What's good (and bad ) about Russia?

[spacesailor]

"Th USA has a particularly severe geographical problem in attaining their hoped aim of world domination, "

 

Is it the same dream that Adolf H had many wars ago,?

 

Adolf's dream is almost a reality. ( a unified Europe )

 

BUT

 

Its a little different to what he wanted !.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[willedoo]

Where is there a real democracy? Certainly not in Australia or the USA. The UK democracy looks to be folding up. I think I agree with Churchill.

 

Trying to find a real democracy is about as hard as finding true communism. As in China; still claiming to be communist, but in reality, a one party capitalist country with no right to vote.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Trying to find a real democracy is about as hard as finding true communism. As in China; still claiming to be communist, but in reality, a one party capitalist country with no right to vote.

 

Some would disagree; in China Party members do get to vote, but their choice is a bit limited.

 

We in western "democracies" at least get a choice, but it's very hard for anyone to get elected without Big Media onside. 

 

 

[willedoo]

Excuse my ignorance; I don't know much about China's system, just making assumptions. Under the old Soviet system, party members had a vote to elect representatives for their soviet. A soviet could involve a region, city, or even a large workplace. Often there was not much choice of candidates, so the outcome was fairly predictable. One advantage they had was the ability to recall their representatives if they weren't doing their job and then elect others to replace them. Our system's probably a lot fairer, except once we elect someone, they're there for three years (or six) and there's not much we can do till next election if the rep is not pulling his/her weight.

 

 

[willedoo]

How to steal a wheelbarrow: This video emerged yesterday of two Russian kids caught on surveillance footage stealing someone's wheelbarrow. Reminds me of Benny Hill.

 

 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

It's heartwarming to see that the youth of today is still determined to carry on the old traditions of redistributing the means of production!

 

 

[willedoo]

Good old socialist wealth re-distribution. I like the end bit where you can see the big kid pulling the barrow behind him with the little kid sitting in it.

 

 

[facthunter]

That's to deflect the bullets. Nev

 

 

[willedoo]

Not sure if this is appropriate to post, but here goes. I was reading about recent commemorations of the 75th. anniversary of the liberation of Moldova from German forces and found some information about female fighter pilot Maria Kulkina. Among Soviet WW2 female pilots, she's relatively unknown compared to the well documented histories of the three female aviation regiments. The night bomber regiment flying the U-2's seems to get the lion's share of the attention, but individual female pilots attached to male regiments usually don't get much of a mention. Anna Yegorova, as far as I know the only female Sturmovik pilot, comes to mind.

 

Maria Kulkina and her second husband were the only husband and wife fighter pilots in the Soviet Union during the war, and most likely in the world. Maria started flying at flight school at age 16 and married her flight instructor, Sergei Psarev at age 18. She graduated from civil aviation flight school at 19, after which Maria and Sergei flew as civil air fleet pilots in Tbilisi, Georgian SSR. At the outbreak of war, Sergei flew with the 748th long-range  aviation regiment and lost his life in 1942. After his death, Maria applied to join the Air Force and was accepted as a pilot in early 1943 with the rank of Junior Lieutenant.

 

Her first posting was with the 145th Separate Communications Squadron, flying communications at the front. During this time, she flew up to 15 sorties per day, totaling well over 500 sorties in total. For her actions, she was awarded the Order of the Red Star. After that, she moved to fighter aviation in late1943 and served with the 267th Fighter Aviation Regiment, flying a Yak-9. Maria married her squadron commander, Captain Yuri Antipov, and flew as his wingman. On 20th, May, 1944, she fought her last battle as part of a group of aircraft supporting ground troops in the fighting around Dubosari, Moldovian SSR. Flying wingman for her husband, she successfully intercepted two Me-109's on his tail, shooting down one and damaging the other, forcing it to retire. While doing this, she was attacked from behind by a pair of 109's and shot down. For whatever reason, she was unable to bail out. Maria's crash site couldn't be located due to flooding and rapid movement of the front away from the area.

 

In 1972, her remains were found at a depth of 10 metres and buried at the Mound of Glory near Dubosari. This is the same small hill from where the commanding General witnessed her final dogfight in 1944. That same year she was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 2nd degree; possibly a posthumous award. The Mound of Glory has a tank crew buried there with a tank placed on top, as well as Maria and another pilot who passed on in later times. She is still remembered and honoured by the people of the Transnistria region of Moldova. At 25, a short but full life.

 

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[spacesailor]

Thank you for posting.

 

Well worth reading,

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and there are so many true stories like hers that should be made into movies.

 

Just don't let Hollywood do it, or we'll get another travesty like "Pearl Harbour"

 

 

[willedoo]

They say truth is stranger than fiction, and there are so many true stories like hers that should be made into movies.

 

Just don't let Hollywood do it, or we'll get another travesty like "Pearl Harbour"

 

Very true. Such a vast and varied conflict with so many human stories to tell. I often think about all those who had unremarkable jobs during the war; those who never got the accolades, but provided the backbone of the whole effort.

