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Author Topic: Absurdistan  (Read 6817 times)

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Offline longingforthesouth

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Absurdistan
« on: June 16, 2019, 09:41:41 AM »
I visit this forum once in 458 yrs and since I got married and lived in RU, I was curious to see what's going on.

I see the same forumers still posting 24/7, i.e. they're neither dating, neither marrying anyone. And they called me a "loser" and gave me "dating advices", which is funny coming from people, whose dating experience is nonexistant, minimal or outdated, from the times of Yeltsin (or even Stalin).

I've warned you that the dating scene is dying, but you're just starting to see it. The number of new marriages is insignificantly low. I see no "just married" posts here and I don't see new kids on the block. Mid-aged couples don't count (I'm not an ageist, but the young ones are the future).

I remember the shady forumers from the dating industry and I ask them: where are your "more family oriented" and "marriage minded" women now? I guess that they're "dying to date foreigners" in the litteral sense lol.

I remember how forumer Anteros tried to trick me into sending him my passport scan via private messages, so he could "shame me" on the forum or blackmail me, but he failed. He once even called me a "poor b***ard" (oh, an irony). Also, TomT tried to trick me into clicking on his fake women's profiles, so he could get my personal data and pics. He is posting links and if you are logged in into that dating site and if you click them - he'll be able to see your profile. But he failed, too. These guys are not very succesful (to put it politicaly correct). Anteros, by his own admition, had only one girlfriend and she was bipolar and he also has a limp. But then I'm the loser.

I guess that they wanted to blackmail me and ruin my chances to find a wife by "shaming me". But no one in the FSU (except few ladies) knows about this forum or about this underworld of intl dating sites and agencies. FSU people just go on with their lives and they're so busy and have so much web content in russian, that no one cares that Tom and Anteros exist. Most people there don't even know english and I have to talk with my wife in ru.

There're also forumers who've been scammed or who've lost their property and even their kids in divorces, but then I'm the loser. Go figure. There were forumers who bragged as if they're womanizers, but I know that they're not dating "Elena's Models poster girls", if you get what I mean. Only few lucky guys can have such women, while most of you has to settle for (under)average ones. Some of you don't get any women at all and you just sit on forums (which is obvious).

I see you, guys, still discussing politics, weather and everything else, except dating and marriage. It's the same as when I left you few yrs ago. But enough about you, let's talk about something interesting. Let's talk about me.

I'm in my early 40s and my wife in her late 20s. We have no kids for now. She's half UA / half RU. She was born in UA, but moved to RU later. She's in contact with her girlfriends from both countries and none of them wants to date a foreigner, be it an American, Canadian, EU, Balkanian, Samoan or Zulu.

This can be also seen on LP or Mamba, where many women state in their profiles that they don't want to date foreigners. Not just Turks or Arabs (the ussual suspects), but any foreigners.

Many foreigners visited the 2018 FIFA World Cup in RU, how many returned home with a bride? Not many. Schengen visas were lifted for Moldovans and Ukrainians, but I don't see many brides in Paris, Barcelona or Cologne. All I see is rapefugees and gypsie pickpockets (nothing racist, just facts). Since there's a war in Donbass, one would logically assume that the local women want to marry abroad, but this is not happening, at least, not on a massive scale.

Most FSUW date locals. Period. And also, there're modern FSUW who prefer to be single and just to have fun with no strings attached or to pursue careers.

Does anyone still buys the myth that there're "more women than men" there? Sure, if you count 70 y.o. babushkas. Ru statistics say that in the younger age group (up to 34) there're MORE MEN THAN WOMEN. And you still believe that there're "no quality men" in the FSU? Of course there're quality men in the FSU and they're much more quality than say Tom or Anteros. There's a new generation of FSUM, who don't drink so much and they're sporty, ambitious, well travelled, they drive decent cars etc. I'm not saying that everything is perfect (it's NOT), but there're some improvements.

The ru economy improved in the 2000s-2010s and women lost interest in foreigners. This created a sense of pride, tho these improvements are below the western standards and only few major cities could enjoy them, while the rest remained neglected. Now RU has wars, sanctions, devaluation and job cuts, but the dating scene will not go back to the good old days. The women's mentality changed and this can't be reversed. The internet and it's false sense of reality played a role in this, too. Now every village girl can be an Instagram celebrity.

I've no complaints about my wife. She's good, beautiful, hard working and talented. But I'm not like the biased guys who say: "My wife is good - all FSUW are good". That'd be a POSITIVE GENERALISATION. One person cannot represent hundreds of milions of FSUW. Some of them are wonderful, but some are totally messed up, unreliable, cheating, superficial, self-entitled, irrational, too picky & demanding and not so different than their western counterparts.

