Having grown in Soviet Union, I'll attest to the fact.
First, it's not that in your beloved US it isn't the government who control food distribution (ever heard of FDA?).
Secondly, it was Reagan's arms race that contributed to the food "deficit" in the Soviet Union in 1982-1991 and not so much the planned economy. The USSR simply didn't have enough economic power to both defend herself and feed her citizens. And yes, she had to defend herself first lest she wanted to share Yugoslavia's or Iraq's fate.
Now, DPRK (or whatever the abbreviation is) is another matter: they simply don't have enough resources or arable land and cannot normallu feed themselves without foreign aid - as simple as that.
My wife has family in Russia so that is why I am posting anonymously.
So that the blood-thirsty KGB wouldn't come after them?
They hate Putin. Yeltin was a dream compared to Putin.
Is it because they were part of Yeltsin's establishment, but disowned by Putin? Well, if you break the law to get rich quick, sometimes it comes back to bite you.
Look how Russia in implicated in the poisoning of several prominent people outside of Russia including the President of Ukraine.
Implicated by whom? By the Western media controlled by the likes of "your wife's family?" And it shows.
Under Putin the Russian State is gradually taking control of key industries.
And it's a good thing, as it's not that these industries were founded by the "effective managers" out of nothing; they were the state (people's) property stolen by them.
Look at the past week and how Shell were forced to relinquish control of a major Oil/Gas project in the Far East of the country.
When you're trying to get that control fraudulently, through bribes and kickbacks, it comes back to haunt you. Which is exactly what happened.
The project will now go down the Tubes and fall apart but to Putin's idealogs this does not matter.
And how do you know? BTW, judging by your spelling, do you live in Brooklyn?
Russia controls most of the Gas Supplies to Western Europe so Government here dare not say anything against him for fear that their Gas supplies get cut off in the forthcoming winter period.
Russia controls her own gas supplies. If Ukraine, Poland or whoever don't want their gas cut off, they should try to pay for it and don't steal. That's how free market works, stupid.
So did he carry something other than a Salvadorean passport? Like, contraband? And do you think he could've been "fished with bribes" out of non-mafia US customs in similar circumstances?
Are you a nutcase or what?
What Putin's enemies? The first time I heard Litvinenko's name was from the Western controlled media when he "fell ill." That was the guy who wrote for Chechenpress; the guy who accused Putin of being a paedophile; the guy who accused Putin of 9/11, Madrid and London bombings.
You're a bloody idiot if you fell for that media spin that some schizophrenic is an "enemy of Putin" or matters in any way. There's one more "dissident" (coincidentally, Jewish as well), Valeria Novodvorskaya, who is as mad if not madder.
And no, it hasn't been "standard Soviet practice" in the past.
Basically, these poisonings and their possible consequences on peoples opinion of him are the only thing that could screw it up for him.
You're being delusional. Consequences? On people's opinion? Due to a Berezovsky's minion being "poisoned," most likely, on Berezovsky's orders? I'm laughing my arse out.
On the other hand, the oppression he and his mostly alien elite have brought upon the Russian people, that's another matter. But not in favour of a Jew-Azeri Kasparov, no way.
Sure. Ipods and Segways are some of the basic necessities for 65-year olds.
You Americans are so-oo stupid if you seriously believe that these kind of "sanctions" will render the Party leaders incapable of getting the toys they want. Or maybe you're just a child.
Therefore we make it annoying for the people of North Korea to get by but it isn't possible to point to conditions of people dying due to our sanctions.
Do you seriously believe that inability to buy things worth 5 yearly incomes due to "sanctions" is going to annoy the DPRK people? What a bloody idiot.
during the cold war, your enemy had nuclear weapons and threatened to use them!
Been smoking dope while watching Fox lately, have you?
The USSR, I daresay, has never threatened to use the nuclear weapons except in response to being attacked.
However, your "greatest country in the world" -... http://www.zmag.org/CrisesCurEvts/interventions.ht m.
And BTW, the list of Soviet (you know, the absolutely evil empire's) interventions is nowhere near as long.
Last time I checked, NPD was perfectly legal political party in Germany, however much your "mainstream" polititians tried to vilify it. And it's position in the political spectre, I'd think, would be wa-ay to the left of the US Democrats, for example.
Yeah, yeah... But why can't you do it on laboratory rats first?
I'd think that Dr Mengele would've also said something about the improvement of human race to that effect.
And no, your statement is not even correct. How's allowing the more weak and disease-prone individuals to continue to live and procreate an "improvement of the human race?"
