What's good (and bad ) about Russia?

[willedoo]

It will be an interesting State Duma election in Russia in three weeks time. The Duma is the equivalent of our lower House of Representatives. There's 450 seats up for grabs; approximately half are single member constituencies and the other half are elected by proportional representation. Terms are for five years.

 

The interesting bit is the polling figures for the ruling United Russia Party. Although President Putin is not an official party member, United Russia's support of him is virtually unwavering so it's de facto Putin's party. Currently it holds 3/4 of the seats with a 2/3rd majority being a constitutional majority giving the party the right to amend the constitution. Last election in 2016, United Russia won 55% of the vote. Around the time of the presidential election in 2018, opinion polls placed United Russia at 50%.

 

A few months later, the government introduced pension reforms lifting the male pension age to 65 and I think from memory 60 for women. That was when the arse fell out of their polling figures and it has been dropping since. Current polls have them around 25-35%. Translated to seats, possibly still a simple majority but would mean the loss of a constitutional majority and the right to further amend the constitution. Another issue affecting the government's popularity is the neglect in the regions. Many eastern regional areas are polling badly for the government.

 

The next two large parties are the Communist Party which is relatively popular in the industrial center of the country, and the far right nationalist party, the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia, which does well in the far east. No surprises that the LDPR's polling in the Muslim regions doesn't rate a mention. All other parties below the top three are minor figures.

 

In some parts of the country, the ruling United Russia Party is more popular than all the other parties combined. In Muslim-majority Chechnya and Dagestan, they are polling 83 and 69% respectively. Likewise in majority Buddhist Tuva, polls are at  82%. North Ossetia is another good result for the government in that southern region, possibly influenced by Russian Government support of South Ossetians.

 

There's probably a lot of different reasons why the regions vary so much in their acceptance of the government. Some may be looked after better than others. Chechnya and Dagestan most likely look at security, with the Feds being the only defence against the usual suspects pumping foreign Jihadi militants into their republics again. On the other side of the coin, it could be argued that the far eastern regions have been neglected for far too long.

Edited August 28, 2021 by willedoo

[willedoo]

In defence news this week, the military has inked a contract with the manufacturer for the supply of the Zircon hypersonic missile to be kitted out on Russia's naval ships next year. The Zircon is the so called carrier killer and it will be the first time anti-ship hypersonic missiles have been operationally deployed. Tests over a 350 klm range have scored direct hits at Mach 7 speed.

 

Not checkmate, but it puts the U.S. and their NATO buddies in check until they can catch up with technology. According to some, that's still a fair way off.

[Marty_d]

CWIS isn't going to stop something travelling at mach 7.

[willedoo]

8 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

CWIS isn't going to stop something travelling at mach 7.

Probably the only way is to catch up and have similar weapons so there's parity as a deterrent. Conversely, the Russians don't have anything either that can stop something like that. They are saying that the soon to be introduced S-500 system can , but that remains to be seen. It might be just hype.

 

The other nasty one that's a guaranteed carrier killer is the air launched Kinzhal, already in service. It's carried by Tu-22 and MiG-31 aircraft and has a range of more that 2,000 klm., Mach 10 top speed, ability to be controlled after launch with evasive maneuvers and is capable of both conventional and nuclear warheads.

 

I remember seeing a defence ministry clip of one of the earlier air launch tests of the Kinzhal. It dropped and took off at normal speed then warp speed kicked in. I couldn't believe how fast that thing accelerated. Scary stuff. No wonder NATO are worried. Funding twenty years of wars has been at the expense of R & D and now they're left with their pants down.

[onetrack]

The Israelis will be stepping up to the mark with Arrow 3, Barak 8, and Davids Sling. The Americans are way behind with the Patriot missiles.

[willedoo]

11 minutes ago, onetrack said:

The Americans are way behind with the Patriot missiles.

