Russia
Re: The Russia Thread
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
- monster_gardener
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Vlad Putin..... Vampire Head of State...........
Thank you VERY Much for your post, Typhoon.Typhoon wrote:ED | Bad Vlad
From the link:
I swear I had not read this before I did my Santa Claus post in the Syrian Thread about Vampire heads of State...He is further notable as the world's first known vampire head of state.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=342&start=100#p8613
But could it be true?!
What if he is the ORIGINAL Vlad Dracul!
For the love of G_d, consider you & I may be mistaken.
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Medvedev's advice to US presidential candidates
Russian President answering Romney's comment of Russia as "No 1 Foe" of the United States
Meanwhile, Americans hold much more balanced and sensible views on Russia than Mitt Romney:
"In terms of a geopolitical foe, a nation that's on the Security Council, and as of course a massive nuclear power, Russia is the geopolitical foe," Romney said on CNN's "The Situation Room."
(...)
"It is very reminiscent of Hollywood and also of a certain phase in Russian-U.S. relations," Medvedev said at the end of the nuclear security summit in South Korea Tuesday.
(...)
"My first advice is to listen to reason when they formulate their positions. Reason never harmed a presidential candidate," Medvedev said. "My other advice is to check their watches from time to time: it is 2012, not the mid-1970s."
Meanwhile, Americans hold much more balanced and sensible views on Russia than Mitt Romney:
Romney is among those 9%...The most recent CNN polling about Russia indicated that 45% of Americans considered it a friendly country to the U.S., while 28% considered them unfriendly. Sixteen percent said they were an ally while, 9% characterized the country as an enemy of the U.S.
- Heracleum Persicum
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- Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:38 pm
The Image of the Enemy
Interesting text from a Russian-born American about relations between USA and Russia.
The Image of the Enemy
Few extracts:
"We're going to do something terrible unto you. We're going to deprive you of an Enemy"
The Image of the Enemy
Few extracts:
Russia is busy becoming rather US-like in lifestyle and in social organization, and foreign relations are a hindrance to the smooth running of this process. Russians now watch American TV shows (dubbed into Russian), they lap up American-style marketing and advertising, they have bought into the SUV craze, they like to shop at the new malls and big box stores, to eat out almost every night, and some (those who can afford it) are even embracing the concept of suburban sprawl by erecting mansions in places that are a long drive from city centers. Many of them want to travel to the US, or even to move there, to better soak up even more of the profligate US lifestyle (which fewer and fewer Americans can still afford).
(...)
But in this the Russian politicians are conflicted: they like having access to the US, but having it would mean nothing if they weren't rich. In turn, the reason they are rich is because, under Putin, Russia has stood up to foreign interests and curbed the power of foreign companies in the crucial oil and gas business. And for this the US officialdom will never forgive them. Post-Soviet Russia was supposed to become an impoverished banana republic ruled by a pliant Western-controlled élite and serve as a playground for Western corporations, its mineral wealth there for the taking. The fact that this has failed to happen (largely thanks to Vladimir Putin) is an affront to everything the US stands for and holds sacred.
Ouch.Back to the Russian orphans: there are certainly a lot of them. Their numbers surged in the wake of the the collapse of the USSR, which caused a great deal of social disruption, especially in the outlying regions and single-factory industrial cities. The orphan population is not as large as it was after World War II, but it is an unfortunate situation nevertheless, especially since the orphanages could be a lot better funded. If wealthy Americans wanted to help Russian orphans, the could certainly do so without adopting them—unless, of course, they are Ayn Randians who turn livid at the idea that somewhere in the world there might be an orphan enjoying a free lunch at government expense. In fact, squandering resources on repeated travel to Russia, local legal representation, immigration filings and (since many of the orphans are in need of medical care) the ridiculously overpriced American medics is far from efficient. It would be far more efficient to help those orphans right where they are.
Better yet, why not adopt an American orphan instead? There is no shortage of these either. The majority of American children is born into poverty, and a fair number of these end up as wards of the state, stuck in long-term foster care. Rather than adopt a child from across the world, why not adopt one from one town over? The reason is simple: the children that are available for adoption are mostly Black or Latino while the Russian children are as white as can be.
