gunnergoz

JonS: I raise you, with...Windtalkers (yetch.)

Well, they did pretty well with Band of Brothers - albeit not strictly speaking a "movie" but still coming from the same community and creators. We can only hope that that project inspires similar works. I recently saw the movie about the liberation of the POW's in the Philippines and that was not bad at all...A- in my book. And there is a Pacific Theater BOB equivalent in production too...So bring 'em on! I'm ready!

I was speaking of Hollywood doing this particular historical event...AFAIK, it has not been done in a movie treatment before. Of course I've read of it in several different books. That's not what I meant. And I do wish Hollywood (and other nation's movie centers) would do more in this vein - telling the stories of soldiers from this era - with some semblance of historical accuracy. SPR was fine cinematography, but wasn't history; Enemy at the Gates was a fine love story - but wasn't history. Etc, etc. Now I only hope that the global economic situation clears up, so I can start leaning on my Ukrainian movie producer friend again, to do the WW2 movie he has been thinking about for several years now. He's got an interesting story to tell, based upon a real event from the war, where the Germans had a small Red Army unit cut off behind their lines and basically let it be for a while - and when they tried to break out, it was their own side that cut them down as they tried to enter the main Red Army lines. Sad but all too typical and true. Too dismally bleak for a movie, you say? Well, it's a Ukrainian thing - what else do you expect from a people whose anthem, roughly translated, goes "Ukraine is not yet dead"...?

Damn, just noticed I earlier posted a reference that you already knew about...teaches me to try to multitask! I end up missing silly things like that, dammit. Let us know what you turn up though - I am interested.

OK, call me a romanticist, but I think its a story worth telling - what's a life worth, after all? It may be a boring tactical problem, but it could still inspire and teach. I doubt Dye would get involved in "crap movies" myself. There are too many untold stories from the war, increasingly fewer people to tell theirs any more - and its not like the present generation would not benefit from an opportunity to learn some history and to appreciate sacrifices made for them in the past.

I did a quick Google and didn't really find much that was too helpful - unfortunately. This site has a lot of similar issues discussed, including one with your numbers: http://server1.vistaheads.com/forums/archive/index.php/f-120-p-18.html Another link suggested that a security update would help. If she accidentally downloaded malware, it might have damaged the OS somehow, even if you have since cleaned it up. One link I followed did suggest a fresh install of the OS - which may be an option for you. It's what I would probably do, in your situation. And after that, I'd update the heck out of the OS and anti-virus/anti-malware programs that you use. And make sure her firewall is on!

That's the trouble with historical snapshots, taken out of context and inserted into their books by various authors most of whom fail to tell the whole story. As you probably know, the best bet is to look up as many as possible of the actual wartime TO&E's; try this source, though I'm sure a deeper search than I did can find others: http://www.militaryresearch.org/army_photocopy_index.htm You'll probably need to look at several sources to try to find the early-war TO&E's for armored divisions, because this one only seems to show the late-war version. Bonus: Just found this with some TO&E dates to look for: http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/wwii/usarmy/armor.aspx

What makes you say that? Is it the choice of subject or something else? I saw nothing on the site to merit that level of scorn, so what did I miss?

Sorry, my tin foil hat is in the shop getting re-lined and I find myself suddenly unable to read your mind like I usually can.

Interesting, thanks.

My comments are based upon the assumption that, if things get really dicey, the regime will fall back upon the Red Army to keep its rule and quell major unrest. Of course, by then, you are on the verge of civil war anyway. But my thinking is that if it happens to Russia, it will be a civil war fought along ethnic lines to some degree, and secondarily along economic ones. Just my guess, though - and not something I see happening any day soon.

And how many of those urban Muslims are enthusiastic about Putin's nationalist regime? How many of them would be happy to join a professional military that would probably be used to put down their fellow Muslims in the border regions? My point is simply that a non-conscript military can be far choosier about who it takes in and who it leaves out; and that the choices will reflect what the regime feels are in its best interest. I don't have hard data to back this, unfortunately, just my gut feeling of what would happen. Your second point about the military representing the minority is well taken - the Russians have not in recent history had to deal with a non-conscript military. They may find it not to their liking. The "pros" may be far more likely to pull the trigger on a demonstration than were the conscript tankers that yielded for Boris Yeltsin years ago. The mystique of the Red Army and its proletarian roots, its heart beating with that the ordinary worker - all that imagery is going to go away after the first few times that the "New Red Army" cracks down on civil protest.