You put FSUW on a pedestal, but they're just human beings and have flaws. E.g. they might dump you and run after some idiots, who, sadly, will dump them as single mothers. In the FSU, this has epidemical proportions. Whenever some forumer complained about women, you always blamed him and never them. You depict them as a Disney mermaids or retarted children, who are always innocent, as if they're not adults who should take some responsibility.

Now even ru men complain about their women. They even have smth that resembles the Men's Rights movement (it's fringe, but it grows). I dunno if those guys are losers, misogynists or religious nutcases, but some of their claims hold water. Ru Youtubers even make soc experiments on dating sites and the results are not good: low responses, rude women etc. There're women posing as "single", but you might find out in say VK that they're taken. As one Youtuber puts it: FSUW are not desperate to date anyone, MEN ARE DESPERATE. There're more men than women on the sites and the quality of women (looks, intellect) has dropped. 10-15 yrs ago it was better and this is not my rosy retrospection.

You, guys, are also spin doctors. First you act as conservatives and you say: "The West is in decline, the family values are dying, so go East!". Joe the Plumber goes East, but what he sees there is not so different. Some FSUW are promsicous, some are into feminism, LGBT or twerking, some do recreational drugs or put tattoos from their heads to their toes and some are camw**res or содержанки (sponsored women). Joe shares his disappointment on the forum, but then you make a spin and you attack him like triggered feminazis: "You control freak! You want submissive women?! You want to lock them in the kitchen?!".

Once you even compared me to a muslim or a baptist minister, which is ridicilous, just because I questioned the women's "traditionality". But forumers who have positive stories are encouraged to share them and are protected from negative comments. We don't even know if the stories are true. Goebbels would be proud LOL.

You still sell the myth that the FSU is unaffected by the globalisation? And that there's "no feminism" there? The most radical feminist groups now are Pussy Riot from RU and Femen from UA (what an irony). There're feminist, "childfree" and LGBT groups in VK and also swingers, BDSM and what not. You don't have to be Einstein to know it, just search in russian. You can use Google Translate. Moscow is "pinkier" than you think - as The Guardian puts it and has more gay bars than some western cities. Even school massacres happen there, just like in the US (e.g.  Kerch 10/17/18). There's even a death cult (Blue Whale) that pushes youths into suicide and drugs such as "krokodil" and "spice". So spare me of the story about the "traditionality" of the ru people . They're just people like any other.

I'm sure that you've heard their politicians saying: "We, Russians, have traditional values and after a nuclear war we'll go to Heaven, while the decadent West will just knock the bucket". But after their speeches, they do orgies and coke and they count the stolen money. They own foreign passports, villas in the West and they send their kids to study there. The moral of this story is that there's no morality in it.

They also say that "Americans are dumb", while "Russians are cultured". But not every Russian reads Dostoyevsky and listens to Tchaikovsky. There're plenty of gopniki and unsophisticated people there. And there's a lot of kitsch. Look at Filip Kirkorov! Ru Youtubers conduct street surveys about geography, history etc. and the respondents are not so smarter than the "dumb Americans". No offense to the Russians, I like their culture, but they have flaws.

I know that many WM are now disilusioned with their countries, but you idealize RU too much. Every country has flaws and the grass is not always greener on the other side.

Living in RU was unpleasant. I had to fiercely argue with the bureaucrats, cause there's no rule of law there, but corruption, arbitrariness (произвол) and rudness (хамство). The locals are not spared either. And this is not new, but it goes back to the czarist and soviet times. Volumes have been written about it, see Gogol, Chekhov, Bulgakov etc.

When I applied for a temporary residence permit (РВП), the bureaucrats broke all their laws and регламенты (regulations). There was also shouting, pushing in endless queues etc. Some procedures can be done on Gosuslugi.ru, but this government-run website is often useless. According to the law, in my case, my РВП was supposed to be ready in 60 days, but I got it after 6 months.

Before I applied for it, I collected info on ru forums, where I saw worrying stories. That's why I printed laws from the internet and I studied them to defend myself like a lawyer in a court. They helped me to argue with the bureaucrats and to debunk their BS. I considered hiring a real lawyer (a lady), but she turned out to be incompetent and greedy, so I never hired her.

Note that I'm Slavic and (nominally) an orthodox christian and I write and think in cyrillic, but this doesn't help. RU mistreats law-abiding foreigners, while it welcomes terrorists and economic migrants from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and other nice places that border Afghanistan. Not all of these people are bad, but still, there are serious problems.

