Well, we've gotten a little positive Russia/US relations news this week. This is a bit: http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-12-voa37.cfm. For those of you who haven't heard, Russia has offered assistance to the US for Afghanistan.
Those of you who know my heart will know that this site really tickled my interest: http://www.kk.org/streetuse/. What fun! He calls it "How people really use technology". It is "intermediate technology" in real life. Check out the Chinese generator-mobile. A few years back, WSJ had a story about ppl building such vehicles in India as well.