John Hickey: I will bet that at least .0001 of the Russian population thinks that Stalin was a "cool guy"

Hello.

I "found" PRAVDA.Ru almost by accident. Your acknowledged goal of opening up ties/commerce, etc. with the West is excellent. Mr. Putin seems to feel the same way and is greatly admired by many people here in the U.S. Most Americans -certainly not all, but most-would welcome open and friendly relations with Russia. To that end, your PRAVDA.Ru (in English) is very positive and interesting. Two comments: 1)have you ever considered placing a few advertisements in major U.S. newspapers to let Americans know you exist? The results from even a modest campaign in NY/LA/CHI/DAL etc. might surprise you. 2) I realize you are for free and open speech. However, your Forum is virtually dominated by "fringe types", i.e. members of one anti-something (anti-everything?) group or another. If you want to give readers the impression that "Nuts rule!", just go on this way. However, the ultimate cost will be your credibility. Remember, in a society of 280 million Americans, just .0001 equals 28,000 people. Using the legendary Bell Curve, .0001 of ANYTHING will produce serious aberrations - that is the group generally dominating your Forum. I will bet that at least .0001 of the Russian population thinks that Stalin was a "cool guy" and that the Gulag was an efficient model for maximizing productivity in the workforce. I know you don’t want to "censor"...but you may want to think about "editing".

Good luck,

John Hickey Plano, Texas