On 02/29/16, the Uzbek nanny Gulchehra Boboqulova beheaded a 4 y.o. russian girl and waved the severed head around Moscow, shouting "Allahu Akbar!". The police claimed that the woman was "mentally ill" and sent her to a hospital, but ordinary Russians suspect that islamic terrorism gets covered up for PC reasons.

There're so many muslim migrants in Moscow (rus. Moskva) that they block the streets to make massive street prayers and the city is ironically called Moskvabad. "Abad" is a central asian suffix meaning "city", like Leninabad (Tajikistan),  Ashgabat (Turkmenistan), Dzhafarabad (Azerbaijan), Islamabad (Pakistan) etc. And worst of all is that the most dangerous terrorists in RU are not foreigners, but locals (e.g. Chechens).

I was even denied exit from RU (not entry, but exit) when I wanted to travel with my wife for the New Year. The pass control demanded an exit visa from me and issued me a civil infraction. I felt like in a GULAG. If the authorities handed me my РВП on time, this wouldn't happen. We had to spent the New Yr in RU.

And while the authorities wasted time with me, terrorists roamed free. On 12/31/18, an explosion destroyed a 10 floor residental building in Magnitogorsk and 39 people died. Some media claimed that it was "a gas explosion", but others claimed that it was done by ISIS migrants from the Stans. Just few days later, a new explosion occured in Magnitogorsk, but this time in a microbus (marshrutka). Again, some claimed that it was "just a gas explosion", but some say that this was again a terrorist or a false flag attack.

On New Yrs Eve, I turned on the ru TV. At midnight, I expected some showman with champagne in his hand to say "Happy New Year", but suddenly, the ru anthem played and Putin appeared on the screen with a grumpy face and started a speech. I felt like in North Korea. This is broadcasted every year since the soviet times and it's not new. Then I switched to another channel - Putin again. I switched to another one - Putin again. All the channels showed the same speech.

And then another irony: on New Year's Eve, in Moscow's Gorky Park, at 00:00 AM, exactly when the ru anthem played on loudspeakers, a bridge full of people collapsed and many were injured. The crash happened at the anthem's lyrics: "Glory to you, our free Fatherland" (Славься, Отечество наше свободное).


Catastrophies in RU happen all the time. In Sep 2017, there was a radioactive leak from the Mayak Nuclear Plant in the Urals (Chernobyl II?). No one knows how many people might die of cancer. In March 2018, a great fire broke out in a mall in Kemerovo, 41 children burned alive. Many Russians blame the owner of the mall and the corrupt officials who allowed him to build it without proper fire prevention. In July 2012, a biblical flood, caused by poor hydro engineering, destroyed towns in Krasnodar Krai, killing 171. Air disasters occur all the time, the last being the Aeroflot SU1492 in May 2019, when 41 died. A disastrous food poisoning (echinococcosis) broke out in the youth military prep school in Ulyanovsk, where many cadets got tapeworms that nibbled through their livers, lungs and even brains.

Me and my wife filed a complaint about my РВП to  the ru state organs and after ages she received this reply: "Regarding your mother's residence permit, we would like to inform you that...". Wait a sec, what MOTHER?! It was a madhouse.

I even found out in google that a while ago, the vice-head of my migration office has been arrested for bribery. After many arguments and absurd situations, I finally got the РВП, but I told my wife that we should leave RU. Moving abroad requires preparations, so we lived in RU for a while and then we left.

TomT once called my country a "shithole". But after we moved to Macedonia our lives drastically improved. Some forumers claimed that a ru bride wouldn't be interested in moving there, but my wife adores the place  (like all my other foreign guests). There're FSU brides in Macedonia (not millions, but there are) and they fit here well. Тhe number of divorces seems to be close to 0.

I also know Macedonians married to UK, US, AU, DE, Scandinavian, Spanish and strangely, Japanese women. Macedonia is small and not wealthy, but the number of "green card hunters" is 0. My wife is uninterested in my finances and I don't have to pay her to "love me" (unlike some forumers, who've been turned into walking ATMs). Me and my wife both contribute to our household, e.g. she buys the food and I eat it.

Now we enjoy the Macedonian nature (mountains, lakes), the archaelogical sites, the medieval churches, the pictoresque villages, the organic food and the lazy lifestyle. When it's warm, Macedonians sit in outdoor caffes all day long and they gossip, like: "who sleeps with whom", "whose d**k is bigger" etc. The prices of certain products or services in are lower, the cities are smaller and you can get everywhere by foot.

