What's good (and bad ) about Russia?

[Marty_d]

Hey Willedoo,

 

To be honest, no, I never expected your reaction to be so... emphatic! I thought it was interesting, and being as cynical about political messaging from Russia as any other country, gave it over half a chance of having some truth. Especially given the video from another anaesthetist embedded in the article, not to mention the idiot blasting the doctor (who reminded me of Alan Jones, and whoever he's having a crack at must have some good points).

 

But it's obviously hit a sore spot with you, and for that I'm sorry. Doesn't mean I totally dismiss the claims - Russia does have some form when it comes to telling porkies to protect its reputation (as do most countries, including ours).

[willedoo]

Agree Marty, I don't totally dismiss the claims either. There would no doubt be some truth in them. The point I was making is that she's not just some medical whistle blower acting on this particular issue. She's a well known opposition activist and if she wasn't having a dig over the pandemic, it would be on to the next opportunity to score some blows on the government. In all that, the situation in that country with the virus is probably as dire and mis-managed as in the U.S.. I just wish those lazy arsed journalists would pull their socks up and do some decent investigative journalism instead of just recycling two month old unsubstantiated allegations. There's probably a lot in her allegations worth investigating, but it won't happen with the lazy pr*cks we've got working(?) in out media outlets. It's easier for them to dish up the standard fare.

 

 

Anyway, on a lighter note, this is one of those images that is hard to mentally unsee.

 

Edited June 2, 2020 by Guest

[Yenn]

Reminds me of the musical Oklahoma.

I sure am feeling sorry for the pony.

[willedoo]

Pre poll voting has started in Russia ahead of the July 1st. public vote on the proposed constitutional changes. The new constitution has already passed a vote in both houses of parliament and the government has said the changes won't be introduced unless the people vote for it as well. I guess it's wait and see on that one. The biggest critic of the changes is Russia's second biggest party, the Communist Party. They are no fan of the original American/Yeltsin constitution, but see the proposed changes as a lost opportunity to do some good. The government has rejected all their suggestions so far.

 

The most controversial change is the reset of presidential terms that could potentially see Putin stay in the top job until 2036. The initial draft set a maximum of two six year terms with retrospective terms included, meaning Putin would have to stand down in 2024. At the time he said there would be no reset of presidential terms when the new constitution took effect. But then, United Russia Party stalwart, State Duma member, and first space lady Valentina Tereshkova introduced an amendment into parliament to reset terms and discount past terms at the start of the new constitution, clearing the way for Putin to do two more terms. For Putin, this would have been one of those "Aw, gee shucks; well alright then, if you insist" type of moments.

 

As far as the other changes, there's some pension reference, a ban on important officials holding foreign citizenship and a change in the power structure. Some power of the president has been passed to both houses of parliament. For example, the appointment of a prime minister and other cabinet members proposed by the president would be subject to the approval of the State Duma. But like our system, when the ruling party holds majorities in both houses, any parliamentary vote is a foregone conclusion and just rubber stamping. Another controversial change defines marriage as being between a man and a woman, which could effectively outlaw gay marriage. It will be interesting to see how Putin is faring in 2024, as health permitting, there's no reason to think he won't run again. A lot might hinge on how well the government goes with social reform and infrastructure. The previous pension cuts have cost him dearly in popularity, as well as several other issues, handling of Covid-19 included. To get back to former popularity levels, he would need to do something to make the lives of ordinary Russians better. With all the focus on military spending, a lot have been feeling neglected.

[willedoo]

The Lun ekranoplan has been on the move. Since retirement, it's been docked at the naval base at Kaspiysk in Dagestan and has been towed down the coast to Derbent.  It will go on display at the Patriot Park military themed tourist park.

 

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by willedoo

[Bruce Tuncks]

I have read that Russia's military spending is similar to Australias. I find this hard to believe, so what is the real situation?

[octave]

 

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

I have read that Russia's military spending is similar to Australias. I find this hard to believe, so what is the real situation?

Bruce, for the current financial year the predicted spend would be less than Australia's which is a big drop from the 2018 pie graph octave posted above. The real figure will probably be bigger than the predicted figure. The reason it's so low considering it's the second biggest military in the world is that in the years recent, Russia spent up big on military upgrades while the oil price and revenue was high. Now they've caught up and can ease the throttle back on military spending. It's a very different military to that of five or six years ago. Very fortunate for them that most of the spending had been funded before the oil crash.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Also, Russia has a lower employee cost base and probably a lower cost base altogether. So while the value they spen may be similar to Australia, the real spend will be higher...

 

Edited August 2, 2020 by Jerry_Atrick

[Bruce Tuncks]

Thanks guys. That pie chart shows Russia as being more than twice  Australia but gosh look at the huge total amounts!  About $250 per year for every person on the planet.

We should all be ashamed of this.

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, Bruce Tuncks said:

We should all be ashamed of this.

Particularly the Americans, in my opinion. They spend more than ten times than Russia, yet continually portray Russia as the aggressor and themselves as the world's savior. They've even in recent times accused Russia of trying to start an arms race. It's laughable.

[willedoo]

Makes you wonder how this type of accident keeps happening in Moscow's international airports. The Airbus was stationary; parked up and being prepared for a later flight. The truck that hit it is a semi-trailer fuel tanker.

 

 

[onetrack]

Inattention, plain and simple. Rubber-necking at something unrelated to what he was supposed to be concentrating on - which is, where he was driving.

 

Or did the aircraft roll forward onto the truck cab because someone forgot to apply the park brake or chock the aircraft? Alcoholism is a huge problem in Russia.