Reminds Arbatov and his end-1980s threat to US leaders:The major similarity between the USA and Russia comes down to just one thing: the corrupting influence of free money. For the US, the free money comes from the ability to borrow abroad in their own currency, the US dollar, because it remains (for now) the world's reserve currency, although this particular joyride has been slowing down of late and could stop rather suddenly. For Russia, the free money comes from the ability to export natural gas to a captive market in Europe—a quirk of geology rather than a creature of finance, and since I don't buy into the hype about fracking, it is one that is unlikely to go away any time soon. As I tell my Russian friends, they won't have America to kick around for much longer. (And they look at me in amazement; I suppose the ignorance is mutual.)
As far as America's missing image of the enemy, the lesson is a hard one: you are on your own. Nobody wants to destroy you (especially since you are doing such a bang-up job of it yourself.) Nobody wants to play with you and nobody wants to play against you. To figure out why that is, go lock yourself in the bathroom and spend a long while looking at yourself in the mirror, because at this point your image of the enemy is nothing but a reflection of you.
"We're going to do something terrible unto you. We're going to deprive you of an Enemy"
- monster_gardener
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- Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:36 am
- Location: Trolla. Land of upside down trees and tomatos........
Russia and Uz............
Alexis wrote:Interesting text from a Russian-born American about relations between USA and Russia.
The Image of the Enemy
Few extracts:
Russia is busy becoming rather US-like in lifestyle and in social organization, and foreign relations are a hindrance to the smooth running of this process. Russians now watch American TV shows (dubbed into Russian), they lap up American-style marketing and advertising, they have bought into the SUV craze, they like to shop at the new malls and big box stores, to eat out almost every night, and some (those who can afford it) are even embracing the concept of suburban sprawl by erecting mansions in places that are a long drive from city centers. Many of them want to travel to the US, or even to move there, to better soak up even more of the profligate US lifestyle (which fewer and fewer Americans can still afford).
(...)
But in this the Russian politicians are conflicted: they like having access to the US, but having it would mean nothing if they weren't rich. In turn, the reason they are rich is because, under Putin, Russia has stood up to foreign interests and curbed the power of foreign companies in the crucial oil and gas business. And for this the US officialdom will never forgive them. Post-Soviet Russia was supposed to become an impoverished banana republic ruled by a pliant Western-controlled élite and serve as a playground for Western corporations, its mineral wealth there for the taking. The fact that this has failed to happen (largely thanks to Vladimir Putin) is an affront to everything the US stands for and holds sacred.
Ouch.Back to the Russian orphans: there are certainly a lot of them. Their numbers surged in the wake of the the collapse of the USSR, which caused a great deal of social disruption, especially in the outlying regions and single-factory industrial cities. The orphan population is not as large as it was after World War II, but it is an unfortunate situation nevertheless, especially since the orphanages could be a lot better funded. If wealthy Americans wanted to help Russian orphans, the could certainly do so without adopting them—unless, of course, they are Ayn Randians who turn livid at the idea that somewhere in the world there might be an orphan enjoying a free lunch at government expense. In fact, squandering resources on repeated travel to Russia, local legal representation, immigration filings and (since many of the orphans are in need of medical care) the ridiculously overpriced American medics is far from efficient. It would be far more efficient to help those orphans right where they are.
Better yet, why not adopt an American orphan instead? There is no shortage of these either. The majority of American children is born into poverty, and a fair number of these end up as wards of the state, stuck in long-term foster care. Rather than adopt a child from across the world, why not adopt one from one town over? The reason is simple: the children that are available for adoption are mostly Black or Latino while the Russian children are as white as can be.
Reminds Arbatov and his end-1980s threat to US leaders:The major similarity between the USA and Russia comes down to just one thing: the corrupting influence of free money. For the US, the free money comes from the ability to borrow abroad in their own currency, the US dollar, because it remains (for now) the world's reserve currency, although this particular joyride has been slowing down of late and could stop rather suddenly. For Russia, the free money comes from the ability to export natural gas to a captive market in Europe—a quirk of geology rather than a creature of finance, and since I don't buy into the hype about fracking, it is one that is unlikely to go away any time soon. As I tell my Russian friends, they won't have America to kick around for much longer. (And they look at me in amazement; I suppose the ignorance is mutual.)