Not wrong there. It's no wonder Turkey is refusing to budge on their purchase of the Russian S-400 system. It must be a big issue for them as they've forgone the F-35 to have the S-400 system. No sympathy for the Yanks there. For years they refused to sell the Patriot to the Turks. Turkey eventually got the shits with them and bought the Russian system. America's response was to offer them Patriots if they dropped the S-400. No wonder even their allies don't like them or trust them.  The S-400 is a much superior system and Russia is in the game of selling, not playing silly buggers.

 

I wish I still had a link to an article written shortly after the successful missile strike on the Saudi oil facilities. It was penned by a retired Russian army general who was formerly head of air defences. He gave a really good run down on how layered systems work and he cleared up quite a few myths regarding stealth and air defences. As an example, the S-400 is claimed by many to have a 400km radius coverage, but it's not that simple. Due to the curvature of the earth, that's only applicable to incoming at very high altitude. Something coming low and fast can cut that to a 50km radius.

[Marty_d]

I read a sci-fi book many years ago about an orbital weapons system that used non-explosive missiles (ie just a crowbar with a rocket pack on the end of it) fired from space.  Because these things were hypersonic and so small there was no defense against them, and even without a warhead the impact was immense because of the speed.  You could imagine one of those going through a carrier.

[Old Koreelah]

I thought that during the Cold War the major powers signed an agreement banning space-based weapons.

[Marty_d]

17 minutes ago, Old Koreelah said:

I thought that during the Cold War the major powers signed an agreement banning space-based weapons.

The book was sci-fi...

but having said that, I'm willing to bet that all of the major satellite-owning countries have trialled, or secretly have, anti-satellite weaponry on some of them.

[Old Koreelah]

Quite true Marty, but in this area, life often imitates art. Quite a few SF writers were uncannily accurate in their prediction. (Perhaps they had access to a secret wormhole to the future.)

 

I presume Russia’s carrier killer would be launched from space.

America’s Orange nut job set up a “Space Force” which would appear to contravene that treaty.

[willedoo]

20 hours ago, Marty_d said:

The book was sci-fi...

but having said that, I'm willing to bet that all of the major satellite-owning countries have trialled, or secretly have, anti-satellite weaponry on some of them.

During Trump's administration, they were making a lot of noise about trying to steer the U.S. military away from being dependent on technology from countries perceived as adversaries. One that had them concerned was the Pentagon's use of satellites with Russian geo-positioning thrusters. They were concerned that the Russians might build in capability to override and control positioning of U.S. satellites.

 

A lot of their stuff is let out to tender and contractors supplying satellites are going for the Russian thrusters because they are world's best state of the art and the price is right. Other thrusters available are much less reliable and much more expensive. Those pesky Russians. Some Americans have been very disappointed in their country's reliance on Chinese and Russian technology. Until recently, they couldn't put an astronaut in space without hitching a ride on the Soyuz, half of NASA's rocket launches rely on Russian rocket engines and their satellites have Russian thrusters  for navigation.

 

It's an interconnected world these days. About 14% by weight of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner is Russian made and designed. On the other side of the coin, Iran and Russia looked at a deal to license build the Sukhoi Superjet in Iran. It was knocked on the head by the U.S. as the Superjet percentage of U.S. made components was above the minimum threshold where sanctions are applicable.

[willedoo]

Have you seen this woman? If so, ring the Feds as she's just been put on the federal wanted list in Russia and soon to be on the international wanted list. Marina Rakova is the VP of Sperbank, Russia's biggest bank and has been charged with embezzlement in absentia after doing a runner.

 

The charges relate to her career in politics before working for the bank. She was deputy education minister and is accused of syphoning off taxpayers money intended for a federal education program. The funds allegedly went into a fund that she was the CEO of.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Spermbank?

[willedoo]

50 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

Spermbank?

Marty, I think you're reading too much into those hand gestures she's making. Although to be honest, that left hand has got me a bit worried.

