Realistically, nobody who has managed to reach Putin’s level is going to walk away. You’ve been plotting 24/7/365 since forever; quitting is not an option.
In the scenario you post the only thing one can do is to make a one time deposit of $100 million to a Swiss bank account, and then ask the security detail to escort one to the US embassy [the idea is that I am myself, just somehow in Putin’s office].
Once at the Embassy I claim to have no idea how I ended up in the Kremlin.
Do I have access to his personal bank accounts?
Someone asked a very similar question yeasterday.
Hunter Thompson opined that the US draft was better than the alternative.
Under the draft everyone, rich and poor, was expected to serve. With a ‘volunteer army’ only the poor need to go.
Another drafted vet said that draftees are more likely to speak up if civilians are targeted because the soldiers know that they are eventually going home. Lifers will obey all orders.
Maybe for astronomy, but it seems pointless. If you’re shipping a load from Terra to Luna, wouldn’t you want all the clocks to be perfectly synchronized? People in the Martian and asteroid colonies aren’t going to need to get up at dawn to feed the chickens. One time for the whole solar system. imho
D’uh. Everyone knows that octopuses are sea creatures and can’t run on land.
The octopus has a motorcycle.
I think it says a lot about the people on the interwebs that we started out talking about a ménage à trois and veered into racing against killer octopuses.
And yes, it’s octopuses, not ‘octopi’
John Byrne wrote and illustrated.
The idea is that they start with the characters in 1939 [when they premiered] and move forward decade by decade. Supes stays young while Lois gets older; Robin takes over from Bruce.
It’s been a while, but that should be enough.
Why does this sound like the first five minutes of the next Jason Stratham/Angelina Jolie movie?
It’s like running away from an octopus. You don’t have to be faster than the octopus, you just have to be faster than the guy standing next to you.
Reminds me of an ‘elseworlds’ Batman story from a while ago.
Bats kills R’as al Ghul but realizes that Ghul’s evil empire is still operational. Batman takes the role of R’as, but sets it up so that all his top lieutenants take each other out. It takes a few years, but eventually the League of Assassins is a force for good in the world.
Something similar in Russia. Pit the worst of the worst against each other and let democracy prevail.
First, you are a very good writer. I usually roll my eyes at a wall of text like that but you convey the ideas clearly.
Second, I am again surprised by how close it was.
Finalyy, I will share some resources you might enjoy.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/dark-voyage-alan-furst/11713695?ean=9780812967968
I like all of Allan Furst’s WW2 novels, but this is the most nautical. Dutch freighter captain is recruited into the British service. War book, sea tale, spy story all rolled into one.
Connections is an old BBC history series I stumbled upon a while back. The presenter shows how so many things interconnect to form the future.
https://youtu.be/XetplHcM7aQ?list=PL5HjoPOFFC56enV6cW1zqRvXyY6pNm8cq
Cryptonomicon. Neal Stephenson. I suggest this book to anyone who likes to get lost in a novel.
The grandfather is a WW2 codebreaker tasked with keeping the Nazis from finding out that the Allies were reading their mail. His grandson is trying to set up an online bank in 1990’s Manila.
https://bookshop.org/p/books/cryptonomicon-neal-stephenson/7899276?ean=9780380788620
Again, thanks for the informative message
I had never heard any of this before.
I was always under the impression that Midway was in the bag thanks to the Americans breaking the Japanese codes.
Never heard the name Waldron before.
You are correct; it would be a great movie.
Funny story. I happen to have a bunch of Crimson Skies toys sitting in a box, all unopened. There was a comic shop near my job and they had a clear-out table that sold unpopular items at a steep discount. I got a bunch of T-shirts and other stuff, and liked the Crimson Skies stuff. For a buck each, why not?
I don’t lend.
If they need money and I can afford it, I’ll just make a gift of it.
If I can’t afford it, they can’t have it.
If you’re good at something, even if you don’t enjoy it, it might still make a good career. You don’t have to love what makes you money, just not hate it. If you’re good enough, you end up with a lot more free time for yourself. Doing what you love can also cause you to hate doing it as a hobby eventually. People don’t “love” their jobs. You don’t see them paying to do their job like they do for tennis lessons or sports events. You probably just tolerate your job, and that’s ok. Your life isn’t ruined.
This so many times over.
I spent years trying to get a job I loved.
Ended up getting a different job that I was kinda good at.
Turns out, being good at a job every day makes you feel good at the end of the day.
If he’s an adult you can call the police.
People have family members arrested all the time.
Are you pushing that ‘sovereign citizen’ nonsense?
You may believe that you aren’t a part of the system, but the system is much bigger than you are and it has other ideas.
Look at how they actually organized the Montgomery bus boycott.
It wasn’t a spontaneous event; it was well planned and carefully coordinated.
Same thing with the early Unions; they were started by ‘organizers.’
So many people on the Left ignore basic nuts and bolts politics and waste time, energy and votes on Utopian nonsense that most voters have never heard of.
Then, when someone like AOC comes along and actually makes effective changes in the Democratic Party, these Left folk attack her for not setting herself on fire.