Post #441,162
3/17/22 5:23:50 PM
3/17/22 5:23:50 PM
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on a personal level
We have a longtime Russian friend, born in the USSR late in Eisenhower’s first term; a US resident since late in Clinton’s second. She remains a fan of Russia and of Putin, and frankly gloated during TFG’s tenure about Trump being Putin’s puppet. “This is payback for Yeltsin,” she smirked. Well, I’m a little more disposed to cut her some slack than I am our homegrown apologists, because she has ties of blood and formative influences to the Old Country. Still, I was startled a few years ago when we dined with her and, enquiring after her obvious gloom, learned that she was weepy about the death of this “family friend,” whose Wikipedia entry, subsequently unearthed, did not move us to join her in mourning. We’ll probably be seeing her at some point this spring—she does paralegal work now and then for the spousette, and stays overnight on such occasions—and I think, or hope, that the “special military operation” will not figure in the dinner conversations, because based on the woman’s track record, I have little doubt that she’s all-in on the “special military operation” to clear the Nazis out of Ukraine. cordially,
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Post #441,163
3/17/22 5:59:13 PM
3/17/22 5:59:13 PM
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Used to work with a russian immigrant at an old job.
Wiry little shit, would go off about how Putin was clearing the homosexuals and Jews out of Russia, until we sat him down and told him that talk like that could get him fired. He clammed up, but was always something of an asshole - one time after I figured out a bug in our AD implementation and let the rest of the department know the pain we were in for (sync bug that was causing data loss; fix could potentially cause a LOT of data loss) he stood in front of my cubicle and yelled at me about how all I did was cause work for everybody else. This was after I was excluded from the AD implementation project; something he'd been included in.
I'm not sad I didn't stay in touch with him when I left that job. Ceterum autem censeo pars Republican esse delendam.
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Post #441,209
3/24/22 12:45:27 AM
3/24/22 12:45:27 AM
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I dunknow . . .
. . just about every Russian I've met has been at least a bit whacko, some a whole lot. I think maybe they should appoint Rasputin as the Patron Saint of Russia.
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Post #441,216
3/25/22 1:28:59 AM
3/25/22 1:28:59 AM
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Interesting
I've met an assortment of crazy Russians. One thing that really stuck out was the one who thought he had demons circling him at all times and he was always battling them to do the right thing versus what the demons were demanding of him. And then I was told it was actually part of his culture as opposed to a schizophrenic reaction.
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Post #441,167
3/17/22 10:17:52 PM
3/17/22 10:17:52 PM
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I have an Armenian friend . . .
. . who was visiting me often, but not recently due to family problems (death of father, disability of mother, working, etc.) She had spent time in Russia in her teens, but decided to follow her family to America rather than stay with the athletic program in Russia.
I talked to her on the phone recently, and the subject of Ukraine came up. I was very surprised at her comments. Straight unadulterated Russian propaganda, and totally detached from reality.
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Post #441,187
3/20/22 7:05:11 PM
3/20/22 7:05:11 PM
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To quote your other thread, he sounds nice.
And to paraphrase it, she sounds nice. --
Christian R. Conrad
The Man Who Apparently Still Knows Fucking EverythingMail: Same username as at the top left of this post, at iki.fi
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Post #441,207
3/23/22 10:56:10 PM
5/3/22 1:11:20 PM
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Re: on a personal level
Our friend’s sons have each returned to Russia: the younger at the end of 2006 fled these shores because he’d got seriously crosswise with the law here; his elder brother the other year because he was unhappy in love and homesick. They are each in their thirties; I hope that they will not be swept up into the maelstrom.
cordially,
Edited by rcareaga
May 3, 2022, 01:11:20 PM EDT
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Post #441,208
3/23/22 11:07:58 PM
3/23/22 11:07:58 PM
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I expect them to regret their return to Russia.
The Guardian:Growing numbers of Russians are leaving the country, fearful of possible martial law and the war’s consequences Alex
"There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge."
-- Isaac Asimov
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Post #441,237
3/28/22 8:56:25 PM
3/28/22 8:56:25 PM
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I was in email contact lately with one of them
I was worried that he might be conscripted (he’s in his late thirties). He reports that he has lately broken his leg. “Good move,” I replied.
cordially,
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