Also, humping for Mother Russia.
Those who hoped that Russia's first post-totalitarian generation would be liberal, have been dissapointed. Although explicit support for extremist and racist groups is in the low single figures, support for racist sentiments is mushrooming.Slogans such as "Russia for the Russians" now attract the support of half of the population. Echoing Kremlin propaganda, Nashi denounced Estonians as "fascist", for daring to say that they find Nazi and Soviet memorials equally repugnant. But, in truth, it is in Russia that fascism is all too evident.
The Kremlin sees no role for a democratic opposition, denouncing its leaders as stooges and traitors. Sadly, most Russians agree: a recent poll showed that a majority believed that opposition parties should not be allowed to take power.
Just as the Nazis in 1930s rewrote Germany's history, the Putin Kremlin is rewriting Russia's. It has rehaabilitated Stalin, the greatest massmurderer of the 20th century. And it is demonising Boris Yeltsin, Russia's first democratically-elected president. That he destroyed totalitarianism is ignored. Instead, he is denounced for his "weak" pro-Western policies.
While distorting its own history, the Kremlin denounces other countries. Mr Putin was quick to blame Britain's "colonial mentality" for our government's request that Russia try to find a legal means of extraditing Andrei Lugovoi, the prime suspect in the murder of Alexander Litvinenko.
Yet the truth is that Britain, like most Western countries, flagellates itself for the crimes of the past. Indeed, British schoolchildren rarely learn anything positive about their country's empire. And, if Mr Putin has his way, Russian pupils will learn nothing bad about the Soviet empire, which was far bloodier, more brutal - and more recent.
A new guide for history teachers - explicitly endorsed by Mr Putin - brushes off Stalin's crimes. It describes him as "the most successful leader of the USSR". But it skates over the colossal human cost - 25m people were shot and starved in the cause of communism.
"Political repression was used to mobilise not only rank-and-file citizens but also the ruling elite," it says. In other words, Stalin wanted to make the country strong, so he may have been a bit harsh at times. At any time since the collapse of Soviet totalitarianism in the late 1980s, that would have seemed a nauseating whitewash. Now, it is treated as bald historical fact.
A tiger can't change its stripes. I just want to hear Bush call him "Pooty-poot" again.
Why am I picturing an overweight female camp counselor yelling, "Commence with ze f*cking!"
Russian accent RB. So more like "Dmitri! Am givink you 5 minutes to be placing your spurs upon Petra, or I will be f*ckink you myself!"
Dmitri and Petra, BFF
Sending the Bears out past the DEW line has been their traditional way of saying, "Hi, we're still here."
Sending the Bears out past the DEW line has been their traditional way of saying, "Hi, we're still here."
Fourty years ago they were scary, now they're just quaint. I'm surprised they haven't brought back derrigibles or those ww2 Japanese weather balloons of doom.
Everybody knows the Bears' offense in the air is terrible, anyway. They're built around defense and special teams.
Fourty years ago they were scary, now they're just quaint. I'm surprised they haven't brought back derrigibles or those ww2 Japanese weather balloons of doom.
Through poor economic planning, they just didn't have the money to get the Battle Lab tech.
Ominous tidings
So what's the storyline here? The National Socialists started out as a homegrown opposition party, but this seems more like the origin of the Red Guard in China. Where and when do these people get used to make social change?
Sending the Bears out past the DEW line has been their traditional way of saying, "Hi, we're still here."
And scrambling fighters is a traditional way of saying, "Oh, hello, would you like a cup of tea?"
FYI, yesterday Pootypoot gave a speech at the opening of the Moscow Air Show in which he announced a consolidation of Russian aircraft companies under the state-owned Unified Aircraft corporation, and that he wants to make Russia an air power with production levels matching Cold War era output.
FYI, yesterday Pootypoot gave a speech at the opening of the Moscow Air Show in which he announced a consolidation of Russian aircraft companies under the state-owned Unified Aircraft corporation, and that he wants to make Russia an air power with production levels matching Cold War era output.
The area of growth that is targeted is actually the civiliann sector (passenger airliners and commercial transport planes). They're planning to reach the goal of building 300 of airliners versus 100 transport planes and 100 military aircraft.
And all of the aviation industry in Russia (from design bureaus to the factories) was already state-owned. What happens now is that a holding company is being created around them.
If you want to get technical, Russia is looking to increase its civil aircraft market from $1.5 billion to $3.5 billion. The military market is $8 billion.
