Acidus wrote:
] Did I wake up in 1972? I wonder why he is rattling his sabre.
] Coupled with the recent consolidation of government and
] Putin's roll-back of a representative goverment, this is
] troublesome.

Oh come on.. The Cold War was so much better then the War on Terror and you know it.. Putin wants the good times back, and so do I. How much Bin Laden have you seen on TV lately? Not too much. Rather, not enough.. This man can't deliver! We could have Putin on the TV weekly saying he would bury us! This man, if nothing else, knows how to run a show. Remember the press conference at the high school when he was last down at the Texas Ranch? That was comedy! He is versatile. Perfect villain. I could see him launching a nuclear attack on an allied country, but I still feel as if I could sit down and have some Vodka with the man.

How many good terrorism moves have you seen lately? Easy answer for this: none. That Michael Moore character is boring. He is no John Candy. Sure, Black Hawk Down was a real thrill ride.. But frankly, the whole Die Hard trilogy is still tops, and all these were made before "September the 11th". Is there a new Rambo for this millennium? No. What's James Bond up to? The Arab that loved me? No. Spies like Us even out does the current Hollywood offerings in the same geographic regions we are dealing with today! Iron Eagle too! There sure as hell isn't anything on the level of Red Dawn coming our way.. No more Red October.. No more Firefox.. No more War Games!

Iraq might produce some good movies given some time.. Three Kings wasn't bad. But I don't expect what we got out of Vietnam. Again, a Cold War proxy conflict.

Face it, you need a superpower for good entertainment. We _need_ Russia to get their shit together. It could really work out! Some healthy tension between us would be a good thing. The companies would like it better this way.

Acidus wrote:
] ] Speaking to high-ranking military officials Wednesday,
] ] Putin said that while international terrorism was one of
] ] the main threats facing Russia, the country's nuclear
] ] defenses also had to be kept up to date.
] ]
] ] "We are conducting research and are testing the most
] ] up-to-date nuclear missile systems, which, I'm sure, will
] ] be supplied to the armed forces in the near future,"
] ] Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
] ]
] ] "What is even more important, these systems will have no
] ] analogues in the other nuclear powers during the next few
] ] years."
]
] Putin followed by saying "We will bury you."
]
] Did I wake up in 1972? I wonder why he is rattling his sabre.
] Coupled with the recent consolidation of government and
] Putin's roll-back of a representative goverment, this is
] troublesome.

It would be kind of cool if this story weren't bullshit... but alas, I think it is. There isn't much money to deploy new weapons systems in Russia. Putin is just talking shit. You wouldn't believe some of the shit that comes out of his mouth.

] It would be kind of cool if this story weren't bullshit... but
] alas, I think it is. There isn't much money to deploy new
] weapons systems in Russia. Putin is just talking shit. You
] wouldn't believe some of the shit that comes out of his mouth.

I'm not so sure. Private industry has been dumping alot of money into Russia, specifically to help their satelite launching intrastructure. New missles to launch sats can be modified to hold nukes.

Acidus wrote:
] ] It would be kind of cool if this story weren't bullshit...
] but
] ] alas, I think it is. There isn't much money to deploy new
] ] weapons systems in Russia. Putin is just talking shit. You
]
] ] wouldn't believe some of the shit that comes out of his
] mouth.
]
] I'm not so sure. Private industry has been dumping alot of
] money into Russia, specifically to help their satelite
] launching intrastructure. New missles to launch sats can be
] modified to hold nukes.

As far as I know, their satellite launching infrastructure uses the same old rockets. Its just a matter of maintaining and upgrading their production. And while investment has recovered since '98, the military budget of Russia is still tiny. Even after Putin's increases, which were essential for the majority of Russian troops to engage in actual "training," there just isn't enough money for something revolutionary. They've got how many badass airplanes from Mig and Sukhoi, and how many have been produced? They can't even afford to deploy the latest Kalashnikov rifles.

This is lip service. If its not, I'll eat my hat. They may have a new low cost missle to replace the rotting fleet... they may have a badass missle on the drawing board... but I seriously doubt that it makes much difference.

"Remember us. We have nukes. Fuck your missle defense shield." Anyone notice that this article immediately follows the test of hte Boeing mounted laser? ;) The press should cover it this way. But they suck at Russia.

Acidus wrote:
] ] Speaking to high-ranking military officials Wednesday,
] ] Putin said that while international terrorism was one of
] ] the main threats facing Russia, the country's nuclear
] ] defenses also had to be kept up to date.
] ]
] ] "We are conducting research and are testing the most
] ] up-to-date nuclear missile systems, which, I'm sure, will
] ] be supplied to the armed forces in the near future,"
] ] Putin was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
] ]
] ] "What is even more important, these systems will have no
] ] analogues in the other nuclear powers during the next few
] ] years."
]
] Putin followed by saying "We will bury you."
]
] Did I wake up in 1972? I wonder why he is rattling his sabre.
] Coupled with the recent consolidation of government and
] Putin's roll-back of a representative goverment, this is
] troublesome.

I think people are looking at this wrong. A better question might be to ask is who is the audience he's aiming this at? Us? Not likely, not with has good buddy W still living at 1600 Pennsylvania. The Germans? No, they're no threat. What about China? A little reminder to them that they shouldn't start looking north? That sounds much more plausible.