It's the brainless leftist BS like this that makes me sick.
1: imprison them
2: make them slaves
3: castrate them
4: put them on a boat to nowhere
5: castrate them, then make them slaves, no worries
But that's how your "advanced" democracy works, doesn't it?
In socialist countries, you get to vote for one candidate.
In "democratic" countries, you get to vote for one of two (or more) candidates who are exactly the same, like clones.
And this Australian system is not elections at all either - it's a "we've already chosen the MPs for you, but you may make your suggestions on this here piece of paper, not that it really matters."
Also, this procedure happens not to be elections at all, but, as you said, "preference," from less to most revolting. And there's no "I don't want any of these bastards" option at all.
Can you give an example of such a country?
The only one that I can think of it the USSR in 1989, but they have lowered the standards in 1990, after having to hold up to 4 re-elections because no candidate will get 50% of the registered voters' votes.
What? No Canada, No Germany, no France and no Brazil?
But Belarus, only because a couple of websites "mysteriously disappeared" (most likely, done by the American-paid so-called "opposition" itself)?
Slashdot Mirror
Not those at the top giving orders, though.
When you rob people several times and murder them by million it does tend to be a problem in Russia, yes.
Not on slashdot you wouldn't be able to. Because of this: content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"
So did he carry something other than a Salvadorean passport? Like, contraband? And do you think he could've been "fished with bribes" out of non-mafia US customs in similar circumstances?
Are you a nutcase or what?
What Putin's enemies? The first time I heard Litvinenko's name was from the Western controlled media when he "fell ill." That was the guy who wrote for Chechenpress; the guy who accused Putin of being a paedophile; the guy who accused Putin of 9/11, Madrid and London bombings. You're a bloody idiot if you fell for that media spin that some schizophrenic is an "enemy of Putin" or matters in any way. There's one more "dissident" (coincidentally, Jewish as well), Valeria Novodvorskaya, who is as mad if not madder.
And no, it hasn't been "standard Soviet practice" in the past.
On the other hand, the oppression he and his mostly alien elite have brought upon the Russian people, that's another matter. But not in favour of a Jew-Azeri Kasparov, no way.
Yeah, sure. He also may have murdered little kittens and children on Saturdays, too.
Now, as to your "democratic" president W...
You Americans are so-oo stupid if you seriously believe that these kind of "sanctions" will render the Party leaders incapable of getting the toys they want. Or maybe you're just a child. Do you seriously believe that inability to buy things worth 5 yearly incomes due to "sanctions" is going to annoy the DPRK people? What a bloody idiot.
The USSR, I daresay, has never threatened to use the nuclear weapons except in response to being attacked.
However, your "greatest country in the world" -
And BTW, the list of Soviet (you know, the absolutely evil empire's) interventions is nowhere near as long.
Last time I checked, NPD was perfectly legal political party in Germany, however much your "mainstream" polititians tried to vilify it. And it's position in the political spectre, I'd think, would be wa-ay to the left of the US Democrats, for example.
Now, if you're a Jew and state that Arabs are sub-human - that, of course, would be a totally different matter.
Yeah, yeah... But why can't you do it on laboratory rats first?
I'd think that Dr Mengele would've also said something about the improvement of human race to that effect.
And no, your statement is not even correct. How's allowing the more weak and disease-prone individuals to continue to live and procreate an "improvement of the human race?"
It's the brainless leftist BS like this that makes me sick.
In socialist countries, you get to vote for one candidate.
In "democratic" countries, you get to vote for one of two (or more) candidates who are exactly the same, like clones.
And this Australian system is not elections at all either - it's a "we've already chosen the MPs for you, but you may make your suggestions on this here piece of paper, not that it really matters."
Also, this procedure happens not to be elections at all, but, as you said, "preference," from less to most revolting. And there's no "I don't want any of these bastards" option at all.
You know nothing about how the elections in the USSR were held. So shut up.
Most likely, they voted with swords or, optionally, pitchforks.
Pencils? And the vote counters get erasers, I suppose?
Can you give an example of such a country? The only one that I can think of it the USSR in 1989, but they have lowered the standards in 1990, after having to hold up to 4 re-elections because no candidate will get 50% of the registered voters' votes.
What? No Canada, No Germany, no France and no Brazil? But Belarus, only because a couple of websites "mysteriously disappeared" (most likely, done by the American-paid so-called "opposition" itself)?
Oh yeah sure, you had to show an ID to cross a "state" (oblast or republic) border. You, sir, are a liar. As simple as that.
Every statement in the post above is a lie.