You can explode from eating like Terry Jones in Monthy Python's "Meaning of Life" for €5-10 (grilled meats on coal; salads from real tomatoes, peppers and cucumbers; sheep's cheese; good wine). You can drink yourself to death in clubs for €15-20. You can rent a flat in a walking distance from the capital's center for €150-200-250 (long term), but I own a flat and a house. The historical and touristy city of Ohrid (UNESCO World Heritage Site) and the big Ohrid Lake are just 2.5 h drive from us. The greek Aegean coast is say 3h from us. The Adriatic Sea (Montenegro, Croatia) is a bit further, but it's not a problem.

To be brutally honest, there is: unemployment, corruption, ethnic and religious tensions with the Albanian muslim minority, gypsie beggars, littering, stray dogs, historical disputes with the neighbours etc. But this doesn't affect me and my wife so much, we live well and in a normal mid class area.

Macedonia is reforming, we got rid of the corrupt ex-prime minister, who got a jail sentence and ended up abroad as a fugitive. We're trying to improve, tho it's not easy. There're disappointments, unpopular reforms etc. The economy sucks, but there're Macedonians in AU, CA and the US and they transfer money to their relatives and this helps. The diaspora exists since like 150 yrs ago and it's an important part of our tradition.

We have a pro-EU/NATO policy, but Russians can still visit us without visas, which is useful for my wife. When we went to apply for a res permit for her, I was stressed, but the Macedonian migration officer pat me on the shoulder and said: "Don't worry, bro, everything will be fine". People here are warmer and closer to each other. Sure, there're some idiots, but most people are OK.

He didn't terrorize us, there were no huge forms, no language exams, no medical checks and no endless queues (just 2 Macedonian guys with ru wifes in front of us). In just 15 business days, my wife received her permit. The only problem was that only 1 out of 6 elevators was working in that building and it was full, so me and my wife had to climb 9 floors on foot to the migration office. It's embarrasing, but that's Balkans. After getting the permit, she got a free health insurance.

I'm not saying that everything is perfect. Sometimes there're problems, but that's life. And this is real life and marriage. Not sitting on forums 24/7.
Travelling to Russia and Ukraine since 2005.

Offline Mr strange

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2019, 10:51:51 AM »
I have said it before that this forum is dead with about 5 users more or less controlling where the content is going.

That is what it has become sadly years ago.

Well posted. It was an informative read.

Offline BillyB

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2019, 11:01:46 AM »

longingforthesouth, don't spend too much time worrying about what others think. Just live your life. Congrats on your marriage.
Over 220 generals and admirals say we are in a fight for our survival like no other time since 1776. If you want to stop the war in Ukraine, fix elections, stop medical tyranny and forced vaccinations, lower inflation and make America and the world a better place, get Trump back into power. The Democrats and Republicans have shown they can't do the job. They are good at robbing us and getting people killed in non stop wars.


Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2019, 11:18:39 AM »
The post was an interesting read. I agree with most of it. I said a decade ago the door was closing and it pretty much has done now. Hence why the site tilted direction away from dating and marriage a bit.

I get the bit about the lifestyle in the Balkans too. Hope that you never join the EU or that idyll you describe will change drastically and quickly.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #4 on: June 17, 2019, 09:16:33 PM »
Normal Manny guff - based on not going to places he preaches on

 The Balkans have started international wars - what EU nation has gone to war with another - for all it's many faults..

 The dating scene is not dead - just diversified -  I know 10 plus ladies who are lookers, snart - in their 40s ( and even 50's) who'd love the FSU and like to live out their days in the west



I have never claimed to be a Blue Beret

Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #5 on: June 19, 2019, 03:48:45 AM »
Normal Manny guff - based on not going to places he preaches on

Here is a short video I took in Mostar in Bosnia last year. Last time I looked, Bosnia and Herzegovina was in the Balkans. See what assumption does, Moby? Makes you look a bigger tw@t than you are. :whist11:

Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline Contrarian

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2019, 09:04:45 AM »
Normal Manny guff - based on not going to places he preaches on

Here is a short video I took in Mostar in Bosnia last year. Last time I looked, Bosnia and Herzegovina was in the Balkans. See what assumption does, Moby? Makes you look a bigger tw@t than you are. :whist11:

Where is the video? I’d like to see it.

Online andrewfi

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...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #8 on: June 20, 2019, 02:38:10 AM »
Ha ha;)

Our leader is deleting my counter to his 'claim' soomeone's vid is 'his' ?

HE is the poster that tells us he wouldn't holiday in a 'Muslim' Country  and chooses not to do business with Muslims

NOW we see why the need to 'control' ..

Should I make a special place for the Conservative Party to se what HE posts ? ;))))


[Serious part - unlike Manny, I don't try to  :censored:  around with posters lives because they hold different PoVs - just pointing out the double standards [
I have never claimed to be a Blue Beret

Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline Steveboy

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #9 on: June 20, 2019, 05:27:18 AM »
I already said dating for foreigners in Russia is finished if your looking for a young women.. you have near zero chance.. its all turning around the other way, I was only speaking to two guys last week  who married Russian women and are relocating to St Petersburg.. and it is happening more and more..