 

The mention of Hollywood interpretation got me thinking about an experience I once had with a book. Over the years, I've read books and information about WW2 female ace Lydia Litvyak, and when a new book came on the market, I looked forward to reading it. I purchased the book direct from the American author's website which also had the story of the writing of the book. He had all good intentions and had traveled to Ukraine to meet up with Valentina Vaschenko, an elderly lady who ran a small museum in the Donbass to honour Lydia's life and career. He also set up a fund to try to raise money for the museum collection to do a world tour as a visiting collection.

 

But when the book came out, it was absolutely woeful. Nothing more than a romantic fiction, and reminded me of the saying about never letting the truth get in the way of a good story. Fingers crossed it never gets made into a movie. It would probably be entertaining, but that's about all.

 

 

[facthunter]

 Good "flying" decisions . Marry the Boss . Has to be an advantage. (Somebody has to point out these things)  . Nev

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

Politics or the market- they both tend to pervert the truth. 

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

 Good "flying" decisions . Marry the Boss . Has to be an advantage. (Somebody has to point out these things)  . Nev

 

I'd be a bit kinder to her, Nev. Perhaps she married him for protection from abuse by the rest of the squadron, which was apparently a common experience for female pilots.

 

 

[facthunter]

 Bit like when you are in Gaol? Nev

 

 

[willedoo]

Marrying the boss did happen a bit. The previously mentioned Anna Yegorova married the Colonel Commander of her regiment, although I think they might have married after war's end. I think a part of it is just human nature. A lot of men, not many single women. The women, by nature, gravitate towards the predominant alpha male, who is usually the boss. The average cook or armourer has a bit of hefty competition.

 

 

[willedoo]

I'd be a bit kinder to her, Nev. Perhaps she married him for protection from abuse by the rest of the squadron, which was apparently a common experience for female pilots.

 

There would be some from fellow male pilots, depending on rank, but that would happen anywhere. They were female, but firstly and most importantly, pilot officers with a minimum rank of Junior Lieutenant. Women pilots were represented evenly through the officer ranks; quite a lot of Captains among them, as well as the odd Major. One thing in their favour was the Soviet system. All units had a Commissar to enforce the communist doctrine of equality, so that would have been a degree of protection for the women. Harrassment by a lower ranking male could end in a tribunal hearing which didn't often have a good outcome for the accused.

 

Having said that, in cases like the lady pilot in question, it would be more of an issue being one of the few women in the regiment, as opposed to the units with a lot more women.

 

 

[spacesailor]

" travesty like "Pearl Harbour"

 

I think that the film should have started on a true event.

 

"https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cornelia_Fort"

 

 

 

The first american plane shot in that war !.

 

AND survived,

 

spacesailor

 

 

 

[willedoo]

" travesty like "Pearl Harbour"

 

I think that the film should have started on a true event.

 

"https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cornelia_Fort"

 

 

 

The first american plane shot in that war !.

 

AND survived,

 

spacesailor

 

Thanks, space. That's a story I hadn't heard before.

 

 

[Bruce]

There is a big thing about Russia that sticks out badly: It appears common for journalists to be murdered there, probably at orders from the top.

 

Now here, I am aghast at the use of police to raid news offices here, but this is a million times less bad than ordering the murders of journalists.

 

Putin is portrayed here as a KGB thug who made good during the transition.  This is highly believable when so many official murders happen.

 

 

[facthunter]

 Makes to" disappear" someone into a verb. Worked in CHILE for a while. USA makes it look as though the  Russians can not survive unless they have a STRONG leader, and" I'm IT "says Valdimir so they put up with a bit of nasty stuff happening, and most just keep their head down. Nev

 

 

[willedoo]

It also pays to check the historical data on journalist deaths in Russia to keep it in context. Overall, it's higher than countries like ours for sure. Sometimes people mix the murder/disappearance numbers with the total deaths. Total deaths include war journalists lost in Afghanistan, Chechyna, Dagestan, Georgia etc.. These weren't all crossfire incidents; some murders are included in those conflict zones as well. The murder figures can be further broken down into those where official government suspicion is involved, and those by others. Russia, being the wild west type of country it is, has a lot of corruption and organized crime outside of government spheres and it's not hard for a journo to get on the wrong side of a businessman or lower level local official. But what happens is, that due to our entrenched Russophobia and ever increasing Putinophobia, we tend to take any figures as a given that it's all the work of Putin and his cronies. Basically, we believe what we want to believe.

 

Another trend in the statistics is that journalist deaths in that country are decreasing year by year in a significant downward trend. If you look at the numbers during the 90's, it's very high, but that was an exceptionally lawless and confused decade with the fallout from the dissolution of the Union. It's nowhere near that rate now and never will be again.

 

I can understand people thinking Putin is some sort of evil dictator, and it must be true because our media tells us so. But another truth is that the Russian Federation does need a strong leader to survive long enough to stabilize economically and socially, and Putin is one of the only contenders. The main problem is that Uncle Sam is waiting in the wings to pick over their bones at the slightest sign of weakness, like they did with the product sharing agreements of the 90's. It's only one man that stopped that theft, kicked out the Yanks and took back control of Russia's resources and revenue. That's one of many reasons why he's popular with older Russians. What happens in the future is anyone's guess. The younger generation don't know or remember that history, so the status quo is not as popular with them and things could change in the future. It will either remain much the same and possibly get stronger, or it will become just another American clone controlled by the U.S.. Luckily for Russia, there's still enough young people who don't want the latter.

