Of course, I'm the fool for expecting anything more than agenda-pushing garbage.
"For many Russians, lavish spending is the antidote for financial worry" by Megan K. Stack, Los Angeles Times | October 19, 2008
MOSCOW - Call it denial. Call it bravado. Ignoring a drumbeat of dismal financial tidings, Muscovites continue to blow their petrodollars with aplomb, spending with the trademark abandon that has turned this oil and gas boomtown into a notorious hub of opulence and hedonism.
Well, hello, AmeriKa!!!
From the Ritz-Carlton hotel to the luxury boutiques of Red Square, consumers and salespeople shrugged off fears of a crisis. Tomorrow will take care of itself. As long as there's cash in hand, Russians will go ahead and buy.
That don't use plastic and pay interest like sucker Americans?
"Not every crisis will bring us down," said Oleg Uvarin, an interior designer who charges wealthy clientele upward of $800 a square foot. "Through history, rich Russians have always lived lavishly. Russia will always be in the money."
It was a cold, bleak day in the Russian capital, and Uvarin strolled the iconic GUM shopping arcades. Icy autumn rain drilled through the towering glass ceiling and dripped into puddles on the floor below. Charwomen shoved mops fruitlessly; women stepped around the water, indifferent in heels.
I love the Cold War propaganda!!! Ever see file footage of a sunny day in Russia?
Gotcha!
A hulk of commerce perched across the way from Lenin's tomb, GUM was the storied, grim epicenter of Soviet shopping. Today, its halls brim with luxury goods from around the world, clothes, jewelry, and cosmetics - prices inflated to reflect Russia's astronomical import duties. --more--"
Sounds like they are doing better than Amurkns, doesn't it?!
But WE WON the COLD WAR!!!!
