(04-04-2016 12:06 PM)miko33 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 12:03 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 11:52 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 10:06 AM)Niner National Wrote:  He's desperate.

That talking point used to fly, but I don't think very many people are buying that anymore.

He can be brilliant and desperate at the same time.

Russia is going to lose about 1/3 of their population to aging in the next 30 years. They have serious brain drain where their educated members of society leave for western Europe and the United States.

They have internal struggles, particularly in the muslim regions of the country, which unfortunately are near their only areas with warm water port access. Putin HAS to shore those areas up now before Russia loses them.

When the USSR fell apart, they lost a significant amount of their population and even their former friends are now buddying up with the U.S. and Europe for trade purposes, so without the military moves Putin is making, Russia would be completely ****** in the relatively near future. It's going to happen anyway, he's just delaying the inevitable.

Sweet! No more filters! **** **** ****

Wait, no fair!

(04-04-2016 12:07 PM)miko33 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 12:06 PM)miko33 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 12:03 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 11:52 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 10:06 AM)Niner National Wrote:  He's desperate.

That talking point used to fly, but I don't think very many people are buying that anymore.

He can be brilliant and desperate at the same time.

Russia is going to lose about 1/3 of their population to aging in the next 30 years. They have serious brain drain where their educated members of society leave for western Europe and the United States.

They have internal struggles, particularly in the muslim regions of the country, which unfortunately are near their only areas with warm water port access. Putin HAS to shore those areas up now before Russia loses them.

When the USSR fell apart, they lost a significant amount of their population and even their former friends are now buddying up with the U.S. and Europe for trade purposes, so without the military moves Putin is making, Russia would be completely ****** in the relatively near future. It's going to happen anyway, he's just delaying the inevitable.

Sweet! No more filters! **** **** ****

Wait, no fair!

maybe the filter is just missing the word ******?

Tested--it just doesn't filter ******.

(04-04-2016 11:21 AM)VA49er Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 09:35 AM)QuestionSocratic Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 09:07 AM)Otacon Wrote:  The same, if not worse...

I would respectfully disagree. I'm not suggesting that our leaders are pillars of ethical behavior, but I believe Putin sets the standard for modern oligarchical leaders. He probably has more stashed than Bill Gates and Warren Buffet combined.

Our politicians are penny ante when compared to Putin. One of the last "major" scandals was when Chris Dodd was accused of getting a low interest on his mortgage from Angelo Mozilo. Even the convictions of politicians like Jesses Jackson Jr. Dan Rostenkovich, William Jefferson, Dan Trafficant or Blago, were rarely about big money.

That's just one we know about. Can you imagine all the stuff we don't know? There's a reason lawmakers take lower wage political jobs (based on there previous occupations). There's money in DC. Yes, Putin probably takes the cake, but I'd bet those folks in DC have tons of cash/benefits, etc we know nothing about.

I'm sure there's a lot more happening with US pols than we know (distressingly so), but I doubt it's as bad as Putin.

(04-04-2016 12:03 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 11:52 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 10:06 AM)Niner National Wrote:  He's desperate.

That talking point used to fly, but I don't think very many people are buying that anymore.

He can be brilliant and desperate at the same time.

Russia is going to lose about 1/3 of their population to aging in the next 30 years. They have serious brain drain where their educated members of society leave for western Europe and the United States.

They have internal struggles, particularly in the muslim regions of the country, which unfortunately are near their only areas with warm water port access. Putin HAS to shore those areas up now before Russia loses them.

When the USSR fell apart, they lost a significant amount of their population and even their former friends are now buddying up with the U.S. and Europe for trade purposes, so without the military moves Putin is making, Russia would be completely ****** in the relatively near future. It's going to happen anyway, he's just delaying the inevitable.

Are there any good books on that topic that you've read?

(04-04-2016 03:29 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 12:03 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 11:52 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 10:06 AM)Niner National Wrote:  He's desperate.

That talking point used to fly, but I don't think very many people are buying that anymore.

He can be brilliant and desperate at the same time.

Russia is going to lose about 1/3 of their population to aging in the next 30 years. They have serious brain drain where their educated members of society leave for western Europe and the United States.

They have internal struggles, particularly in the muslim regions of the country, which unfortunately are near their only areas with warm water port access. Putin HAS to shore those areas up now before Russia loses them.

When the USSR fell apart, they lost a significant amount of their population and even their former friends are now buddying up with the U.S. and Europe for trade purposes, so without the military moves Putin is making, Russia would be completely ****** in the relatively near future. It's going to happen anyway, he's just delaying the inevitable.

Are there any good books on that topic that you've read?

Not since college, and unfortunately I don't remember the book names at this point.

I was a history major with a focus in Russian history (only because I really liked the professor that specialized in Russian history), so I learned a lot about Russia. Their history is pretty fascinating honestly.

(04-04-2016 03:47 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 03:29 PM)NIU007 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 12:03 PM)Niner National Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 11:52 AM)ericsrevenge76 Wrote:  

(04-04-2016 10:06 AM)Niner National Wrote:  He's desperate.

That talking point used to fly, but I don't think very many people are buying that anymore.

He can be brilliant and desperate at the same time.

Russia is going to lose about 1/3 of their population to aging in the next 30 years. They have serious brain drain where their educated members of society leave for western Europe and the United States.

They have internal struggles, particularly in the muslim regions of the country, which unfortunately are near their only areas with warm water port access. Putin HAS to shore those areas up now before Russia loses them.

When the USSR fell apart, they lost a significant amount of their population and even their former friends are now buddying up with the U.S. and Europe for trade purposes, so without the military moves Putin is making, Russia would be completely ****** in the relatively near future. It's going to happen anyway, he's just delaying the inevitable.

Are there any good books on that topic that you've read?

Not since college, and unfortunately I don't remember the book names at this point.

I was a history major with a focus in Russian history (only because I really liked the professor that specialized in Russian history), so I learned a lot about Russia. Their history is pretty fascinating honestly.

I haven't read much about earlier history but I had a class on Soviet foreign policy (minor in History) and have read quite a bit about Stalin since then, and found that very interesting.