If your looking for a women late 30's early 40's very easy.. other than that the whole Russian bride thing has finished a long time ago actually..

The media keeps it going.. for example you can speak to some Russians usually the clueless ones who think life in the US or UK is wonderful .. well yes it is if you have money!! But that is the same in any country.. no money.. shit job = Shit life! Simple ..But more and more Russians especially the younger ones are realising life in the Western world is not so wonderful after all..
Best chances of marrying a young Russian girl today are by living in Russia .. most have no desire to leave the country..

I have a friend married to a Russian girl in the UK .. she just got her UK passport of course now she wants to visit Paris, New York and all the usual stuff.. :laugh:  My wife just laughs as you don't need a UK passport to travel!! Many Russians are travelling .. plane was fully booked to the UK.. it is not the passport! It is the MONEY that counts.. my friends wife doesn't realise yet that most people in the UK can't afford to travel non stop in any case.. and they don't have much money.. so the grander plans will be coming to an end any day soon..There are always a few clueless ones about..so if your lucky you can still catch one of those..

But in general the whole Russian dating thing isn't going any where any day to soon..there are plenty of older Russian women to marry..for SERIOUS men..



I support no government anywhere, ever, never. No institution, No religion!!

Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #10 on: June 20, 2019, 07:45:43 AM »
Ha ha;)

Our leader is deleting my counter to his 'claim' soomeone's vid is 'his' ?

HE is the poster that tells us he wouldn't holiday in a 'Muslim' Country  and chooses not to do business with Muslims

*sigh*

That you imagine I might have stolen someone else's video and dishonestly used it as my own suggests projection. You are the dishonest man, not I. The video is mine. Your previous post didn't make it due to some unsuitable content. *shrugs*

I was in Croatia and took a side trip to Bosnia if you must know. Indeed, it was as close to a 'Muslim' country as I want to be, and I disliked that eerie call to prayer that is broadcast across Mostar (where I was). I did note at the time that there was zero border control to speak of coming back into Croatia, which is appalling considering that its an EU entry point and ISIS own entire villages in Bosnia.

Unlike you, I tend not to document all my travels in public. I have to be wary of oddball internet loons and stalkers - as well you know.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #11 on: June 20, 2019, 09:03:26 AM »

Ha ha;)

Our leader is deleting my counter to his 'claim' soomeone's vid is 'his' ?

HE is the poster that tells us he wouldn't holiday in a 'Muslim' Country  and chooses not to do business with Muslims


*sigh*

That you imagine I might have stolen someone else's video and dishonestly used it as my own suggests projection. You are the dishonest man, not I. The video is mine. Your previous post didn't make it due to some unsuitable content. *shrugs*

I was in Croatia and took a side trip to Bosnia if you must know. Indeed, it was as close to a 'Muslim' country as I want to be, and I disliked that eerie call to prayer that is broadcast across Mostar (where I was). I did note at the time that there was zero border control to speak of coming back into Croatia, which is appalling considering that its an EU entry point and ISIS own entire villages in Bosnia.

Unlike you, I tend not to document all my travels in public. I have to be wary of oddball internet loons and stalkers - as well you know.

HA !

Now you may be 'getting it' ..

You posted the photo as validation - like *I* do - so how does  "Unlike you, I tend not to document all my travels in public. I have to be wary of oddball internet loons and stalkers - as well you know."  sit with you, now ?

Thanks for demonstrating that you would go to a 'Muslim' country - so proving your 'peinciples are worthless


PS I always believed you - and now you know how it feels when a muppet tells me I haven't been to places that I have ...
I have never claimed to be a Blue Beret

Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline Contrarian

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #12 on: June 20, 2019, 10:10:16 AM »
https://mobile.twitter.com/ruadventures/status/1003976489757560833

Nice video. I’m fairly certain I once saw a special where they were diving off of that bridge into the river far below.

Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #13 on: June 20, 2019, 03:53:33 PM »
https://mobile.twitter.com/ruadventures/status/1003976489757560833

Nice video. I’m fairly certain I once saw a special where they were diving off of that bridge into the river far below.

That's the place. They do that there. Guys collect cash from observers and then jump.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline longingforthesouth

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #14 on: June 21, 2019, 11:08:30 AM »
The post was an interesting read. I agree with most of it. I said a decade ago the door was closing

Manny,

Now you suddenly agree with me? And you claim that you knew about the problems in the dating scene "a decade ago"?

