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It freaks me out the largest mob in the world has the 2nd largest nuke stash ready to fire. They are out of control: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_

by alecco 16y ago

It freaks me out the largest mob in the world has the 2nd largest nuke stash ready to fire. They are out of control: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinenko http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poisoning_of_Alexander_Litvinen...

gloob 16y ago
Your first sentence has been true for the better part of a century, now. And - while the American government is undoubtedly less corrupt and more liberal than the Russian one - I don't really see the odds of America using nukes being significantly lower than the odds of Russia using them. (Also: I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "out of control" - plenty of countries engage in extrajudicial killings: Russia, obviously, but also Israel, Syria, America...)
- alecco 16y ago
  That was a blatant assassination with very expensive (30M) and easily traceable radioactive material. It was a clear message to dissidents and western governments. The assassins even took a British Airways flight to leave a radioactive trail behind. And the material was identified to come from a specific nuclear plant in Russia. I've never heard of anything like this before.
  - abcd_f 16y ago
    > I've never heard of anything like this before. Some reading material for you then :) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky#Assassination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky#Assassination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella
    - alecco 16y ago
      That's interesting and James Bond novel worthy. But I mean the message and the ruthlessness of showing off by government agencies.
- InclinedPlane 16y ago
  "Extra-judicial" in the context of warfare is one thing (killing people who kill your people or help do so), but assassination of mere critics of a government is an entirely separate kettle of fish. Litvinenko is the most prominent example of the absolute ruthlessness and lawlessness of Putin's regime but it is far from the only one (see also the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko and the many suspicious deaths of Russian journalists critical of Putin).
abcd_f 16y ago
Does it not freak you that the holder of the largest nuke stash has recently invaded a whole fucking country on false premises, just to access its oil? Talk about being out of control, eh?
- alecco 16y ago
  Indeed! It's just US has long term economic interests and they're a tiny bit more rational about it. Not good at all, but less bad and out of control.
  - abcd_f 16y ago
    Define "out of control" then. Rationality is relative. Russia is quite rational about its own policies (including the lack of enforcement in the OP's case), the exact same way the US is rational about its.

by alecco 16y ago

gloob 16y ago

Your first sentence has been true for the better part of a century, now. And - while the American government is undoubtedly less corrupt and more liberal than the Russian one - I don't really see the odds of America using nukes being significantly lower than the odds of Russia using them. (Also: I'm not entirely clear on what you mean by "out of control" - plenty of countries engage in extrajudicial killings: Russia, obviously, but also Israel, Syria, America...)

alecco 16y ago
That was a blatant assassination with very expensive (30M) and easily traceable radioactive material. It was a clear message to dissidents and western governments. The assassins even took a British Airways flight to leave a radioactive trail behind. And the material was identified to come from a specific nuclear plant in Russia. I've never heard of anything like this before.
- abcd_f 16y ago
  > I've never heard of anything like this before. Some reading material for you then :) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky#Assassination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leon_Trotsky#Assassination http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulgarian_umbrella
  - alecco 16y ago
    That's interesting and James Bond novel worthy. But I mean the message and the ruthlessness of showing off by government agencies.
InclinedPlane 16y ago
"Extra-judicial" in the context of warfare is one thing (killing people who kill your people or help do so), but assassination of mere critics of a government is an entirely separate kettle of fish. Litvinenko is the most prominent example of the absolute ruthlessness and lawlessness of Putin's regime but it is far from the only one (see also the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko and the many suspicious deaths of Russian journalists critical of Putin).

abcd_f 16y ago

Does it not freak you that the holder of the largest nuke stash has recently invaded a whole fucking country on false premises, just to access its oil? Talk about being out of control, eh?

alecco 16y ago
Indeed! It's just US has long term economic interests and they're a tiny bit more rational about it. Not good at all, but less bad and out of control.
- abcd_f 16y ago
  Define "out of control" then. Rationality is relative. Russia is quite rational about its own policies (including the lack of enforcement in the OP's case), the exact same way the US is rational about its.