As far as America's missing image of the enemy, the lesson is a hard one: you are on your own. Nobody wants to destroy you (especially since you are doing such a bang-up job of it yourself.) Nobody wants to play with you and nobody wants to play against you. To figure out why that is, go lock yourself in the bathroom and spend a long while looking at yourself in the mirror, because at this point your image of the enemy is nothing but a reflection of you.
"We're going to do something terrible unto you. We're going to deprive you of an Enemy"
Thank You VERY MUCH for your excellent link and post, Alexis.
I do not agree that nobody is out to get Uz.......
We do have enemies like Kaliphate Killer Klowns from Islamic Space..
But lots of worthwhile thoughts in the essay............
And American workers did lose once the Soviets were no longer around to scare the Uz Bosses.......
Though the Soviets were a VERY risky bugbear....... We almost nuked each other more than once.........
As far as it goes for someone Down in the Black Gang but with Astronomical Ambitions for the Human Chaos Monkey Race, I would really rather have Russia as partners in Space development than enemies again....
Not going to post the Putin for President image again: Google Baloo and Putin.......
For the love of G_d, consider you & I may be mistaken.
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
- Heracleum Persicum
- Posts: 11826
- Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:38 pm
Re: Russia and Uz............
monster_gardener wrote:.
I do not agree that nobody is out to get Uz.......
We do have enemies like Kaliphate Killer Klowns from Islamic Space..
.
come on Monster, come on
all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
.
- monster_gardener
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- Joined: Fri Dec 23, 2011 12:36 am
- Location: Trolla. Land of upside down trees and tomatos........
The Whole Damned World Written in Red
Thank You Very Much for your post, AzariHeracleum Persicum wrote:monster_gardener wrote:.
I do not agree that nobody is out to get Uz.......
We do have enemies like Kaliphate Killer Klowns from Islamic Space..
.
come on Monster, come on
all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
.
Not so......all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
See below
From the mouths of the "Best of Peoples"
Written in Red
And from Mo Ancient Times through the current Age of Uz, Muslim guys killing, robbing, raping, enslaving and running protection racket on non Muslims when they have the power to do it......in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims[
And by their words, Muslims consider that the Whole Damned World should be Muslim Home........All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
Not just a little Piece Smaller than the Size of a Persian Pistachio Plantation that so frustrates Persian Hegemonic Imperial Ambitions..........
One of many reasons I want to get non Muslim Chaos Monkeys get off this planet is so we/they can get far enough away from Muslim Chaos Monkey Killer Apes......In March 1785, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). Upon inquiring "concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury", the ambassador replied:
It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.
Hopefully light years eventually........
For the love of G_d, consider you & I may be mistaken.
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
- Heracleum Persicum
- Posts: 11826
- Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:38 pm
Re: The Whole Damned World Written in Red
monster_gardener wrote:Thank You Very Much for your post, AzariHeracleum Persicum wrote:monster_gardener wrote:.
I do not agree that nobody is out to get Uz.......
We do have enemies like Kaliphate Killer Klowns from Islamic Space..
.
come on Monster, come on
all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
.
Not so......all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
See below
From the mouths of the "Best of Peoples"
Written in Red
And from Mo Ancient Times through the current Age of Uz, Muslim guys killing, robbing, raping, enslaving and running protection racket on non Muslims when they have the power to do it......in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims[
And by their words, Muslims consider that the Whole Damned World should be Muslim Home........All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
Not just a little Piece Smaller than the Size of a Persian Pistachio Plantation that so frustrates Persian Hegemonic Imperial Ambitions..........
One of many reasons I want to get non Muslim Chaos Monkeys get off this planet is so we/they can get far enough away from Muslim Chaos Monkey Killer Apes......In March 1785, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). Upon inquiring "concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury", the ambassador replied:
It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.
Hopefully light years eventually.......
.
Well, Monster, why should we rely a "Pirate"'s word to Jefferson this and that in Koran
why you not copy and past that "paragraph" in Koran saying " .. all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. "
I can post here lots of crazy things Popes or cardinals or Bishops or Christian warriors and other weirdos have said.
and
even if such thing in Koran (don't know what in Koran), so what ? is not in Bible "Analyzing" a sin ? but you have now homo Bishops and they proud of it
come on, Monster, cut the excuse, admit you in this for stealin the Oil
.
- monster_gardener
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Summer Breeze - Re: The Whole Damned World Written in Red...
