romad1

Well, Dave "Destroyed Toys R US" Brandon isn't all her fault.

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.

Watching Poland and Lithuania's ambassadors...yeah, we got allies.

The Russian amb just bails when the Ukrainian amb starts talking. I think I know how this is going to go.

This is something https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/01/31/ukraine-russia-putin-nato/ Hey, that's only half true!

He did a great job playing Jerry Westerby in TTSS.

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.

The Russian UN Ambassador was shaky. Sounded like he was trying to sell dirt.

UN Security Council meeting on Russia's military buildup near Ukraine https://media.un.org/en/asset/k19/k19y2wilep

The Michigan athletic department after all are just hanging on by a thread. MSU is much healthier and have wealthier donors who are unhindered by their limited grasp of legal mumbo jumbo.

to be an NFL reporter all you need is a computer.

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.

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.

Yes indeed, No complaint about Biden thus far. The UK have also been leaders in NATO on this. The first large shipments to Kiev of ATGM were sent by them. I think because the UK Minister for Defence is angling for Boris' job.

Russia's 100,000 troops won't be enough to subjugate Ukraine. It might mess up Ukraine's stuff but, expect an Afghanistan style proxy war.

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?)

I don't prefer chaos

This Harbaugh dalliance with the NFL has gotten a bit scary. He's apparently the choice of the new GM for the Vikings. The ownership likes some other guy. Hopefully we can navigate this.

This is very interesting https://www.defenseone.com/ideas/2022/01/putins-no-chess-master/361215/

Some very remarkable "othering" of Fiona Hill out there from the treason caucus. I won't dignify it by linking it but Greg Kelly is one of the offenders.

Good move. I'd like to see them have to dance a bit.

And of course this is what some alt-reich conservatives wish

Yeah, the “feds” tend to be a problem for those who plot anti-Constitutional coups.

At the end of the day the entire buildup is a Putin show. He is doing this because he thinks he can get away with it because he thinks the West is divided. He's way off base.

So, the translation here is that Erdogan and Zelensky are going to meet on 3/Feb. The role of Turkey we might have mentioned before. They are a Black Sea power. They control the straights (The Montreux Convention) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montreux_Convention_Regarding_the_Regime_of_the_Straits Which because it is under Turkey's control means they can say no to Russia bringing in its amphibious ships to the Black Sea from the Med. Also, Turkey was a huge help to Azerbaijan (UAVs for example) in the recent war with Armenia. So, basically, Erdogan is an evil thug but right now he can be a useful evil thug.