Limu Emu and Vlad

FTA: Even the German Marxists have temporarily become responsible leaders. They might even stop being a vassal state of Russia (something Trump, a man the Germans constantly compared to Hitler, could not convince them to do). I dislike the Germans the brutality of East German Stalinists to the smug (know-it-all) social democrats like Merkel, the Germans never had a good leader. Never trust a people that started 2 World Wars.

This article seemed it would be insightful, it had all the elements to be so, but I haven't got a clue as to the meaning of all those insights. Is "Vlad" good for Russia or bad? Is "Vlad" fighting to save the West from the Great Reset, or just another blood-thirsty Stalin? Is Russia in 2022 the same failed soviet state as 1990? The only trust I have is trust that we are being lied to by all sides.

Re #2. I think his point is that Vlad provides a visible 'bad guy' which MIGHT focus various countries (USA, Germany others?) on the reality of external threats to the point that we/Germany may actually decide to take defense matters seriously again, after a lot of unseriousness in the last decades.

Excellent summary, #3. A good article that provides a number of insights worthy of consideration. The only point I might question is the supposed negative influence of the feckless 90's in the US upon Russian social evolution. The failure of glasnost, it seems to me, was simply a natural product of the Russian penchant for oppression (by the elites) and submission (by the people). I also have doubts that the existing external threat of Russia will be sufficient in itself to reverse the spiral of Western democracies into effete wokeness. Social hedonism a hard habit to break, and will require an internal awakening of the electorates. One would hope we're seeing the beginnings of this movement now.

Americans have been sold an unreal view of insurance companies and Russian acquisition of political power as well as political power right here at home. In this real world political power is obtained by taking it. Now Putin is exposed as the indiscriminate killer and thug that he always has been. The better we understand these things, the better the People can act to select leaders who will work toward better lives of the citizens.

Hey Joseph, if you change you cell service from AT&T to Verizon do you think AT&T is going to cancel your account if you don’t tell them about the change As far as Russia is concerned, it has always been a basket case through its entire history. Th Tzars were brutal to the lower class, then the communist revolution took place (it was a top down revolution). The communist party was more brutal to the working class. Then in the 1990s we got Putin. Well that’s a gem. Russia will never be free. Slavery to the state is in their DNA.

Nothing like an existential threat to eliminate the focus on 'existential threats'.

Any insurance company that can pay for national commercials , is overcharging you to do so. I learned that as an independent agent for 35 years.......

I have the same work history as #8, and would add that from their perspective, Insurance Companies are in the business of collecting premiums, not paying claims. They will however if pushed. I have found that asking claims agents how to spell their last name ... direct contact information so I'm dealing with the same person every time ... and throwing in a folksy story about my neighbor's son just passing the bar and wanting to 'practice' their new found trade. Filing a formal complaint with the State Attorneys General will get you bumped up a few levels where some decision making power exists. Any complaint, no matter how small creates BIG hassles for Emu and Doug. It might take some time, but they will pay.

Now I am thankful that I chucked the TV. I don't know what a Limu Emu is.

FTA: 'Never mind that Vlad got ultra-wealthy while impoverishing his own citizens, invading neighboring countries, and killing indiscriminately.' Sound like any characters we know? He's a politician.

Welcome to Insurance Ville...where everyone gets screwed and the companies get rich!

WOOOOOO! I'm shaking now. Those Russians are bad to the bone...well, Putin is anyways. He's got nukes and we've been afraid of those nukes since 1949...over 70 years now, generations! Russia is what Russia has always been. The Czar and Boyars have been replaced by a President and oligarchs. Czars have run the gamut from benevolent to merciless. What's news here? Russia has always had much bigger ambitions than it could achieve. Its military only great in pursuit of exhausted foes, mainly defeated by winter weather. If the Germans, and perhaps others, are re-building their defense forces, it's past time. And their investments aren't all that much, either, given the rotten state of their militaries. And money won't solve the big challenge in Europe...manpower. Unless Turks and Arabs serve, the Euro armies will have an impossible task ahead after decades of de facto pacifism. Conscription? Look at the Russian army and navy to see how that works these days. It's past time to see Europe for the passel of free loaders they have become. It's time to break up the band, or at least reform NATO so that the USA can pull back to defend the alliance's Western front from China. It's time to heed Washington's Farewell advice to avoid "perpetual alliances".

Re #6. During a decade of travel and business in the former soviet states, including a LOT of places in Russia, it was clear that "something is wrong here" with Russia and Russians. For years I couldn't figure out what was so different about them. On the surface - superficially, normal people. The more you get to know them...the more that there are "issues". One theory that seems to fit the facts is that while Europe broke out of serfdom starting in the middle ages, so that by the 13-1400s and onward, there were wide swaths of free men and guildsmen who earned a good living by their skills and their hard work, and generally kept most of what they made. The king was there, but much of their lives were generally decided by themselves. By the late 1300s into the 1400s, there was even a sort of an agreement (I think started by the Magna Carta) on the fact that the royals/elites very much NEEDED the middle and lower classes to help fight the wars. The fact that British people were encouraged to own and compete with the powerful personal weapon of the longbow by the upper classes, by providing tournaments and prizes was unusual. It meant that a longbow man could kill a knight in armor easily at 30-50 paces. This meant that the upper classes had to trust....therefore not abuse excessively, the middle and lower classes to own powerful personal weapons. To differing degrees this realignment happened all across Europe....except in in Russia. I noted that in St. Petersburg, when St. Isaac's Cathedral was built in the early 1800s, there were apparently no architects, stonemasons, engineers, or other skilled artisans in Russia capable of designing and building this beautiful cathedral. All were imported from Italy and France, mostly. When I was touring St. Isaac's (very impressive) it struck me that Russia had never undergone this 300-500 year process of "exiting the middle ages and serfdom" and apparently missed development of freemen skilled in various trades like the rest of Europe and the USA had done. By the late 1800s, Germany and Italy had formed single countries from city states and duchies, etc, under a central king but with an elected parliament, too, limiting the king's power. Yet, in Russia - still just the Czar and the serfs, with the thin upper crust of educated folks.....but precious little middle class, it would seem. It seems like Russia jumped straight from the middle ages and the czar/serf to Communism and the people remained pretty much serfs the whole time. They have never had the centuries to work out how to live as free people without the czar or commisar or whatever ordering them to do this or to do that. They seem to have skipped a hugely important step in societal development entirely. I'm no expert on Russian history, and perhaps I have gotten this wrong. If there is an expert on Russian history that can point out that they did have this portion of their development, and I just missed it, I'd like to hear about it. Something is wrong in the Russian collective psyche, and it was difficult to put my finger on it. I have sketched out my rough theory. Let the bashing begin.

I sold a rental property in early 2021 and late in the year I was notified that the escrow department was preparing to renew the insurance policy for the property. Not only had the insurance policy not been cancelled they were going to actually renew it even they knew the property was no longer mine. When I called them they said "You should have told us to cancel the policy". Of course it was my responsibility...but this has never happened before. I notified the insurance company of the actual sales date and got a refund.