mtutiger Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) 32 minutes ago, romad1 said: Steven Berkoff the same villain as was in Beverly Hills Cop. That movie is very rewatchable. Everyone in the 80s was a lot thinner (cocaine, lack of fructose, overworking weight training?) He was great, as was Louis Jourdan... the backgammon scene is low-key one of my favorite scenes of the Moore era. If the cinematography were better and if they had cut some of the campier stuff, it'd probably have cracked the Top 10 in Bonds for me. I just saw it recently and, despite the Cold War motif being an outdated, I was struck by how transferrable more hardliner views on NATO of the time are easily transferrable to today and to Putin specifically... it didn't feel as outdated as it should have because of the Ukraine situation. Edited January 31, 2022 by mtutiger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 2 minutes ago, mtutiger said: He was great, as was Louis Jourdan... the backgammon scene is low-key one of my favorite scenes of the Moore era. If the cinematography were better and if they had cut some of the campier stuff, it'd probably have cracked the Top 10 in Bonds for me. I just saw it recently and, despite the Cold War motif being an outdated, I was struck by how transferrable more hardliner views on NATO of the time are easily transferrable to today and to Putin specifically... it didn't feel as outdated as it should have because of the Ukraine situation. The ridiculous Bomb disarming scene at the end where he's wearing the clown makeup is actually quite dramatic. Where he fights to disarm the bomb and everyone in the circus hears him yell "Damnit there's a bomb in there" Sadly, that movie was written into campyness by one of my favorite authors George Macdonald Fraser who also wrote the Flashman series. It was his idea that it would be great to see Bond in clown outfit or a gorilla suit. Yikes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 I'm in favor of this Keep NATO’s Door Open to Ukraine | Foreign Affairs I keep thinking along the lines of Mcnulty in the Wire "Marlo Stanfield does not get to win" even if its pyric victory and everyone is damaged along the way. Screw Vladdie. He does not get to win. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 UN Security Council meeting on Russia's military buildup near Ukraine https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19y2wilep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 1 minute ago, romad1 said: UN Security Council meeting on Russia's military buildup near Ukraine https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19y2wilep The Russian UN Ambassador was shaky. Sounded like he was trying to sell dirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 1 minute ago, romad1 said: The Russian UN Ambassador was shaky. Sounded like he was trying to sell dirt. Noted that China joined the Russians to vote against a measure to hold the meeting. A smattering of 3rd world also rans also abstained. 10 nations joined the US and Britain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 20 minutes ago, romad1 said: The Russian UN Ambassador was shaky. Sounded like he was trying to sell dirt. He looked like he was playing Joss Ackland playing a Russian ambassador.! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Just now, gehringer_2 said: He looked like he was playing Joss Ackland playing a Russian ambassador.! He did a great job playing Jerry Westerby in TTSS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 (edited) This is something https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/ukraine-russia-putin-nato/ Quote Nebenzya accused the West of bringing “pure Nazis” to power on Russia’s borders, and “making heroes out of those peoples who fought on the side of Hitler.” The U.S. aim, he said, is “to weaken Russia and create an arc of instability around it.” Hey, that's only half true! Edited January 31, 2022 by romad1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 The Russian amb just bails when the Ukrainian amb starts talking. I think I know how this is going to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 Watching Poland and Lithuania's ambassadors...yeah, we got allies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cowan Posted January 31, 2022 Share Posted January 31, 2022 35 minutes ago, romad1 said: He did a great job playing Jerry Westerby in TTSS. Jerry Westerby ha ha ha what a loser. "Give my love to Ann". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, Jim Cowan said: Jerry Westerby ha ha ha what a loser. "Give my love to Ann". What I love about the BBC TTSS/Smiley's People is how they just emptied all the great character actors out of the Royal Shakespeare company. Absolutely great actors doing great stuff in all the supporting roles. The one i liked a lot most recently was Bernard Hepton's Smiley's People portrayal of Toby Esterhase where he drops the RP diction of his character when he was constrained by inter-office politics within The Circus and reverts to what he truly is: an emigre hustler. His interaction with George over the burn operation of Grigoriev is just fantastic stuff. Edited February 1, 2022 by romad1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cowan Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 2 hours ago, romad1 said: What I love about the BBC TTSS/Smiley's People is how they just emptied all the great character actors out of the Royal Shakespeare company. Absolutely great actors doing great stuff in all the supporting roles. The one i liked a lot most recently was Bernard Hepton's Smiley's People portrayal of Toby Esterhase where he drops the RP diction of his character when he was constrained by inter-office politics within The Circus and reverts to what he truly is: an emigre hustler. His interaction with George over the burn operation of Grigoriev is just fantastic stuff. Yes, seeing Toby dressed like a pimp is a bit unsettling at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 8 hours ago, Jim Cowan said: Yes, seeing Toby dressed like a pimp is a bit unsettling at first. He went from super buttoned up to hitting on any female within range. