A letter to my loyal readers in Russia

TO MY RUSSIAN READERS:

Cпасибо!

I want to thank my Russian followers for their loyalty for reading my humble blog, Views From the Edge.

Once again, you have shown that my blog is interesting enough for you to seek it out. Your readership has spiked my numbers and I appreciate that. In fact, recent metrics indicate that, once again, you have outdone my readers from other countries, including those from the U.S.A. 

My blog's metrics show readers in Russia: 785 vs. readers in the U.S.: 777. Well done!

I'm still not certain why you Russians are attracted to my blog. Is there an interest in AAPI affairs? In the world of blogging, Views From the Edge is only a tiny, tiny blip with only a few hundred loyal readers every day. Other bloggers have larger and more influential audiences.

Reader metrics for Views From the Edge, Oct. 17, 2017

I only hope that as you Russian readers go through the Edge that you realize that it is only through the U.S. Constitution that I have the right to express my views even if at times, they are critical of this country and its leaders. 

RELATED: Why are Russian readers reading my blog?

From what I have read, citizens of Russia do not have that same guarantee. Some of the leading opponents of your president have been jailed or killed for expressing critical views of Vladimir Putin.

In case you haven't heard, here are just 10 of your fellow citizens  that we know of who have suffered that fate:  Boris Nemtsov, Boris Berezovsky, Stanislav Markelov and Anastasia Baburova, Sergei Magnitsky, Natalia Estemirova, Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Litvinenko, Sergei Yushenkov and Yuri Shchekochikhin.

You can read more about these Russian citizens, who died violently or in under suspicious circumstances, in this article by the Washington Post. I can't even count how many outspoken critics of Russia or Putin have been jailed or mysteriously disappeared.

I know my country is not perfect. (And since you consistently read Views From the Edge, you know that too.) There are a lot of shortcomings that the Edge points out, especially in regards to Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, the abuse of America's economic system by the wealthy elite, the health care system needs improvement to care for more of our citizens at an affordable price, the inequality and injustice that exists in some of its institutions, the privileges accorded to its white citizens ... oh, I can go on and on.

But, thank goodness that I can point out these imperfections without fear of being jailed or disappeared.

I can continue to encourage others to work towards making America a better country by living up to its ideals or bring attention to issues that the mainstream media tends to ignore.  In my little way, I like to think I can help build up the country to the values it likes to espouse instead of tearing it down.

As you report the contents of this blog to your superiors, (I hope they enjoy all the pop culture references.) Someday I would like to think that you and your countrymen will be able to speak up against inequalities that exist in your country, its foreign policy that includes interfering with the U.S. elections, how your country is fostering the racial divisions in my country and the exorbitant wealth being accumulated by Putin and his cronies.

Ordinary citizens in both of our countries, like you and me, must take a stand, speak up, vote out the crooked politicians and fight for basic human rights. At the very least, can you please tell your hackers to stop interfering with our elections? We are very capable of screwing up our own country, thank you, without the assistance of Putin's computer people.


Apparently, I can't stop Russian readers from checking in, for whatever reason. Blogspot appears to be unable to do anything to stop views from Russia.  I only hope that your hackers are not using the Edge as a way to hack other systems. That's not very nice.

 Спасибо за прочтение

Even though your readership skews my metrics, thanks for putting Views From the Edge on your reading list (I think). I hope you learn something useful about my country and its people. God bless, America! (but, not Donald Trump) and God bless Russia (but not Putin).

_______________________________________________________________________________

Why are the Russians reading this blog?

I'M NOT SO VAIN to think that this blog is so important that it could change the world. But, apparently, the Russians love my little contribution to the bubbling cauldron of babble online. On some days, Views From the Edge gets more views from Russia than any other country.

In the Big Picture, Views From the Edge barely registers a blip on the world of the Internet. Hardly anybody knows of its existence.

Originally conceived as a conversation starter with my far-flung family, especially the "next generation," the blog has evolved into something more. It is not true journalism, in the traditional sense, i.e.. objective, original content, verified. My one-man operation is too small to be able to encompass all that. Besides, in story selection and writing, my personal biases get reflected in its content (my style preference since I'm my own boss and I write the rules).

A lot of the international attention it might receive, (again, not verified) I believe, is due to the Filipino diaspora. The Philippines 'greatest export is its hard-working people and mainly due to economic and political reasons, Filipino workers in almost every field can be found around the world. 

I imagine a steward on a cruise ship, a roughneck on an oil rig in the Middle EAst, a nurse in Great Britain, a maid in Hong Kong or a nanny in France, feeling lonely for home, might Google "Filipino" and somehow this blog would appear among the listings.

Information provided by Google's blogspot shows that Russia
is more interested on Views From the Edge than Americans are. 

But it is hard to imagine hundreds of Filipinos in Russia checking out the blog for my posts on Hollywood's whitewashing or Addison Russell's divorce proceedings (both topics which I touched on recently.)

Russia is not known for hiring a lot of Filipinos. In 2013, the number of Filipinos in Russia numbered 4,335 according to statistics from the Commission of Filipinos Overseas. However it is estimated by the government body that there are about 8,000 Filipinos in Russia when illegal immigrants are taken into account. 93 percent of Filipinos in Russia are in Moscow.

Most of the Filipinos work as domestic help and over 90 percent of them live in the Moscow area.

For some reason, I'm getting a lot of hits originating from Russia. A hella lot. As far as I know, Russia is not one of the countries recruiting Filipinos to become part of their labor force.

I imagine a Russian computer, programmed to pick up certain words or phrases, stumbling on this blog to evaluate it for ... what? I don't know.

I know what you're thinking - I'm being hacked. I've alerted the folks at Google on that possibility several times but I've not received a response; not a single word. Hello? Is there anybody out there?

The biggest uptick of Russian interest was during last year's Democratic and Republican conventions. Does that tell you anything?

Even though Russian "views" of this blog improve my metrics, I wish I find out more why they are reading this blog when there are so many other sources of information about America and Asian/Americans than this one. 

When I have more Russians than Americans reading my blog, that tells me something is amiss.

Google? Any answers? Bueller? Bueller?

In the meantime, to all my Russian readers out there: 

Добро пожаловать в мой мир!