 

I remember when Medvedev was President, the U.S were rubbing their hands with glee. They finally had a relatively mild President they could sucker, something they hadn't had since their stooge Yeltsin, and it would have been a pushover if Medvedev and Putin hadn't swapped their jobs back again. The reason the Yanks hate Putin is because he isn't a pushover. I firmly believe the worst thing Russia could do at present is to get rid of Putin. If he was suddenly gone, just watch that country implode in a big way. Good fun for the U.S., but a world of pain for the average Russian. The time will come when they outgrow Putin, but at the moment they need him to steer the ship to a more stable position economically and with regard to national defence and security. We try too much to compare him with our privileged Western societies. But if you compare the state of Russia and Putin today with the Russia of the 90's and early 2000's, he's not doing too bad at all.

 

 

[Old Koreelah]

I'm sure much of your analysis is valid, Willedoo. As a national leader, Putin runs rings around his grubby little mate in the White House.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49645628

 

But that's doesn't make Putin any less odious. His administration has put lots of opponents in prison and buggered up any semblance of democracy.

 

If he was fair dinkum about improving the lot of the average Russian, he'd concentrate on cleaning up corruption and the rule of law. I totally understand Mother Russia needing to secure its borders, but he is involved in several wars in far off places. He spends quillions on new weapons, as if Russia is a Superpower, yet his country's economy is no larger than Australia's.

 

 

[willedoo]

I'm sure much of your analysis is valid, Willedoo. As a national leader, Putin runs rings around his grubby little mate in the White House.

 

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-49645628

 

But that's doesn't make Putin any less odious. His administration has put lots of opponents in prison and buggered up any semblance of democracy.

 

If he was fair dinkum about improving the lot of the average Russian, he'd concentrate on cleaning up corruption and the rule of law. I totally understand Mother Russia needing to secure its borders, but he is involved in several wars in far off places. He spends quillions on new weapons, as if Russia is a Superpower, yet his country's economy is no larger than Australia's.

 

I can understand your comments, for sure.

 

As far as the economy goes, it depends on what economic indicator is used. Australia's GDP - 1.3 trillion, Russia -1.5 trillion. Australia's GDP per cap - $58,000, Russia - $11,000. Australian population 24 million, Russia 144 million. Australia's foreign exchange reserves - 38 billion, Russia's - 409 billion. I don't know the exact figure, but they have multiples of cash and gold (physical, not paper) than what we have despite GDP figures. I guess with all numbers, we have to be careful we're not comparing apples with oranges.

 

One thing that distorts figures is that Russia's GDP is low at present due to the world oil slump and sanctions. Defence spending in Russia has been three times our budget, but next years forcast is ten billion less than ours.  If you think of 3x our budget as squillions, the squillions have already been invested in defence in past years when their economy was much larger and healthier. They now have most of what they need, hence the low spend of the past couple of years. It also suits their new economic reality, and this is why they geared up when they were cashed up. Russia's forcast defence spend for 2019/2020 is about 17 billion, compared with 27 billion (USD) for us. Even when you compare their previous figures of 60 billion to that of America's 800 billion, it's hard for me to think of that as spending like a superpower.

 

With all that happening, there is an obvious result. Putin and his government's popularity is shrinking due to reasons you mention. Social issues, infrastructure etc. lacking due to large defence spending. They had to spend that money because their military, post 1991, was an absolute train wreck. And they have do defend the largest country with the longest border of all. So it was necessary. Now they have that sorted, Putin is smart enough to now turn to domestic needs so they don't get the boot. At least that's what he's promising; whether it turns to action, only time will tell.

 

As far as cleaning up corruption goes, a lot of inroads have been made, but it's a huge task in a country where it's so entrenched. It's certainly not as easy to do as in countries like ours. I'm certainly not denying Putin and his cronies indulge in the odd bit of it, but he has been managing corruption as best he can without getting assassinated. The juggling act is which corruption to keep and which to get rid of. That's the realistic goal in Russia, whereas here we can aim a bit higher because we have much lower hurdles. One of the biggest things holding the average citizen back is the high level of corruption at a regional and local government level. There's a lot of fifedoms there and the feds are not on top of it at all. That's where the federal government really has to pull their socks up if they want to stay in power long term.

 

On the subject of jailing opponents, a lot of them deserve to be jailed and a lot don't. Some are well meaning but some are corrupt gangsters with a lot of blood on their hands. The U.S. and some media will always try to dress any opposition up as a squeaky clean, democracy loving Mr. Niceguy battling the evil Putin. But in reality, some of them are just corrupt criminals and it's the old 'Our enemy's enemy is our friend' routine. I'm not denying some innocent people have been jailed, but it's not all black and white. Some opposing Putin are far worse than he is, and some are way better.

 

I'm sure we have a better standard of so called democracy than the Russian Federation, but I'd be interested to hear thoughts on how Putin's

 

administration has buggered up any semblance of democracy.