H.P. Lovesauce wrote:Sending the Bears out past the DEW line has been their traditional way of saying, "Hi, we're still here."
And scrambling fighters is a traditional way of saying, "Oh, hello, would you like a cup of tea?"
Which cash-strapped Canada can't always do, so it's more like, "C'mon in, eh--there's beer in the fridge."
Is this going to be known as the tepid war?
Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment, he added.
It's not really doing its job properly then. Sounds like a pretty sh*tty bomb to me.
Perhaps the "Penis Envy" war. On the upside, we're back on top.
Precisely. I don't remember time when I had various forms of word "penetrade" used so many times in a single paragraph.
"Vacuum bomb" just gives me the most hilarious mental images of dropping Dirt Devils from a B-52 Stratofortress.
"Mr. President, we must not allow a Dirt Devil gap!"
Good find, Edwin. It is a pretty disturbing video, to say the least. The reporter has a massive set of stones going into the woods with those crazies.
I wonder what Putin thinks of them.
I wonder what Putin thinks of them.
It`s being speculated that Kremlin finances and has lots of indirect influence on those groups. Which would make sense- that would allow government to keep a close eye on groups of troublesome subjects while preserving a kind of "steam-letting" valve for them. These guys are not threatening Kremlin plus they occasionally may do a dirty job when it needs to be done.
There certainly is something to those speculations, those Russian skinheads often come to Latvia and, ironically, make violent protests about Latvian government opressing minorities - russians. Couple of years ago, on November 18th (that`s our equivalent of July 4th) one such neo-nazi "tourist" locked himself up in belltower of one of the oldest churches in our capital, threatening to blow it up with handgrenade. He was quite prominent figure in Russia`s neo-nazi movement.
SwampYankee wrote:I wonder what Putin thinks of them.
It`s being speculated that Kremlin finances and has lots of indirect influence on those groups. Which would make sense- that would allow government to keep a close eye on groups of troublesome subjects while preserving a kind of "steam-letting" valve for them. These guys are not threatening Kremlin plus they occasionally may do a dirty job when it needs to be done.
There certainly is something to those speculations, those Russian skinheads often come to Latvia and, ironically, make violent protests about Latvian government opressing minorities - russians. Couple of years ago, on November 18th (that`s our equivalent of July 4th) one such neo-nazi "tourist" locked himself up in belltower of one of the oldest churches in our capital, threatening to blow it up with handgrenade. He was quite prominent figure in Russia`s neo-nazi movement.
Yup. All that (and more) is sad but true. Which is not to say that Latvia (or other countries to the west of Russia) doesn't have its own share of neo-nazis or Hitler worshippers.
However, what sets the Russia apart is particularly disgusing way in which the authorities tacitly permit, or even silently approve of the violent strains of nationalism to flourish. It goes on top of the ugly part of the Russian psyche which dictates that Russians cannot truly feel themselves "a great nation" unless they're putting a smaller nation (or a few) down.
The law enforcement is frequently unwilling to detain the skinheads rampaging in their plain view, because they to the most part approve of them. The skinhead formations themselves have roots in the 80-90s youth gangs in blue-collar suburbs and satellite cities of Moscow. To the cops, the attributes these gangs display are mostly commendable -- they're disciplined, they reject alcohol, that eternal bane of Russian people, they focus on physical health, they preach loyalty to their town and their country, they hunt down and physically punish petty houligans, homosexuals, dark-skinned immigrans (illegal and otherwise), shake down local businesses now and then -- everything the cops like doing themselves, given free time. Little wonder that cops are more than willing to look the other way when "minor excesses" take place. So, the empire that brought the word "pogrom" into the world's lexicon is willing to add another entry.
So I guess the next logical question would be:
Is it possible that Putin or other in government see the skinheads as potential brownshirts for a russian nationalist movement.
As the piece pointed out, how ironic, given the breadth of the suffering russia sustained due to national socialism.
Yeh, I have always thought it strange that those guys use Nazi symbology. I mean, ultra nationalism I get- every country has got its share of militant weirdos, dreaming of "Greater [Insert Your Country]" but Nazi?.. They beat up people from Caucasus but worship photos of Stalin who wasnt Russian at all but came from Caucasus. It`s strange mix of paranoia, misinformation, delusions, built-up agression and sometimes- just pure evil (that dude from the linked report, the one who was showing his favourite videos of beating people, has crossed all the lines and grey areas and I wouldnt give damn whether he had hard childhood or what, that`s just pure evil in human form).
Did this get taken down?
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