[onetrack]

That photo just calls out for a meme caption.

 

 

[willedoo]

I think this is how it usually goes:

 

1. Grab hold of.

2. Incrementally apply pressure.

      

and to finish off...

 

3. Twist into submission.

[Jerry_Atrick]

They're not hands.. they're talons.. ouch!

[Marty_d]

On 02/10/2021 at 10:23 PM, willedoo said:

Marty, I think you're reading too much into those hand gestures she's making. Although to be honest, that left hand has got me a bit worried.

 

Sorry, I was just making a pun on the name of the bank - (and I've never made a deposit, but I'm fairly confident they make you do it yourself!)

[willedoo]

Looking forward to this movie coming out. Sky is based on the story of the 2015 shootdown of a VVS Su-24 by a Turkish F-16 in Syria. It's scheduled for theater release next month; hopefully it will make it to DVD in a timely manner.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Interesting segment on LNL yesterday about the Gulags that Joseph Stalin created.

 

Apparently he sent millions of people to them, ordinary criminals as well as "enemies of the people" ie intellectuals, academics, people considered a threat to the regime.

When the gulags were closed a quarter century afterwards, many people stayed in the same area for a variety of reasons - no longer connected to where they came from, lack of choice, still considered a threat so not allowed back to Moscow.  

The interesting thing is that someone just did a study on the kids and grandkids from the original gulag populations.  I didn't hear the full episode, but the gist of it was that because of the higher average education level of the original inhabitants (I think they said about 15% of "enemies of the people" had been to university compared to 1% of the broader Russian population), the towns that sprung up where the gulags had been had better outcomes in all sorts of areas than average.

 

[nomadpete]

Are you suggesting that smartness breeds smartness?

 

Was it genetic, or was it taught?

 

I thought we already debated the whole 'Nature vs Nurture' thing ages ago?

 

I suppose it would be an important discovery if some country took notice and started promoting education and free thought.

[willedoo]

At one stage Stalin thought it was a good idea to imprison and execute a big portion of the aircraft designers. Hundreds of designers and engineers were arrested; some well known names like Polikarpov, Tupolev and Petlyakov among them. Many were executed before the king dickhead figured out he needed them to build aeroplanes..

[Marty_d]

On 13/10/2021 at 7:42 AM, nomadpete said:

Are you suggesting that smartness breeds smartness?

 

Was it genetic, or was it taught?

 

I thought we already debated the whole 'Nature vs Nurture' thing ages ago?

 

I suppose it would be an important discovery if some country took notice and started promoting education and free thought.

I reckon it would have been a bit of both.  If you have intelligent parents then not only are you likely to benefit from Nature, but they'd also make the effort to encourage your education, so you're getting Nurture too.

Having said that there's all kinds of intelligence, and I've met people with neither education nor a particularly high IQ that have incredible empathy (emotional intelligence).  Kids of those people would probably have a far better start in life than many others.

[spacesailor]

EDUCATION

POWER over the children, CONFORM or Fail.   ( No bludi mullet hair )

Where do those other ARTS get a look in from the three Rs.

I will Never write a book.

I will never write poetry.

I have No power to put thought to paper.

This IS my First time Comunicating with people. I,m not shy either.

spacesailor

 

Edited October 13, 2021 by spacesailor
More added

[Marty_d]

7 hours ago, spacesailor said:

EDUCATION

POWER over the children, CONFORM or Fail.   ( No bludi mullet hair )

Where do those other ARTS get a look in from the three Rs.

I will Never write a book.

I will never write poetry.

I have No power to put thought to paper.

This IS my First time Comunicating with people. I,m not shy either.

spacesailor

 

Most of us will never write a book or poetry.

 

But you know what Spacey - a good book is the story itself, not the words written down.  If you have a story to tell (and it sounds like your life has been very interesting) then just write it in your own words without worrying about spelling, punctuation or sentence construction - that's the editor's job to fix.