re: Tucker Carlson says Moscow, Russia is "nicer than any city" in the United States

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Actually I was part of a set up for my client in 2010 when they decided to open up an office in Moscow. I dealt with "legal" concerns mostly. Had to go there 2x for a month each time. The corruption you deal with there is profound. Everybody has their hand out from the local politicians and some national ones in the Duma to low level bureaucrats.....and then there are their associates in the private sector some of which do not try to hide their tattoos.

We like to bitch in the states about bureaucracy and a little graft, it is nothing when dealing with institutionalized state sanctioned graft like Russia where very little is transparent.

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have you been to America?

Try getting a contract with a "local" school board.
Try getting contracts with county commissioners.
Try to push a real estate project forward and see what you encounter.

Russia isn't great, Brazil is worse, Italy not far off... at least in my experience so far. But rural Georgia might be as bad as any.

This country is corrupt as frick. Maybe not EVERYWHERE. But it is corrupt as fuuuuuuck.

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My parents didn't get high speed internet that wasn't satellite based until 2010.

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My parents don't have high-speed internet in 2024. Starlink is an option, but they haven't been willing to shell out that cost. Verizon "high speed" is a joke and not better than dial-up.

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back in the 70's and 80's the main stream media adored the USSR/Russia

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You remember that time differently than me. I recall constant stories of empty stores, lines for bread and soup, etc. We still had the Berlin Wall and the mystique of Russian overall. There was nothing glamourous about it.

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I think you will recall the local police were often very interested in his presence, though.

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Yep,I think his mistake was when he and his girlfriend snuck into that hanger housing their Russian Boran Space Shuttle. Their Boran Space Shuttle was almost an exact copy of our Space Shuttle. If my memory is correct their Space Shuttle never carried a single cosmonaut into space. When the Ruskies ran out of money, they mothballed their shuttle in that hanger. Along comes Benjamin and his girlfriend and they expose a gaping hole in their security. I couldn't believe that Russian Space Shuttle was just sitting there in that hanger unguarded. Since the Ruskies never dismantled the thing I presume they had plans to fly it, eventually. You know some bondo, touchup paint, and some buffing and she's ready to go. Anyway they didn't like that breach at all and soon after Benji got a visit from the KGB.

I remember thinking when I saw that - Hey Benji stay away from Russian military installations and anything that would make'um look bad. Benjamin was lucky he didn't get thrown in a Siberian prison. He hasn't been allowed back in the country since. I'll say it - Benjamin Rich is a legend when it comes to YouTubers on the prowl.

Anyway, his visits to Mother Russia showed me the Russians are not our enemy. I wish I could say that about this current administration.

Trump 2024 - He Delivered On Peace (with Russia)

Ronald Reagan is turning over in his grave. What has become of the Republican Party?

I was always of the opinion that breaking even was a victory...did we? It probably took us 4 years to get to where we were close.....2012 My immediate boss thought it was a stupid move, but the client had money to burn on it.

He's right you know.

They must be more diverse because I’ve been told that’s our strength.