It's all doubtless a CIA plot.

It's all CGI... (College Girl Ingenuity) Fancy bras and stuffings to look bigger than one really is. I've seen photos of her where she doesn't look so..."abbundanza." Still a cute lady, though, no question of that.

If it is true - a big if, given Iran's history of lying about and inflating it's technical advances - it is only worrisome if it means that they have developed a sufficiently reliable launch system. Such a development might imply significant advances in their ballistic missile technology. The two capabilities go hand-in-hand. Too bad we just can't park a nice heavy ABM laser system in stationary orbit above them...

Actually, I think that is one of the major reasons they want to convert to an all-volunteer, professional military. It will be more reliable, but at the same time can work for the "highest bidder" (the government, presumably) and will likely recruit mostly from the cities of the core Russian heartland. You need technical people in a modern army and they can get fewer of them from remote, less developed hinterlands. The cities generate all the political enthusiasm for the government (by its agitprop activities) and can so be counted upon to generate large numbers of enthusiastic recruits. And, as a bonus, most of these recruits will be - guess what - non-Muslims.

Sergei, may God, Allah or a runaway Mack Truck get you for that last photo...

All it needs is 70 virgins and it could be heaven...

Well I'll be damned - fooled - and I'm glad for it too, for the kid's sake. When my wife and I first saw it a couple of years ago, we were taken in by the Russian text accompanying the video. She didn't notice that the mailbox was not the familiar Russian style, nor did we notice that the people were a bit too dark-skinned to be Russians; we were shocked and deleted the email that linked to the video. Now that I look at the video again, it is clearly not Russia. Nasty hoax made from the commercial, though. Thanks for pointing it out.

Actually, in Russia they are called "the dearly departed."

This mortgage mess certainly has fingers pointing in all directions, doesn't it? Like many nightmares, it begins with the best intentions - helping people buy homes, someone makes a profit. It ends when wholesale greed, thoughtless deregulation, government incompetence and consumer irresponsibility all combined into one heady brew that the whole nation now has a vicious hangover from. Hopefully it will not poison us into oblivion before we can recover. One interesting aside - when I was in Ukraine in the Summer of 2007, a friend who owns banks in both Russia and Ukraine asked me if I was concerned about the looming US housing finance sector crash. I did my best Alfred E. Neumann impression - "What, me worry?" I mumbled something about the strength of US economy because frankly, I hadn't a clue then of what he was talking about. But sure as heck, this guy and others overseas could see it coming. If ex-communists could see this coming over 18 months ago, why didn't our own leaders and bankers see it then too? Could it be because our guys had either (A) their heads up their own rectii, or ( their hands in the till and not on the tiller? You tell me.

They certainly don't kid around too much there, that's for sure. A few years ago a very popular TV show in Russia encouraged people to take funny "candid camera" type joke videos. One young man crawled into a mail box while his friends stood back and watched public reactions as their letters got pushed back out and a hand appeared in the slot, from inside. It was all going great, funny as all get out watching people's reaction - until one mafia type came up, tried to deposit his letter, saw the guy inside and pulled out an automatic, fired several rounds into the mailbox, killing the kid inside, and calmly walked away. The friend standing nearby got it all on video, which I have seen on the web. I doubt the shooter was ever prosecuted and if he was, he likely would have walked on it - he certainly looked like he was connected. Comedy/Tragedy - its only a breath apart in olde Russia...

I don't know about communism, but authoritarian police state rule is doing just fine, thank you! Are YOUR papers in order?

Thanks guys. I don't like DRM at all either, but I do sympathize with artists who try to protect their work. These guys see a Russian hacker under every bed, ready to steal their market - and to be honest, having been in Ukraine at least, I know people there will not buy legitimate software since waerz stuff is readily available and there are no penalties for downloading and using it. But the real market for these games are not in the FSU countries and I think that we are being made to pay the price for this fallacious notion that they are preserving an non-existent market with DRM. So they preserve a few sales, prevent a few hacks, and in so doing, scare away many more potential buyers. It's too bad that they won't hire a neutral party to do a survey - they might be surprised at the result and I would expect DRM to go out the widow afterwards. But that's just my feeling and clearly not their belief.

Well, the fact of the many cars labeled SS, as noted, is probably why DMV just went ahead and issued the LSSSAH plate - it's not like its an obvious obscenity, which they do look out for. The plates were a (Nazi) groggy thing to do and another (non-Nazi) grog called them on it. They broke no laws, but they were not guys I'd invite to have a beer with me.