it’s been a big week for russian / us relations, first off russian president vladimir putin compared US policies to the third reich and then my interview in russian newsweek appeared. probably not related but there might be some sort of star alignment that caused it all to happen at once. first off the quote from putin:

“Moreover, in our time, these threats are not diminishing,” he said. “They are only transforming, changing their appearance. In these new threats, as during the time of the Third Reich, are the same contempt for human life and the same claims of exceptionality and diktat in the world.”- Russian President Vladimir V. Putin

it really does warm my heart to know that bush will be gone soon, unfortunately he probably will not spent the rest of his days locked in a small jail cell somewhere. the man that actually drove me to vote for john kerry (which trust me is a big thing for this lifetime libertarian) has done more to harm us relations that any president in history … something pretty amazing for someone so stupid.

ok, on to more exciting stuff … my mention in russian newsweek.

ИОГА ИЛИ САМОУБИИСТВО
На Западе дауншифтеры появились во второи половине прошлого
века. Никаких экономических мотивов уезжать из страны у них уже
не было. Было лишь желание сменить обстановку и жить в свое
удовольствие. Встретив таких в Таиланде, сразу понимаешь, что
между русским и американским дауншифтером - пропасть.
….

if you load the link, there is a picture of me sitting on the floor in front of the yoga studio i work for too. early last month some reporters from russian newsweek stopped by the studio, they had been told that an american ex-dot com programmer could be found teaching yoga in bangkok, and wanted to interview me for an article on “downshifters”, which is some new american word (i think) for people who did what i did. my step-siter joy speaks fluent russian and provided this commentary / translation in case the pdf doesn’t make any sense to you.

It’s all about “downshifters” (the word is simply transliterated from English) and makes the contrast between Western downshifting and that more typical of Russians. Why do people go from high-powered jobs, choosing to live in, for example, Thailand? The final section has the heading “Yoga or Suicide.” The earlier part of the article focused on Russians, and this section begins by making a contrast to downshifters from the West. First they interview a tv producer who talks about people coming to Thailand for the sex (”You can do things here that would land you in prison for 20 years in the States”); the next paragraph is about a young American seeking a new religion, who speaks about the boredom of life in the States and how happy he is to be surrounded by such a rich cultural life. Then here’s the final paragraph of the article:

“A variation on that theme is eastern practice. At the end of the 90’s, Luke Cassady lived and worked 12-hour days as a programmer in Silicon Valley, and now he teaches yoga in Thailand. He’s a typical victim of western civilization who’s been saved by the East. ‘In America you’re always supposed to be calculating how much you can get on credit that month. Here I can take a nap in the middle of the day between appointments, and I live in a one-room apartment. It’s beyond me how I lived alone in a huge house in San Francisco,’ smiles the yoga teacher happily. Researchers on downshifting—and there are many in the West—say Luke has chosen the best variant of the phenomenon. The worst is famous in psychology as the Martin Eden syndrome. Simply put, suicide.” [Martin Eden is a Jack London character who struggles to find success, only to discover how it reveals the hypocrisy of society; at the peak of his worldly fame he commits suicide.]