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 1, 2022 Share Posted February 1, 2022 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/01/london-russian-oligarch-ukraine-britain-financial-oversight/ The Boris Johnson scandal...hmmm The UK have been doing serious good work in the Ukraine crisis though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 effective propaganda Particularly the second image of a bunch of babuskas with automatic rifles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 (edited) On 2/1/2022 at 6:40 AM, romad1 said: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/02/01/london-russian-oligarch-ukraine-britain-financial-oversight/ The Boris Johnson scandal...hmmm The UK have been doing serious good work in the Ukraine crisis though. another thing that plays in Johnson's favor: I always thought the Sturm and Drang over Brexit economics was overplayed, but has anyone bothered to notice that British GDP recovery has been as good (actually a bit better) than the rest of the Euro zone? I do rather expect to hear crickets from the media about the lack of collapse of the post Brexit British economy. Edited February 2, 2022 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: another thing that plays in Johnson's favor: I always thought the Sturm and Drang over Brexit economics was overplayed, but has anyone bothered to notice that British GDP recovery has been as good (actually a bit better) than the rest of the Euro zone? I do rather expect to hear crickets from the media about the lack of collapse of the post Brexit British economy. That is interesting. I'm anti-Brexit. I always believe you are better off in tighter alliances. i can see the frustration (e.g., People in UK seaside communities can't fish because some French firm has the authorization and you don't. ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 (edited) 4 minutes ago, romad1 said: That is interesting. I'm anti-Brexit. I always believe you are better off in tighter alliances. i can see the frustration (e.g., People in UK seaside communities can't fish because some French firm has the authorization and you don't. ) but TBF the EU is not much of a security org. I don't see British or Continental mil spending getting any worse for the Brits being out and that's where the rubber meets the road for the Euros. Or conversely, deeper alliances between militarily toothless countries still leave them militarily toothless! Edited February 2, 2022 by gehringer_2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 3 minutes ago, gehringer_2 said: but TBF the EU is not much of a security org. I don't see British or Continental mil spending getting any worse for the Brits being out and that's where the rubber meets the road for the Euros. Or conversely, deeper alliances between militarily toothless countries still leave them militarily toothless! Well, the US and Norway weren't going to join the EU. But, the venn diagram between NATO and the EU benefited from the economic and military and diplomatic inter-latticing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mtutiger Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 Anybody starting to get the sense that the reaction from the west isn't what Russia was expecting when they started escalating? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romad1 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 4 minutes ago, mtutiger said: Anybody starting to get the sense that the reaction from the west isn't what Russia was expecting when they started escalating? Perhaps. Putin isn't stupid but he's also emotionally driven by this...and at the same time he is a judo practitioner. He is looking for the seam or the lever upon which to turn his enemy. The Russian UN Ambassador was talking from a WWE script for a heel. He certainly was trying to justify the invasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1984Echoes Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 1 hour ago, mtutiger said: Anybody starting to get the sense that the reaction from the west isn't what Russia was expecting when they started escalating? Biden threatened a comprehensive microchip embargo (including non-US companies using US chip mfg. equipment and/ or technologies...). That would grab his attention. Germany squawked about dropping Nord 2 but I don't know if they were serious about that. Probably not. But if they were... another attention getter. I want a serious threat of removing them from SWIFT. Putin may think he has a way to get around that but... another attention getter. Although Europe suffers quite a bit from this too as they get cut-off from Russia (paying for Russian nat-gas) as much as Russia gets cut off from the rest of the (normal) finance world. And the last attention getter is the unified voice against their potential aggression by, not only NATO, but also other non-NATO countries as well... And this doesn't even count Ukraine's willingness to fight tooth and nail against another Russian invasion/ theft of their territory. Weapons flooding in from all over... troops being built up in surrounding countries... Non-NATO countries stating they'll think about joining NATO now... I think Putin is overplaying his hand. I wonder if he realizes it at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gehringer_2 Posted February 2, 2022 Share Posted February 2, 2022 2 hours ago, 1984Echoes said: Biden threatened a comprehensive microchip embargo (including non-US companies using US chip mfg. equipment and/ or technologies...). That would grab his attention. Germany squawked about dropping Nord 2 but I don't know if they were serious about that. Probably not. But if they were... another attention getter. I want a serious threat of removing them from SWIFT. Putin may think he has a way to get around that but... another attention getter. Although Europe suffers quite a bit from this too as they get cut-off from Russia (paying for Russian nat-gas) as much as Russia gets cut off from the rest of the (normal) finance world. And the last attention getter is the unified voice against their potential aggression by, not only NATO, but also other non-NATO countries as well... And this doesn't even count Ukraine's willingness to fight tooth and nail against another Russian invasion/ theft of their territory. Weapons flooding in from all over... troops being built up in surrounding countries... Non-NATO countries stating they'll think about joining NATO now... I think Putin is overplaying his hand. I wonder if he realizes it at this point. Given the control his has over his domestic media, he can take whatever offer the West has already put on the table, declare it a great victory and go home none the worse for wear. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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