I was the one who spoke about those problems "before it was cool". And some younger forumers warned that the scene is dying and that the FSUW are not all so nice. For this, I was called a "loser", "b****rd" and what not.

You, as the owner of this forum, didn't do much (or enough) to stop that. Your partner TomT was 'flaming', 'shaming 'and 'phishing' with his fake women's profiles and he was even a payed forum member

But to argue further is of no use.

BTW I see that the Youtube video embedded in my post above doesn't work anymore. So here it is again.

I started this thread so that ppl can have a realistic and up to date info. Maybe I'll add a bit more and then I'm off to the real world.


OFFTOPICS

I was in Croatia and took a side trip to Bosnia if you must know. Indeed, it was as close to a 'Muslim' country as I want to be, and I disliked that eerie call to prayer that is broadcast across Mostar (where I was). I did note at the time that there was zero border control to speak of coming back into Croatia, which is appalling considering that its an EU entry point and ISIS own entire villages in Bosnia.

Mostar is Herzegovina. But it's not a sin to say "Bosnia", since the full name of the place is Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Many things changed since the collapse of Yugoslavia and now there's more religion in Bosnia than before.

The Bosniaks were the most secular muslims on earth. They were drinking, sleeping around, they had a great nightlife, rock scene, women in minis and comedy shows similar to Monthy Python. Their band Divlje Jagode was led by Alen Islamović, so imagine a guy with "islam" in his surname playing hard rock or heavy metal. Their pop-folk singer Fahreta Jahić (aka Lepa Brena) was a sex symbol. The Yugoslav non-alignment allowed Bosniaks to travel, work or study in the West. Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics, Kirk Douglas visited the event. The city had a vivid arty scene, the acclaimed film director Emir Kusturica emerged from it (but he later switched to the Serbian side).

Many things changed with the wars. I believe that the Bosniaks are still mostly secular, tho indeed there was an influx of foreign islamists and there're local ones, too. Formally, it was and still is a secular state and it has multiconfessional population.

I get the bit about the lifestyle in the Balkans too. Hope that you never join the EU or that idyll you describe will change drastically and quickly.

Macedonia can't be powerful & neutral like say Switzerland and has to join the EU & NATO, tho we know that they have flaws (e.g. we're aware of Brexit).

We have disputes with the EU & NATO member Greece, who has occupied South or Aegean Macedonia and has persecuted our people there (see: the Balkan Wars & the Bucharest Treaty of 1913, the Greek Civil War in the 40s). It's a long story and each side has it's own. It's like Ireland & N. Ireland.

We're also distressed that the West supported Kosovo and played a controversial role in the Macedonian conflict with the Albanian muslim militants in 2001.

But we can't live in history forever. And what alternative can you offer, Manny? Eurasia? Tajikistan and Turkmenistan? Transnistria? Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics? 90s Serbia? We've nothing to do with that world. We've always wanted democracy, decent economy and such things. Our diaspora choosed AU, CA, US and such developed countries.

Yes, the West has sins (slavery, Indians, Vietnam, Pinochet, Iraq), but at least that can be discussed, criticised and maybe even corrected to some extent. Try that in RU. She has many sins, too. She too has waged imperialistic wars, she breaches human rights etc. and I can elaborate it.
Travelling to Russia and Ukraine since 2005.

Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #15 on: June 21, 2019, 10:56:26 PM »
Awaits Wiz to object to the singular use of 'Macedonia'  and your version of history ...

He told us that Greece would never 'allow' 'North Macedonia' to join the EU, etc.,

I have never claimed to be a Blue Beret

Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #16 on: June 22, 2019, 03:53:38 PM »
The post was an interesting read. I agree with most of it. I said a decade ago the door was closing

Manny,

Now you suddenly agree with me? And you claim that you knew about the problems in the dating scene "a decade ago"?

Hardly suddenly. I was writing about the door closing a decade ago.

Your partner TomT was 'flaming', 'shaming 'and 'phishing' with his fake women's profiles and he was even a payed forum member

Tom was never my partner, nor was he ‘payed’. Perhaps your recollection is faulty.

Macedonia can't be powerful & neutral like say Switzerland and has to join the EU & NATO, tho we know that they have flaws (e.g. we're aware of Brexit).

Brexit isn’t a flaw, it is the worlds fifth largest economy expressing the desire to leave a corrupt union you are itching to join, and one that we never voted to join. But in your circumstances, you will probably end up joining it because you have no choice as you say. Another country being America's bitch. It happens.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline longingforthesouth

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #17 on: June 22, 2019, 08:20:35 PM »
QUOTE:
On : July 22, 2015, 08:33:06 Msmoby wrote me:


"TomT is a paid up member of the 'tag team' - after a why you'll realise that what might get you on moderation for breaking 'ToS' might go unnoticed...