Thank You Very Much for your post, Azari.Heracleum Persicum wrote:monster_gardener wrote:Thank You Very Much for your post, AzariHeracleum Persicum wrote:monster_gardener wrote:.
I do not agree that nobody is out to get Uz.......
We do have enemies like Kaliphate Killer Klowns from Islamic Space..
.
come on Monster, come on
all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
.
Not so......all this PR by MIC to fool American Joe into believe Islamic Space into getting you, in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims
See below
From the mouths of the "Best of Peoples"
Written in Red
And from Mo Ancient Times through the current Age of Uz, Muslim guys killing, robbing, raping, enslaving and running protection racket on non Muslims when they have the power to do it......in the meantime you guys killin and killin and killin Muslims[
And by their words, Muslims consider that the Whole Damned World should be Muslim Home........All Muslims want is to throw you guys out of Muslim home
Not just a little Piece Smaller than the Size of a Persian Pistachio Plantation that so frustrates Persian Hegemonic Imperial Ambitions..........
One of many reasons I want to get non Muslim Chaos Monkeys get off this planet is so we/they can get far enough away from Muslim Chaos Monkey Killer Apes......In March 1785, Thomas Jefferson and John Adams went to London to negotiate with Tripoli's envoy, Ambassador Sidi Haji Abdrahaman (or Sidi Haji Abdul Rahman Adja). Upon inquiring "concerning the ground of the pretensions to make war upon nations who had done them no injury", the ambassador replied:
It was written in their Koran, that all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise.
Hopefully light years eventually.......
.
Well, Monster, why should we rely a "Pirate"'s word to Jefferson this and that in Koran
why you not copy and past that "paragraph" in Koran saying " .. all nations which had not acknowledged the Prophet were sinners, whom it was the right and duty of the faithful to plunder and enslave; and that every mussulman who was slain in this warfare was sure to go to paradise. "
I can post here lots of crazy things Popes or cardinals or Bishops or Christian warriors and other weirdos have said.
and
even if such thing in Koran (don't know what in Koran), so what ? is not in Bible "Analyzing" a sin ? but you have now homo Bishops and they proud of it
come on, Monster, cut the excuse, admit you in this for stealin the Oil
.
IMVHO we are getting off topic, so I am moving my reply to:
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1498&p=43518#p43518
For the love of G_d, consider you & I may be mistaken.
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Orion Must Rise: Killer Space Rocks Coming Our way
The Best Laid Plans of Men, Monkeys & Pigs Oft Go Awry
Woe to those who long for the Day of the Lord, for It is Darkness, Not Light
Re: Russia
Russia to Alaska bridge and tunnel project
In what could certainly be one of the boldest infrastructure developments ever announced, the Russian Government has given the go-ahead to build a transcontinental railway linking Siberia with North America. The massive undertaking would traverse the Bering Strait with the world’s longest tunnel – a project twice the length of the Chunnel between England and France. The $65 billion project aims to feed North America with raw goods from the Siberian interior and beyond, but it could also provide a key link to developing a robust renewable energy transmission corridor that feeds wind and tidal power across vast distances while linking a railway network across 3/4 of the Northern Hemisphere.
Read more: Russia Green Lights $65 Billion Siberia-Alaska Rail and Tunnel to Bridge the Bering Strait! | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
In what could certainly be one of the boldest infrastructure developments ever announced, the Russian Government has given the go-ahead to build a transcontinental railway linking Siberia with North America. The massive undertaking would traverse the Bering Strait with the world’s longest tunnel – a project twice the length of the Chunnel between England and France. The $65 billion project aims to feed North America with raw goods from the Siberian interior and beyond, but it could also provide a key link to developing a robust renewable energy transmission corridor that feeds wind and tidal power across vast distances while linking a railway network across 3/4 of the Northern Hemisphere.
Read more: Russia Green Lights $65 Billion Siberia-Alaska Rail and Tunnel to Bridge the Bering Strait! | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
cultivate a white rose
Re: Russia
Smithsonian | For 40 Years, This Russian Family Was Cut Off From All Human Contact, Unaware of World War II
In 1978, Soviet geologists prospecting in the wilds of Siberia discovered a family of six, lost in the taiga
May the gods preserve and defend me from self-righteous altruists; I can defend myself from my enemies and my friends.
