Russian Cowboy Wannabes

choi

Ivan Nechepurenko, Russian Cowboys Wrangle, American Style; Aspiring cowboys with a few things to learn, and unlearn. New York Times, Jan 29, 2016.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/2 ... an-ranch-hands.html

Quote:

(a) "When asked about their [American] trainers, the Russians keep on marveling at the American’s capacity for work.

" 'We come to work and they already drive a herd somewhere. Americans are very hard-working,' said Viktor I Golanov, 37, who worked as a butcher, in a typical comment.

(b) "Last year, Russia’s agricultural exports exceeded its arms exports for the first time in decades. This year, they are expected to reach $20 billion.

(c) " 'We have a lot to learn from the Americans,' Mr [Victor] Linnik said. 'I saw how their farmers work 12 to14 hours per day. This is the basis of the nation's prosperity.

Note:
(a) "A visibly tiring but stubborn Aberdeen Angus cow sank all of her four feet in the rich black mud of central Russia, refusing to budge."

Angus cattle
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_cattle
("known as Aberdeen Angus in most parts of the world ['Angus' in US], are a breed of cattle commonly used in beef production. They were developed from cattle native to the counties of Aberdeenshire and Angus in Scotland")

(b) photo caption: "Russian cowboys spread hay for their horses at a farm in Valuets. The ranch, in the Bryansk region, 270 miles southwest of Moscow, is one of many owned by the Miratorg company."
(i) Valuets is too insignificant a place to be found in the Web.
(ii) Bryansk
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bryansk
(Its name is derived from "дъбръ", a Slavic word for "ditch," "lowland," or "dense woodland")

City of Brynask is administrative center of Bryansk Oblast (which this NYT report calls "Bryansk region."

(c) " 'I don’t like sanctions as such, but they forced the Russian government to change the paradigm and start developing domestic production,' Mr [Viktor] Linnik[, one of a pair of brothers who founded and own Miratorg company,] said.

paradigm (n; from Greek paradeiknynai to show side by side, from para- + deiknynai to show) simple definition:
"* a model or pattern for something that may be copied
* a theory or a group of ideas about how something should be done, made, or thought about"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/paradigm
(d) "This Wi-Fi-enabled ranch [at Valuets] * * * is just one islet in the Miratorg archipelago. A few thousand head of Angus graze wide fields of the Russian pasturelands"

head (n): "plural head : one of a number (as of domestic animals)"
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/head

(e) "Nevertheless, wearing ushankas, the traditional fur caps with earflaps that can be fastened at the chin, instead of Stetsons, these Russian cowboys still seem unfamiliar with the sturdy horses they have recently learned to ride."
(i) ushanka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushanka
(The word ushanka derives from ushi (у́ши), "ears" in Russian)
(ii) Stetson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stetson