so I doubt you'll be inclined to believe me when I say the Democrats have not been attacking Sarah Palin's "value system." In fact, I don't believe the Democrats have really focused on her much at all. Their attacks have been reserved for the top of the ticket, as it should be. In terms of "traditional values," I'm sure she has them. She's probably a great mom, and I think it took a lot of courage to make the choice to have a special needs child, especially at her age. As I've said before I think if the Palins were my neighbor I'd probably invite them over for a barbecue from time-to-time. There's a lot to like about Palin, but I don't believe she has Mayoral credentials, let alone Presidential credentials. I think she was an incredibly cynical pick that is already backfiring.

What is the difference you seen between Russian women (I assume that you were over there) and American women? I want to have a family with kids, not a dog who is treated like one.

This is a topic that has been hashed, re-hashed, and then re-hashed again and I'm sure a quick search will give you a wide range of opinions. There's a core set of cultural traits that tends to set FSU women apart, but they are not pressed out from a cookie cutter mold. What were the differences you saw while you were over there?

When I am more comfortable, I will write more about my meeting. I am just so nervous and scared after my marriage failure and I feel that information overload.

You'll get lots of support and good information here. You will find that even the granola eaters will answer your questions. Welcome.

Be honest you would be invited them to your BBQ to get some fresh Salmon and Moose Burgers. :-) I am tired of the platform of the feminist who follow Oprah and her ideals like sheep. Dr Phil and the rest who make issues of simple things to sell books and videos. Look what happened with all the Hollywood stars who support Obama. It was trendy to have problems and go to rehab. Plus Fepublican does not sound good.

Again, Mox( or anyone else who wants to answer his), I will excuse myself and rephrase the question to you then, Why are you seeking a wife from a different country? Do you think that it is unfair that the femocrats are attacking her value system? Is it as many have stated that the modern femocrat has destroyed the traditional values of family? What is the difference you seen between Russian women (I assume that you were over there) and American women? I want to have a family with kids, not a dog who is treated like one. I have to agree that I am not big fan of all of Palin's policies, but there is not one person that would agree on this board with each others policies. I feel that we have the economy and great nation, but we lack the value system to have a good family.

Where I am on my journey? Well I am in the scared sh*tless or starting phase. I see so many successes and failures. I see some amazing happy men here and I see some that have dropped off. I went through Moscow and then in a taxi half asleep to the train station then St Petersburg. It is weird, because I was nervous, suspicious, excited, amazed,very tired and mostly confused. The whole time, I was nervous, because I did not want to offend anyone or know what to do. I was using some cheap translator and think I missed pronounced some word when I asked for some juice, because the clerk's eye opened big when I said something. It was shock, then laughter, then a smile. Or when someone talks to you in Russian and you do not what they are talking about. I can understand how Dan Qualye felt like when the reporters spoke to him. Whether I am successful or not, it was an experience.

When I am more comfortable, I will write more about my meeting. I am just so nervous and scared after my marriage failure and I feel that information overload.

Bobb, can you tell what is the difference you have seen in the families of the countries you have visited. Russia, Ukraine, China, Canada, and the USA. Sounds like you had an amazing journey. I hope to see other places, but I find that you are only allowed so much vacation and that you want to see other places and you want to be with the one you care about. Bobb, you have Russian flag in your profile, but you are now going to other countries. Is Russia your preference?

Bobb and Mox, it sounds like you had quite adventure. I am curious why you seek a woman outside your nation, but yet you support femocrats and their system of what a modern woman should be. Femocrats believe in choice, but only the choice they give you is their own.

Femocrats attack Palin, but you must admit that to be able to take care 5 kids, be a governor, and still have time to do things like hunt and fish is amazing. I do not agree with her in every issue, But it is refreshing to see a lady have traditional values in the public eye.

I chellenge you two, to list what you think the values of a perfect woman should have to be a good wife and mother, then tell me why you are looking outside of your country for this lady, specifically why Russia, Ukraine and China?

Sorry, I should have introduced myself. I am 38 year divorced man and dealt with this democrat Hillary stuff. Life was great. I worked my night shifts and stuff and came home to sleep. The wife worked part time and took care of the house. when we got married , we stated that we wanted kids and such. I thought was going great until Oprah (also known as the anti christ in my house) started to change my wifes mind.

After working all night, I went to sleep, but I guess I was oppressing my wife, because instead of sleeping, i should have went out shopping. For kids, I guess that meant Shiatsu dog who I am sure was trained to keep me awake in the day.

Despite not saying anything, everything was my fault and received quotes from Dr Phil and Oprah. I finally ended my marriage and everything I wanted, never got except some sugar in my gas tank as a parting gift.

When I went online and thought of being a hermit for the rest my days, a friend of mine married a lady in a city called Magadan in Russia. I met them and I thought what a refreshing change. She dressed to go out. She want to have a family and disliked Shiatsus. He worked a similar shift as me and she understand that it is hard to sleep during the day. She packed a lunch for him instead of 7-11 food. That is when I decided to go on my journey.

I went oline and met this wonderful lady, Elena, from St Petersburg. I was amazed how things were different, in that women wore dresses and were attentive and feminie. I will go further about my relationship later.

But I was wondering when I see Palin who has a large family, loves the outdoors, will fight for her family, and still looks great after 5 kids. I thought her name must be Palinova. I hear all these Democrat fembots trying to skewer her. I am thinking that what is wrong with our lifestyle that we have to look another country for a wife. Will it get worse when Barrack/ Oprah ticket gets in. Why can't a lady be a lady."

I read some comment from a big time democrats here and yet I see them seeking a wife from another country who is more feminine and family oriented, but yet support the same system that pushes the men of this country into being Eunichs. Feminist can do what they want and state they want to give women a choice, but why do they have to rip apart a woman like Palin who chooses to have a big tradition family.

Yes, this argument makes a whole lot of sense, because American men have spent the last 8 years emulating vice president ####### Cheney. Schlumpy, bald, frightening.

And also I think most of this russian/other foreign women vs american women stuff is BS. Yeah, Russian women are very done up and look good... When they're young. By the time they're older, American women look waaay better. Easier life, more free time, less environmental problems to damage the skin, better healthcare, botox...

I've seen some damn fine looking older Russian women, some of whom are fiancee's/wives of members of this forum. I think it's difficult to say that American women look better or worse as they grow older, because genetically we're just so much more diverse than your average Caucasian. But this "easier life" you mention has a double-edge...many American women (and men) have an easier time letting themselves go as they age and settle into the comfy life. American women also seem to have lost the ability to take what they've got and make it look good, whereas RU women have never lost this art. Both RU and US men have never had this skill.

We are talking age, but what about values? I think women libers and

the democrats are attacking Palin who actuallu stands by traditional

values. Is the problem that we moved our values away from a value

system that promotes the Hillary way in which we lose our life. Women

have the right to choose their life, but the "Herd" on the view

regularly attack women who choose to stay at home and want to lead a

traditional life. We all know that Hillary Clinton keeps Bill's

testacles in a jar over the mantle. That is why he sought other way to

feel like a man.

Watching the election and was wondering who you thought was best politcians for us guys and their potential new wives. I thinking that woman like Palin will provide more traditional values like they have in Russia and Ukraine. Not some transgender like Hillary Clinton. I know quite few of the guys like Russian women like myself, but dislike Palin (who I think acts like a good ole fashion traditional Russian lady), but are big time democrats. Why is that? Why is it that we seek family values from another nation and vote non traditional value party like Democrats.