Edited August 3, 2020 by onetrack

[willedoo]

The plane didn't move; the truck hit it. Possibly could be alcohol related. There seems to be a bit of that among ground crew over there. For some reason it's not being policed too well. Going back last year to the Aeroflot Sukhoi Superjet that caught fire after a hard landing and killed 41 people, there were reports that one of the fire crew was offering survivors a swig of a vodka bottle on the tarmac after they'd escaped the burning plane. I've never read that one in any first aid manual.

[willedoo]

Reading the IMF projections for 2020, Russia is tipped to overtake Germany to enter the top five economies by GDP. It seems to be by default due to the economic fallout of the pandemic. Russia's economy has shrunk less than the other European nations. A long time goal to reach the top five, the big challenge will be to stay there when things start to pick up. When measured by nominal dollars, at current exchange rates, Russia is only 11th. in the world. The IMF believes that the Russian currency is undervalued by a factor of around 2.7 times, against the dollar.

[willedoo]

The Cold War games are continuing.  The U.S. has sent three B-52 bombers on a flight across Ukraine escorted by Ukrainian fighters. They circled along the Azov coast just outside Russian airspace, and the Russians put up four Su-27's and four Su-30's to intercept them. It was a clickbait exercise with US signal gathering aircraft and ships in the Black Sea to record emissions from Crimean defences.

 

During Soviet times, the Azov would have been out of bounds to US aircraft, but now that Ukraine is their little buddy, it gives them a backdoor to the Azov Sea via Ukrainian airspace.I don't know how it would have worked post Soviet time and previous to the Crimean re-unification in 2014. One would assume that the Russian base leases in Ukrainian Crimea would have given lease rights over the airspace as well. It's interesting to see B-52's so close to Crimea as during Soviet times, a big part of the Soviet strategic bomber fleet was based in Crimea.

 

 

The intercept gets a bit close towards the end of this clip.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Russia regularly also fly close to other soveriegn airspace.. It is common for them to tease the UK...An example is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-51789577

 

My understanding is normally, the mil pilots are in contact with ATC of the country they are skirting, but the last time they did it, they were not in contact and that raised eyebrows somewhat. Of course, they are gathering intelligence on operations, signalling, etc.

 

One good thing is that often, when the Russians fly out to the west, we get a nice show of Eurofighters...

[willedoo]

Jerry, I've been trying to reply to your post but this website is playing up like a second hand lawn mower at the moment. Clicking on 'choose files' to add a photo just keeps redirecting to the top of the page. A few other things are going wrong with it as well; will try again later. It might sort itself out.

[willedoo]

21 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Russia regularly also fly close to other soveriegn airspace.. It is common for them to tease the UK...An example is here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-north-east-orkney-shetland-51789577

 

My understanding is normally, the mil pilots are in contact with ATC of the country they are skirting, but the last time they did it, they were not in contact and that raised eyebrows somewhat. Of course, they are gathering intelligence on operations, signalling, etc.

 

One good thing is that often, when the Russians fly out to the west, we get a nice show of Eurofighters...

Jerry, the way I look at it is that it's good training for both sides at half the price. The other side is putting up half the cost and supply of equipment. Compared with just one country running their own defender/aggressor exercise, it would have to be a lot better all round.

 

During Cold War MK.1 things got a bit hot during the MiG-15/B-29 era of the so called Secret War. But as things cooled down in later years the intercepts were a lot friendlier, almost gentlemanly. There's a lot of interesting anecdotes from U.S. pilots from that era about their interactions with Soviet bomber crews. They often interacted with the same regular crews and got to know them in a fashion. The F-4 wizzo that took the attached photo of the Phantom barrel rolling over a Tu-95 Bear said in an interview that the Soviet crews would often request it via hand signals.

 

With the relations between the two countries at an almost all time low, it's now sadly gone back to a bit of confrontational behaviour from both sides. Mostly driven by those in power rather than the crews themselves would be my best guess.

 

 

 

Edited September 7, 2020 by willedoo

[old man emu]

1 hour ago, willedoo said:

They often interacted with the same regular crews and got to know them in a fashion. The F-4 wizzo that took the attached photo of the Phantom barrel rolling over a Tu-95 Bear said in an interview that the Soviet crews would often request it via hand signals

First and foremost, the Ruskies and the Yanks were young blokes flying the best gear. It's not unusual that they would share the brotherhood when their grumpy supervisors could not see them. 

[willedoo]

Vladimir Vladimirovich is setting himself up for a lifelong job. He's submitted a draft bill to Parliament whereby an ex president, within three months of leaving office, can apply to be appointed a senator for life. The law would also enable an ex president to appoint up to thirty senators, of which seven could be appointed for life and 23 for a 6 year senate term. That would make a block of 31 senators out of a senate total of 170.

[pmccarthy]

He hasn't read what happened to Julius Caesar.

 

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, pmccarthy said:

He hasn't read what happened to Julius Caesar.

Big Julie came to a Brutus end.

[red750]

I haven't been following this topic, but I heard on the TV this morning that Putin's family have asked him to step down as it is believed he may have Parkinson's disease. Apparently he has displayed the classic shaking (quivering) hand symptom.

[willedoo]

Could be fake news, but it will be interesting to see if there's some truth in it this time. The bloke making the allegations, political scientist Valery Solovei, has made the same claim in 2016 and 2017, neither of which turned out to be true.  Solovei is on the outer with the government and doesn't have a good reputation in the country and has in the past been described as ' US/UK media's favourite Russian conspiracy loon'. Some Western media in their rush to report anything anti-Putin will lap up anything Solovei says. But who knows, this time he might be right.

 

A big question if it was true and he did go, is who would replace him. There's not too many I can think of with the strength to stand up to the Americans. In that country you need a network of power to do the job successfully. It could end badly.

Edited November 7, 2020 by willedoo