luka

Well-known member
my puritanical inheritance prevents me from revelling in these things. its a handicap craners aristocratic background has saved him from,
 

luka

Well-known member
thats why he can enjoy booze and fags with a clear conscience whereas i feel like im commiting myself to the hellfires if i drink a bottle of lager
 

craner

Beast of Burden
I’m not a very big Ballard fan, but I do like him.

That little clutch of essays I wrote between 2011-13 was heavily influenced in theme and style by Fouad Ajami. Probably nobody else can see that, but it seems so obvious to me now.
 

craner

Beast of Burden
I did one about the Aliyev clan too, which thirdform was a fan of:

 

luka

Well-known member
I did one about the Aliyev clan too, which thirdform was a fan of:


Melania is another one of these strong mans wives
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Eurovision is one of those bizarre aspects of modern - post-WWII that is - Europe (or, Eurasia) that I fail to understand

I understand European corruption (FIFA, the IOC), nationalism, televised singing contests

but Eurovision has some greater than the sum of its parts insanity that eludes a non-European, I think
 

craner

Beast of Burden
Eurovision is one of those bizarre aspects of modern - post-WWII that is - Europe (or, Eurasia) that I fail to understand

I understand European corruption (FIFA, the IOC), nationalism, televised singing contests

but Eurovision has some greater than the sum of its parts insanity that eludes a non-European, I think

Aliyeva couldn’t even remember its proper name. European song contest, indeed.
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Yulia Tymoshenko was always a power in her own right, correct?

her husband kind of has a Ukrainian Todd Palin vibe
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Aliyeva couldn’t even remember its proper name. European song contest, indeed.
the soft power angle is v reminiscent of cycling, which I know something about, being a fan

professional cycling being absolutely awash with dictatorships funding races and teams

Kazakhstan - not a Kazakh company, the actual government - is a long-time sponsor of a professional team (Astana)

Russia also sponsored a team (Katusha) for a long time at the behest of Igor Makarov, a Turkman oligarch/Putin regime crony

who still sits at the top level of professional cycling, with various shady ties to his business empire

various repressive Gulf regimes also fund races - along deserted roads thru the desert - but it doesn't have that same post-Soviet touch

it's all a drop in the bucket compared things like FIFA or the IOC, but still, properly embarrassing and surreal
 

padraig (u.s.)

a monkey that will go ape
Tymoshenko was an oligarch. She was very powerful. She practically took on Putin.
I didn't know she was an oligarch originally but that makes sense

I just meant that she was self-made and her power was her own, not an extension of her father, husband, etc like some of these other women

Palin seems like that if only in the power in her own right angle

and the folksy image, tho Palin's wasn't nearly as calculated I think, pre-rise to fame anyway
 
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