November 18, 2020

Packed Pillows, Drug Decreases, and Teacher's Top Dollars


Packed Pillows, Drug Decreases, and Teacher's Top Dollars

“A man caught the pillow. As it later turned out, it was the driver of the Tomskoe Pivo [Beer] enterprise, and tried to hastily hide it in his car… The driver was detained.”

– A source in Tomsk region’s law enforcement, on the latest developments in the arrest of the town’s mayor: his wife threw a pillow filled with around R1.3 million (approximately $17,105) out of a window during a search of their house

Runner-Up Quotes

“Largely thanks to the measures taken, over the course of ten years the number of officially registered drug users has decreased by more than a quarter… Over the same period, the level of drug-related crime has decreased by 17 %, and the number of those who committed crimes while under the influence of drugs has decreased by 30%... A fundamentally new legal mechanism for our country has been introduced into the legislation: encouraging drug addicts to undergo treatment and rehabilitation. In the last three years alone, over 85% of students in schools, technical schools, universities – more than 6 million people in total – have passed socio-psychological testing for drug addiction.”

– Russian President Vladimir Putin on improvements in the government’s anti-drug policy

“The minimum salary for a full-time teacher is 78,000 rubles [a month] – no full-time teacher receives less than 78 thousand [rubles], this is the starting point.”

– Alexander Molotkov, head of the Moscow Department of Education and Science, on preserving the average salary for Moscow’s teachers, at a monthly minimum of R78,000 (approximately $1,026).
 
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The Life Stories collection is a nice introduction to contemporary Russian fiction: many of the 19 authors featured here have won major Russian literary prizes and/or become bestsellers. These are life-affirming stories of love, family, hope, rebirth, mystery and imagination, masterfully translated by some of the best Russian-English translators working today. The selections reassert the power of Russian literature to affect readers of all cultures in profound and lasting ways. Best of all, 100% of the profits from the sale of this book are going to benefit Russian hospice—not-for-profit care for fellow human beings who are nearing the end of their own life stories.
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