Re: Russia
Wow . . news to me . . posted it over on the Alaska forum to see if anyone's heard anything out of JuneauAzrael wrote:Russia to Alaska bridge and tunnel project
In what could certainly be one of the boldest infrastructure developments ever announced, the Russian Government has given the go-ahead to build a transcontinental railway linking Siberia with North America. The massive undertaking would traverse the Bering Strait with the world’s longest tunnel – a project twice the length of the Chunnel between England and France. The $65 billion project aims to feed North America with raw goods from the Siberian interior and beyond, but it could also provide a key link to developing a robust renewable energy transmission corridor that feeds wind and tidal power across vast distances while linking a railway network across 3/4 of the Northern Hemisphere.
Read more: Russia Green Lights $65 Billion Siberia-Alaska Rail and Tunnel to Bridge the Bering Strait! | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building
"The jawbone of an ass is just as dangerous a weapon today as in Sampson's time."
--- Richard Nixon
******************
"I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels."
—John Calvin
--- Richard Nixon
******************
"I consider looseness with words no less of a defect than looseness of the bowels."
—John Calvin
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Re: Russia
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/timst ... -have-fun/
For Putin has declared war on empty cots with classic Putin bravado. He’s often insisted that having lots of babies is key to Russia’s internal security, to Russia becoming more “influential” on the world state. Why have a great democracy or a flourishing economy when you can simply outnumber everyone else? Putin puts the desirable figure at three babies per household and, in 2007, one province helped things along by declaring a Day of Conception. The idea was that if Russians got the day off work then they might stay at home, put on some Boyz II Men, close the curtains and help bring back the good old days of Soviet hegemony. Women who gave birth 9 months later could win a refrigerator. And they say that romance is dead?
Been busy doing stuff
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Re: Russia
I agree with Azari about Cameron, by the way, an empty suit , contentless PR.
However for outrageous medacious PR nothing beats Putin saying he is sticking up for the workers. Russia is a serf society, run for the interests of its masters, always has been, and the inhabitants seem to like it that way. The brief periods when it tries to do anything more liberal (1905, 1917, 1991) dissolve into corruption and anarchy, because there is no concept of self regulating civil society. The last hundred years have merely changed around the elite, who lead privileged but dangerous lives. That is why it will never become a fully developed society.
However for outrageous medacious PR nothing beats Putin saying he is sticking up for the workers. Russia is a serf society, run for the interests of its masters, always has been, and the inhabitants seem to like it that way. The brief periods when it tries to do anything more liberal (1905, 1917, 1991) dissolve into corruption and anarchy, because there is no concept of self regulating civil society. The last hundred years have merely changed around the elite, who lead privileged but dangerous lives. That is why it will never become a fully developed society.
Re: Russia
Being nearly at the end of my 2-year Russian sojourn, I can confidently state that Russia has only an abortive embryo of a civil society, with the latest batch of laws from Moscow basically making all NGOs unable to function. Any foreign funds and you have to register as a "foreign agent" with the government (and be submerged in bureaucracy). Navalny is facing his second fiscal fraud investigation and I expect he'll likely land in jail before the year is out. The opposition to Putin has fewer than 20% popular support, and mostly in Moscow, Petersburg and the rich cities of Siberia. The opposition has its own authoritarian and anti-Western tendencies, no coherent agenda and no cohesion between its members. Putinism is slowly degenerating into gay-bashing chest-thumping pseudo-Orthodox-hyprocrisy. Contrary to outside perception, there has been considerable non-oil industrial growth here in the past 15 years, but when the US and Canadian oil/gas shales hit the world market and destroy the current price floors, Russia is still in for a world of trouble. The stalinist reflexes of the ruling elite and of their functionary corps pretty much ensure that nothing good will come out of Russia for at least 2 decades more (until they literally die off).
PS: V. Nikitin is a communist I knew from Harvard. He has about as much sense about politics as a plucked chicken. Luckily, the article consists mostly of his quoting other people, to the effect that indeed, Russia has no effective civil society. The title has little to do with the content of the (2-year old) article, where he claims that the Russian AAA car-club equivalent is "as close" as Russians get to having a powerful civil society group.
PS: V. Nikitin is a communist I knew from Harvard. He has about as much sense about politics as a plucked chicken. Luckily, the article consists mostly of his quoting other people, to the effect that indeed, Russia has no effective civil society. The title has little to do with the content of the (2-year old) article, where he claims that the Russian AAA car-club equivalent is "as close" as Russians get to having a powerful civil society group.