HOWEVER, I do think he gave you the benefit of the doubt and a long leash before he decided to 'give up' on you and expressed some frustration"

QUOTE END.

From this, I got the impression that TomT was paid as a member or a mod or your partner. Only msmoby can explain what he meant.

I didn't say Brexit was a flaw, I meant that the EU has flaws and that's why the Brits voted for Brexit. It's legit and democratic for a constituent country to leave the EU. I think that it was also legit for Scotland to vote whether to leave the UK or not.

But would a referendum be possible in RU? Or was it possible in it's predecesor the USSR, before it's dissolution began? Or was it in the Warszaw Pact, which was dominated by Moscow? No. There was no democracy, that's what I'm talking about. Only Tito managed to reject Moscow.

Will there be a truly democratic referendum in the constituent countries of the Russian Federation? Tatarstan, Bashkortostan, Chuvashia, Mordovia, Mari El, Udmurtia, Altay, Khakassia, Buryatia, Karachay - Cherkessia, Kabardino - Balkaria, Chechnya, Ingushetia or Dagestan?

Most of them were violently conquered by the RU Empire, they were never ethnically russian. Don't tell me that Chukotka or Kamchatka are ru lands. Even Alaska was a ru colony, so as Poland, Finland, the Stans.

And think about this: RU supported South Ossetia to become independent of Georgia, fine, but will RU support North Ossetia, which is a republic within RU, to become independent, too? Of course not. Double standards.

Could the Baltic States or Moldova make a referendum to leave the USSR after they were occupied by it? Could Hungary and Czechoslovakia leave the Warszaw Pact? No.

RU is an empire. It waged imperialistic wars, same as the US or other great powers. I'm not saying that RU should collapse, that would bring wars and suffering. I'm just making a point.

Have you seen the painting "Yermak's Conquest of Siberia" by Surikov? It's not different to a fight between cowboys & indians, but the "cowboys" here are the russians and the "indians" are the siberian natives with slanted eyes. I saw this painting in a museum in RU. Look at it.



The US are criticized for the slavery (and rightfully so). But do you know that there was also slavery in RU? It was called serfdom (Крепостное право) and the serfs were Russians. Their owners could exploit them, beat them, rape them and sell them with the property as if they were furniture or donkeys. The serfdom was abolished in 1861, at the same time when Lincoln abolished the slavery in the US. And then only the US had slaves?

More examples. The Crimean Khanate was conquered by RU in 1783. It was never a ru land. Warsaw was massacred by RU in 1794 and polish people were again massacred in Katyn in WWII. The Ukrainians had an independent state, the Hetmanate, which allied with the ru czar (Pereyaslav Council 1654) and they were soon "swallowed" by him. The cossack democracy was crushed, the Zaporizhian Sich was burned by ru troops. Later, the Ukrainian language was banned with the Ems Ukaz. Add to this the crush of the Ukrainian independence by Lenin in 1920, then the Stalin's purges and the GULAGs, the Holodomor, the deportations, Chernobyl. It's like a horror movie. So not only the US have sins.

I've even read that the Soviets made "peaceful nuke explosions", e.g. for mining or smth, so they contaminated villages, ppl died of cancer etc. Their "great scientists" activated an nuke bomb in the ukrainian village of Pershotravneve (ru name: Pervomayskoe) near Kharkov on 07/09/1972. The operation was controled from Moscow and was codenamed "Fakel" and it was the first nuke explosion on european soil. You can google for it in ru: "Факел ядерный взрыв 1972" or in ukrainian: "Факел ядерний вибух 1972".

And again, I'm not saying that the West is perfect. Hiroshima, Vietnam, arming Afghans and Bin Laden and the "moderates" in Syria, Pinochet, death squads in L. America, Kosovo. But still, with all it's sins, the West is better. Say, you have two sh**s, you have to pick one. And we have a concensus in our society about the EU & NATO. There're eurosceptics and they have arguments, some of which hold water, but it's fringe.

RU helped Serbia, Montenegro, Greece and Bulgaria to get rid of the Ottoman yoke, but not Macedonia. Our freedom fighters never received a single bullet. Russians don't a clue where are we on the map. And they mistreated me and my wife (as I explained in my 1st post). Slavic bros, yeah sure. The cyrillic alphabet was developed by the Macedonian Slavs (St. Clement of Ohrid et al.) and then we gave it to the Russians. But look how they act. They don't even say "thank you" :-) Every Tajik terrorist is more welcomed in RU than me (no racism! just facts!).

