Searching for winter houseplants, mysterious greenthumbs make Moscow's Botanical Garden as unique as an orchid.

Kirill Karmalov is head chef at Bocconcino.

Menza is the first in what is to be a new chain of noodle houses -- in fact, the restaurant is subtitled ""territory of noodles."" Given that it was created by the restaurateurs behind the Gi-No-Taki and Yakitoria chains, it's not surprising to discover that Menza is simple and democratic like a noodle house should be -- although the only other Moscow eatery that it can really be compared to is the Udonyasan chain, which debuted near Novoslobodskaya in September. But while at Udonyasan guests place orders at the counter and then wait for their meal to be brought out to their table, Menza has a more novel system: Customers take a seat and order by filling out a form, ticking boxes next to the dishes they want. The wait staff collect these questionnaires from diners' tables and promptly bring the food out.

In 1788, Massachusetts playwright Mercy Otis Warren took one look at the unratified U.S. Constitution and declared, ""We shall soon see this country rushing into the extremes of confusion and violence."" This, roughly, is the origin of American declinism -- and it's been downhill ever since.

There is something very strange about the way news is presented in Russia. On one hand, there is news that we are all aware of -- news of Medvedev meeting with dairy farmers, for example, or Medvedev outlawing inflation and increasing pensions.

Josef Stalin and President Vladimir Putin epitomize the type of leader who is ready to sacrifice the country's interests to maintain his power. Of course, Stalin and Putin used ideologies extensively for propagandistic purposes and for the legitimization of their personal power. But given the fact that they were concerned only about personal power, these two leaders were extremely flexible and open to the idea of changing the country's ideological course in any direction.

Health Care ReorganizationCitibank Told to Rehire 6Ministry Safe Until ElectionsLUKoil Seeks Russneft AssetNabucco's One-Year DelayNord Stream AlternativeChemezov Requests CopperGazprom to Prepare ExclavePulkovo Traffic Up 20%Inflation AcceleratingFire Near Nuclear StationNanotechnology Sales PlanFor the Record

The biggest day ever in U.S. presidential nominating contests was underway on Tuesday with Democrats Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton in a close fight and Republican John McCain aiming for a knockout blow against Mitt Romney.