And, judging by the way she shakes like a leaf in the wind these days, might perhaps have a real taste for human flesh.

Some of them realize that the difference between old Stalin and Ne Stalin is that old Stalin wore a uniform, while new Stalin wears a pantsuit, lives in Germany, and has a slightly manlier moustache.

This Monday morning post is the best so far….even though I am viewing it on a Tuesday

Thanks man, I appreciate it.

I suspect that Russians don't really like change that much, or rather prefer steady small wins with as little risk as possible, but I could be wrong on that.

No, you're quite correct about this. They are a stolid people with a strong sense of culture and tradition, and they don't particularly care for people who come along demanding that they uproot the old ways in favour of the new and the bold.

It would be interesting to see the former Russian Federation countries to leave the EU and join Russia, at least economically, voluntarily this time

Some of them are doing so, and they are doing pretty well as a result. These are mostly nations to the south of Russia's border rather than to the west – these would be mostly the "-stan" nations, which have close economic and political ties to Russia.

The ones to the west of Russia are a mixed bag. Ukraine, Hungary, and Poland are of course heavily into the EU experiment, although the latter two are clearly moving on a different trajectory that will take them away from the EU and toward a more delicate balancing act between the US and Russia.

But roughly 60-70% of Ukraine wants to go more toward the EU, mostly because their economy is FUBARd and they don't know how to fix it. Their economy is more corrupt and more screwed, by far, than Russia's – and their women are much worse in terms of being dangerous gold-diggers.

With regards to Putin, he was trained and conditioned by KGB. It's no wonder he has ice running through his veins. He is doing much better work compared to his predecessors no doubt about that. I suspect it will take a few more generations for Russia to be less corrupted. After all, communism did not shutter in an instant after Stalin's death. I suspect that Russians don't really like change that much, or rather prefer steady small wins with as little risk as possible, but I could be wrong on that.

It would be interesting to see the former Russian Federation countries to leave the EU and join Russia, at least economically, voluntarily this time. Some former communist countries are now seeing explosive economic growth, because they have less government restrictions. Why bother with the idiots who reside in Brussels who have nothing better to do all day other than scratching their saggy, wrinkled balls.

Yeah, I was pretty amazed by that one. It's so completely out of left-field, and yet really funny and well done.

Yep, that film has "Ryan Reynolds" all over it. Practically tailor-made for a goofball like him.

Funny thing is, I remember watching him clowning around in Van Wilder, all those years ago, and his basic schtick still hasn't changed. He's essentially the lovable class clown who just happens to look like a male model (which he is). And it's landed him some of the best roles and action films out there (and also Green Lantern; he's probably more embarrassed about that than anyone who's actually seen it).

Plus, he gets to tap Blake Lively every night, so the dude's clearly doing something right.

Like you said, we'll see if the movie actually delivers on its promise, but so far, it looks interesting.

I don't usually have any interest in devil mouse, but weirdly enough, the new movie 'free guy' starring the immortal (and likely vampiric) Ryan Reynolds appears strangely compelling… if the next trailers hold up, I might actually give them some money for finally hiring a writer that isn't a Greta Thurnburg Clone.

I won't ignore the fact that it's a liberal NPC pipe dream that they could someday become a real boy if the mouse-eared green fairy grants their wishes, but it still looks like shallow fun.

youtu.be/ZGIjCU3EfPc

youtube.com/watch?v=X2m-08cOAbc