Anyway, the whole world is f-d up, there's no ideal solution and no one is innocent. We're a tiny country with 2 mil ppl, we can't change much. Don't make too ambitious plans for us.
Travelling to Russia and Ukraine since 2005.

Offline Contrarian

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #18 on: June 22, 2019, 10:28:31 PM »
Moby’s comment was a matter of speech only, not to be taken literally.

Your analysis of the various merits and demerits of the Russian Empire versus the American Empire was excellent and a very interesting read. It seems you might be a History teacher?

The most frustrating thing being pushed in the West right now is the “transgender” agenda. Men are (allegedly) becoming women. It’s clearly a psychological issue, but the left sees a way to profit from this. The main problem is that girls and women on sports teams will be robbed of wins by biological men. It’s an evil sick agenda. They should be getting psychological treatment, not having surgeries.

Overall the West is likely still the best place.

How did you ever learn English to such an extent as you have?

Offline longingforthesouth

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #19 on: June 23, 2019, 12:25:51 PM »
Moby’s comment was a matter of speech only, not to be taken literally.

Your analysis of the various merits and demerits of the Russian Empire versus the American Empire was excellent and a very interesting read. It seems you might be a History teacher?

How did you ever learn English to such an extent as you have?

Confederate, tnx. I think I get it, Moby probably used slang. This is an intl forum and slang might confuse some ppl.

Still, some forumers believe (not only me) that TomT was a sort of 'special forum member'. And indeed, he used to get away with flaming, phishing, shaming... If I do the same, I'd be banned. But anyway, forget him.

History is just my hobby. I've learned basic english at kid's lang school and then it improved thanx to music and movies (here they're subtitled, not overdubbed, with rare exceptions). But my eng is still not perfect.

I get what u say about that trans agenda and that soc engineering. But it confuses me why they're doing it.

Awaits Wiz to object to the singular use of 'Macedonia'  and your version of history ...
He told us that Greece would never 'allow' 'North Macedonia' to join the EU, etc.,

Moby, I see that you had heated debates with Wiz. It's complicated for me to explain him all those political disputes, but I left some hints for google searches in my previous posts. And yeah, each country has it's own version LOL.

Well posted. It was an informative read.

don't spend too much time worrying about what others think. Just live your life. Congrats on your marriage.

Mr strange and BillyB, thank you for the nice words.

Now I'm off to the real world.
Travelling to Russia and Ukraine since 2005.

Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #20 on: June 24, 2019, 03:38:22 AM »
To be clear -  I do / did not think TomT was / is a 'shill' ..

I suspect he's not a frequent vistor - because he's not with Nessie, any more .. making a lot of his advice / comments possibly seem moribund - open to 'derision' from some quarters .. ( not I might add myself)

I'd welcome him back and miss his comments -



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Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline dcguyusa

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #21 on: June 24, 2019, 05:07:09 PM »
Quote
The serfdom was abolished in 1861, at the same time when Lincoln abolished the slavery in the US. And then only the US had slaves?

That is correct that serfdom ended in Russia before slavery in the USA.

Note also that after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire made repeated attempts at invading Western Europe.  Had their empire spread into Europe, just about everyone there on the continent would have been converted (or made into slaves).  Imagine a consolidated Euro-Islamic empire.  Isn't the Euro currency a similar theory?   :chuckle:
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Offline msmoby

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #22 on: June 25, 2019, 02:04:50 AM »
Quote
The serfdom was abolished in 1861, at the same time when Lincoln abolished the slavery in the US. And then only the US had slaves?

That is correct that serfdom ended in Russia before slavery in the USA.

Note also that after the fall of the Eastern Roman Empire, the Ottoman Empire made repeated attempts at invading Western Europe.  Had their empire spread into Europe, just about everyone there on the continent would have been converted (or made into slaves).  Imagine a consolidated Euro-Islamic empire.  Isn't the Euro currency a similar theory?   :chuckle:

Ah, a post from somene else who is fond of revisionist history ..

I 'missed' when the Ottomans had the Hellenic folk of Cyprus, Greece all speaking Turkish or practising Islam ... that's just one example.. plenty more...
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Spurious claims about 'seeing action' with the Blue Berets are debunked >here<

Here is my Russophobia/Kremlinphobia topic

Offline rosco

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #23 on: June 25, 2019, 06:41:52 AM »

I know 10 plus ladies who are hookers in their 40s (and even 50's).......


Fixed that for you  :ROFL: :ROFL: :ROFL:

Offline Manny

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Re: Absurdistan
« Reply #24 on: June 25, 2019, 09:52:45 AM »
Imagine a consolidated Euro-Islamic empire. 

Why do you think we voted to leave the EU? Moby and the Liberal Leftie lot are inviting them in to take over.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.