Re: Russia
All sadly true, but I have found Russians in general to be delightful company, if somewhat crazy, and to have a strange mixture of boorishness, and a high culture which is usually absent these days in the "West". Taboo will have a deeper experience, I should imagine that being there would be a mixture of conviviality and massive frustration with the system. There is more to life to economics and politics, says he tritely, and all interesting countries are a mass of paradoxes anyway.
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Re: Russia
I have long thought that democracy is not natural to us. Our survival for the past couple of million years - and that involves the species which preceded ours - has been dependent on our being autocratically ruled by the bigger, stronger, less scrupulous guys in town. We actually like having people deciding for us, although we do prefer being ruled as kindly as possible, as long as things get done. We like making decisions which involve us and those close to us, but not having to go through the trouble of making the best decisions for the whole community. Unless there is a serious crisis which affects us as well as everybody else. Therefore it is not surprising that Russians - with their long history of autocrats, czarist as well as communist - are grateful for having Putin deciding what is best for them. One hundred years ago Putin would have been crowned czar and Russians would have to put up with his offspring. Now they may have a chance of electing someone more democratically minded, and start escaping the authoritarian trap. But don't count on it happening anytime soon...Taboo wrote:Being nearly at the end of my 2-year Russian sojourn, I can confidently state that Russia has only an abortive embryo of a civil society, with the latest batch of laws from Moscow basically making all NGOs unable to function. Any foreign funds and you have to register as a "foreign agent" with the government (and be submerged in bureaucracy). Navalny is facing his second fiscal fraud investigation and I expect he'll likely land in jail before the year is out. The opposition to Putin has fewer than 20% popular support, and mostly in Moscow, Petersburg and the rich cities of Siberia. The opposition has its own authoritarian and anti-Western tendencies, no coherent agenda and no cohesion between its members. Putinism is slowly degenerating into gay-bashing chest-thumping pseudo-Orthodox-hyprocrisy. Contrary to outside perception, there has been considerable non-oil industrial growth here in the past 15 years, but when the US and Canadian oil/gas shales hit the world market and destroy the current price floors, Russia is still in for a world of trouble. The stalinist reflexes of the ruling elite and of their functionary corps pretty much ensure that nothing good will come out of Russia for at least 2 decades more (until they literally die off).
PS: V. Nikitin is a communist I knew from Harvard. He has about as much sense about politics as a plucked chicken. Luckily, the article consists mostly of his quoting other people, to the effect that indeed, Russia has no effective civil society. The title has little to do with the content of the (2-year old) article, where he claims that the Russian AAA car-club equivalent is "as close" as Russians get to having a powerful civil society group.
- Heracleum Persicum
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- Joined: Sat Dec 22, 2012 7:38 pm
Re: Russia
Yes, in that the situation has improved from apocalyptic clusterfuck to merely very, very bad. Even male life expectancy, after floating in the high 50s for much of the 90s, has been increasing at the rate of 1 year per year since 2007. Even alcoholism, while still terrible, isn't quite as bad: fancy youths in Sankt Petersburg would rather fork out $9 for a latte at the recently opened Starbucks if they want to hang with friends on Nevsky Prospekt.Russia has rapidly declining abortion rate
Nonetheless, I don't wish the sight of the interior of a typical Russian hospital on anyone. My russian assistants have on occasion all shared various horror stories of malpractice incompetence and murderous unsanitary conditions, and about X-Ray machines that seem to have come straight from the prop section of Metropolis.
I've ... seen things you people wouldn't believe.
- YMix
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Re: Russia
You mean it's worse than Romania? That would be... surprising.Taboo wrote:I've ... seen things you people wouldn't believe.
“There are a lot of killers. We’ve got a lot of killers. What, do you think our country’s so innocent? Take a look at what we’ve done, too.” - Donald J. Trump, President of the USA
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
The Kushner sh*t is greasy - Stevie B.
Re: Russia
Well, dunno. I'm sure there are parts of Romania that match the worst of Russia. I haven't really been to much of Romania. Have you watched "Dupa Dealuri"?YMix wrote:You mean it's worse than Romania? That would be... surprising.Taboo wrote:I've ... seen things you people wouldn't believe.