MsGuy

Lookin, the rule applies not only to Russian 'settlers' but to their Latvian born children and grandchildren also. The reason Russian speaking folks can now take the test (after they're fluent in Latvian) is that the European Union clamped down the Latts for blatant racial discrimination. Initially citizenship was granted strictly on ethnic lines. Hmmm...no path to citizenship. Now where have we heard that before? The problem of stranded Russian speaking minorities runs through all the post-Soviet states. They're almost always discriminated against politically and to some extent socially and economically. It's a damned difficult situation to resolve and the local chauvinists don't make it any easier when they jack the resident Russians around. Remember when the radical nationalists took over in Kiev, the first thing they did was to pass a law repealing Russian as an official language. Yeah, under intense Western pressure, the interim president later vetoed it but what does that bill say about the attitude, good will (hell, or even good sense) of the folks running Kiev? Notice too that opinion polls show intense support for Putin's actions so far in Russia. Russian nationalism is not dead. I read the latest Russian diplomatic initiative as saying Putin will settle (for now) for annexation of the Crimea, considerable autonomy for the eastern provinces and suppression of ultra-nationalists (anti Russians?) in the western provinces. That sounds like the next best thing to a Russian protectorate to me.

Here's a BBC article that nicely illustrates many of the problematic aspects of large minorities of ethnic Russians living in the states carved out of the former Soviet Union. Notice that official Latvian government figures show a 26.2% Russian minority while an unofficial private survey shows around 42%. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-26720549 You can see why Russia might be concerned over the treatment of Russian speaking folks now trapped across the rather arbitrary borders of the new countries. You can also see why Mother Russia's assertion of a right to supervise the welfare of Russians living outside Russia proper sends a chill down the spines of diplomats around Europe. By the way, part of the state ideology of Czarist Russia was the very similar notion that Russia was the protector and guarantor of the welfare of fellow Slavs living in the Balkans (this was a direct cause of WWI).

He swings... He misses...

Maybe his playing with that cuddly yellow plush toy is throwing too much static for my gaydar screen to handle, but damn if he doesn't seem gay as hell to me. I always try to remember that foreign cultural traits easily can be misinterpreted but damn... Gay or not, thanks for the posts. For me seeing folks dance along the raw edge of human possibility with grace and verve is the secret sauce of any athletic activity.

So when did they stop steaming open envelopes?

Oops my mistake. Somehow it got stuck in my head that this was the last episode and I repeated it here w/o checking. On the good side, in checking out the number of episodes in this season, I discovered that the series has been renewed for an additional 10 episodes next year. YEA!

Last episode of this season is on tonight (History channel). Bjorn is Ragnar's (Viking chief, lead character) eldest son. Separated from his father for about 4 or 5 years (long story), now happily reunited with Ragnar who is getting ready to go to war with evil King Jarl who seized Ragnar's territory while Ragnar was off looting England. LOL, I know that sounds a little soap-opera but it's actually pretty good (and chock a block full of hunky Vikings).

With any luck at all, this may prove to be the first time in site history that an administrator had to send his own thread to the sand box. On account of my immense respect for the delicacy of feeling of many of my fellow posters I have refrained from posting an appropriate visual addendum to this post. However those interested may wish to google image, key word "shit-faced".

I knew 12 out of 60. Maybe you could grade on a curve? I guess all those folks in the towers don't count?

Two small quibbles: 1) I don't know how the FAA balances the the equities of cost & rarity vs. the world wide media shit storm that follows a plane flying off to nowhere. 2) Maybe it's like all those copycat shootings in schools, post offices etc. Maybe, even as we speak, dozens of unbalanced pilots (or pilot wanabees) are saying to themselves, "Wow! How cool was that! Bet I could do it even better."

I've been wondering about that, RA1. Most folks just wouldn't have it in them to fly the plane into the water. On the other hand flying on past the point of no return is psychologically a much less difficult course of action. Probably they don't require it because they haven't been requiring it. Once it soaks into the FAA's collective consciousness that a lucky GPS ping from one of the engines (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/malaysia/10720173/Malaysia-Airlines-MH370-how-was-it-tracked-down.html) is the only reason they could narrow the search from the entire Indian Ocean to an area the size of Cali west of Australia, they'll probably require a retro fit. My understanding is that an exhaustive lessons learned analysis on every airline incident is SOP on every FAA investigation. That's a big reason flying is so incredibly safe. Or maybe not. After all, how often does a pilot decide to fly a commercial airliner off to Never Never Land after suffocating a couple of hundred passengers?

I think the hanger bay of a large UFO is the more likely possibly. When the situation is murky, stick with your first instincts, RA1. What I want to know, is there some kind of device that helps them find that sucker under several thousand feet of salt water? Barring that, I'd say it unlikely that they will ever find an object the size of a plane in an area the size of the continental US. Hell, sometimes they can't even find a downed craft in rough terrain on land.

Mill #1: "Yeah Pops, you had it tough; things were better; work hard yada yada yada..." Mill#2: "Next he'll tell us he walked 3 miles to school barefoot in the snow, uphill both ways." Mill#3: "Naw, he'll leave before then...gotta change his depends LOL." ==== Me: "Ain't a 20 something living who ever listened to somebody that wrinkly more than 2 minutes. Well, maybe if they were waiting to hit up grandpa for a loan."

It's Harry that comes, AS, not Cressida.

rarebit = cheese sauce over toast

When did the Peace Corps start including an accommodation package with air conditioning and room service?

Picked up a guy in Memphis once who turned out to be the nephew of a client and friend. Awkward. Didn't run him off though. By the time we figured it all out, we were way too far into our date to call it off. LOL, I'm pretty sure it bothered him less than it did me although he did ask if I was going to tell his uncle.

Looking forward to your letters, Planetime.

Don't pack your bags yet, Hito. The Gov. announced he is hiring special counsel to replace the attorney general for the state's appeal.

I ain't no mathematician but doesn't non-zero probability basically translate as does not clearly and directly contradict known laws of physics? It seems to me that, in the case of non-zero probabilities, it would be best to confine the use of most likely, could be and if...then constructions to Big Foot and anal probing alien episodes on the history channel. ==== By the way, the last sentence of the quote is simply factually untrue. The human immune system is specifically constructed to cope with novel viruses. True it has a significant possibility of failure but it does a fair to middling job of adapting to new challenges.

Not to mention that around 30/40% of the residents of Latvia are those pesky ethnic Russians and they're treated a lot worse there than in the Ukraine. Until the European Union clamped down on Latvia for blatant racial bias, anybody whose ancestors didn't live in Latvia before WWII (i.e. a lot of the Russians) was denied citizenship. Think Mother Russia might turn a hairy eyeball on Latvia after things settle down in Ukraine? Latvia starts an easy 1/2 drive down the coast highway from St. Petersburg.

Getting to be entirely too many misleading headers on posts around here.

Is it too late to post my entry?