Good afternoon everyone who came today. I'm sorry to say, that we are at such close quarters, but hopefully happy together. Maybe it is good that in such weather we will warm each other up.
As usual, I start my speech with some statistical information. Bayda informed me today that at the present time, 2,751,636 books have been downloaded from our two sites; from The Adviser and mine. And it's continuing and that says a lot, especially in January, when in principle, many people are resting and celebrating. But, nevertheless, 57,092 books have been downloaded.So people, even when in holiday mood, aren’t forgetting to read these types books, not just detective stories, etc., etc. It tells us that it's really important, interesting and necessary for people. It makes me happy, it means that what I do and what Svetlana wrote in her book, is really appreciated by people, and that is very good.
And another statistic; another year has passed, and remember, it took five years for the number of visits to the site reached one million. That was on the 10th January 2010. The second million visits were by 10 January 2011. And in this year, 2012, we already have 4.56 million. That is, two and a half million visits in one year. And in January, from the 13th to today, another 60,000 site visits. These are very good statistics, showing that people’s interest is really growing. Not diminishing, but on the contrary, growing. Not what many would like, because, as you know, there is a lot of sabotage, blocking of many sites, etc., etc., but, nevertheless, they are not succeeding much in what they are doing, and I hope it will continue that way.
We all came here because those of us here are not indifferent to the fate of our country. And for each, in principle, for all of us, because it's for the future of people living in the country, and there can't be a country without people. Therefore, the fate of the children and of the grandchildren is being decided, perhaps even at this moment. Because, what is going to happen in the future, even the near future, depends on what will happen in the next few years.
I won’t be telling you anything new, not discovering the New World so to speak, to say that everyone is trying to pull Russia into pieces, divide it up. And, thereby turn, so to speak, into just a conglomerate of some small principalities, where each prince, well, you know in what sense I mean princes. Previously, a prince was chosen not because someone grabbed the position, or someone had more money, rather princes were elected by the people, for a specified term.
Therefore, enemies very often use a particular phenomenon; remember about Alexander Nevsky how Novgorod expelled him, then recalled him, then again banished him? Remember who read it. Even in that version of modern history. But that is not the point; case, he was a military prince, a Khan. And power was transferred to a military Khan during time of war. Therefore, during a time of peace, a secular prince ruled, one who was practiced in economic affairs. When war approached, power passed to a military prince. He was invited from the Horde, which he headed. And he came, an of course, commanded the troops protecting the same Novgorod, and not only Novgorod. So you see, how things got twisted around, that he was banished. That is, he then harboured his resentment, then came back, etc. In other words, many things are passed down, and that’s a long story.
In principle, in order to properly assess the situation; there were so many lies, so much falsehood, hitting and continuing to hit, that I’m amazed. As for any sides, on the other hand, any myth, any nonsense is presented as the ultimate truth.
As for Russia, it’s all the opposite. Just as if Kiril was here, eh? What if Cyril and Methodius hadn’t brought writing in the 14th century, eh? The Slavs should be happy, because they were worse than wild animals. And who says this - the head of the Church. Strange words for a person who should be caring, with all his heart, for the country, and for the people, etc, etc. That is, ‘worse than animals’ he called them.
Firstly, Cyril and Methodius have nothing to do with the foundation of Russian writing. They created Church Slavonic writing, and this is a different thing. It differs from the Russian alphabet. And I would like to ask, in which language were people writing then? Even in Novgorod, and in those times Novgorod a remote province, in small hamlets and villages, people wrote letters on birch bark to each other. Although this is not written about in school textbooks, etc.
Counting; we counted the crop, counted income and everything else, but as it turns out, apparently they only learned to write in the 14th century. Unfortunately, by the 14th century there were hardly any literate people left. If during the ninth tenth centuries almost every person living in the remotest wilderness, was able to read, write and count, then by the 14th century it was only the privilege of a narrow circle, mainly of priests and of the aristocracy. Was this the good progress brought by Christianity? But this is a separate conversation. It so happens however that there is a question connected with this.