Alla Graduates, Finally!

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Tell Alla Kira and I said congrats ! That's no small achievement.

Edited August 1, 2011 by Why_Me

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

I don't dispute that things like this happened then and now, but this is also a pretty rose-colored view of the system.

It isn't meant to be rose colored, it is what it is. The thing is that when people are adjusted to corruption and tolerate corrupt things like stealing bread to pay for stolen medical services, they have little concern about anything else. Exploitation? Sure. Don't be that guy! This is why Alla shrugs her shoulders at Rod Blagoyovich and says "What do people think he would do?" The people in Donetsk know exactly what oit means in that they must work in 19th centruy technology coal mines because the owners refuse to update them as required by law. They just pay bribes and hundreds of miners are killed every year. But it is the highest paying job in town that doesn't require advanced education, so there are more where the dead ones came from. Life can be considerably more difficult there than here.

It just isn't going to chnge soon, it is too cheap and too easy and benefits everyone in one way or another, so it will continue to be tolerated.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Tell Alla Kira and I said congrats ! That's no small achievement.

Thanks!

Alla looked over my shoulder at one of your posts and said "Who's this?" It is Kira, it is Kip's wife.

"Hmmm. He has photos of her like she is something he caught...what is the word for it?" A Trophy? "Yes, trophy. Do you think I am a trophy?" Of course sweetheart, the BEST.

"Then put more photos of me"

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Thanks!

Alla looked over my shoulder at one of your posts and said "Who's this?" It is Kira, it is Kip's wife.

"Hmmm. He has photos of her like she is something he caught...what is the word for it?" A Trophy? "Yes, trophy. Do you think I am a trophy?" Of course sweetheart, the BEST.

"Then put more photos of me"

You gotta love RUB chicks...they shoot straight from the hip...no bs with them gals.

I told Kira the other night that if she kept on b*tching I was going to trade her in for a newer model. She said try it so I can cut your balls off.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

You gotta love RUB chicks...they shoot straight from the hip...no bs with them gals.

I told Kira the other night that if she kept on b*tching I was going to trade her in for a newer model. She said try it so I can cut your balls off.

Yeah, so much for them being exploited and shown around as trophies. Turns out they like it! Who knew?

Alla vacillates on the "other woman" thing. She makes no bones about the fact that she is "a jealous woman" but she goes from the "I would kill HER, not you" reaction (she needs me to pay for things) to the "I am Ukrainian, I know ways to snap your neck in your sleep" mode

Either way it would not be pleasant.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

Yeah, so much for them being exploited and shown around as trophies. Turns out they like it! Who knew?

Alla vacillates on the "other woman" thing. She makes no bones about the fact that she is "a jealous woman" but she goes from the "I would kill HER, not you" reaction (she needs me to pay for things) to the "I am Ukrainian, I know ways to snap your neck in your sleep" mode

Either way it would not be pleasant.

Kira's the same way...she gets jealous way too easy. Like a few weeks ago when I had some Ukrainian cannery chicks here using the laptops to check their emails before they flew back home. Kira came uncnted.

But yep, I'm 100% for trophy wives vs 200+lb Walmart specials. Eye candy ftw any day !

Edited August 1, 2011 by Why_Me

[Captain Hammer 113]

Yes and no. Like I said, on the lower level, it allows some protection from a broken system.

I think we're arguing in circles. Basically the system is 'good' for some value of good, because it offers protection from a broken system, which also provides the corruption that offers protection. It's a vicious cycle with no end in sight. Thus, my argument about fixing such a system is mostly academic because there is no impetus for those who could fix the system (i.e. those who benefit from it the most) to actually fix it.

But I wouldn't make the mistake of thinking it's all a zero sum game. It's exactly the opposite. For every winner, there are many, many losers. The university professor who takes bribes from her students may be simply supplementing her income, but the result is students who graduate knowing nothing about their course of study. Think about that the next time you're visiting the doctor in Moscow--just how qualified is she really? (since you're an American I'm guessing you have a decent private insurance provider, so you probably don't face that problem. But many do not.) During my time in Kyiv, I came to realize that I was more qualified to practice in their own legal system than some of the Ukrainian lawyers I worked with. I have no doubt these so-called 'professionals' were degreed in paper only.

[^_^ 5,021]

I think we're arguing in circles. Basically the system is 'good' for some value of good, because it offers protection from a broken system, which also provides the corruption that offers protection. It's a vicious cycle with no end in sight. Thus, my argument about fixing such a system is mostly academic because there is no impetus for those who could fix the system (i.e. those who benefit from it the most) to actually fix it.

But I wouldn't make the mistake of thinking it's all a zero sum game. It's exactly the opposite. For every winner, there are many, many losers. The university professor who takes bribes from her students may be simply supplementing her income, but the result is students who graduate knowing nothing about their course of study. Think about that the next time you're visiting the doctor in Moscow--just how qualified is she really? (since you're an American I'm guessing you have a decent private insurance provider, so you probably don't face that problem. But many do not.) During my time in Kyiv, I came to realize that I was more qualified to practice in their own legal system than some of the Ukrainian lawyers I worked with. I have no doubt these so-called 'professionals' were degreed in paper only.

You should change your screen name to Anchorman and get it over with. You're kind of a big deal, we get it.

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

You should change your screen name to Anchorman and get it over with. You're kind of a big deal, we get it.

Or... Wikipedia Ukrainian.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

The university professor who takes bribes from her students may be simply supplementing her income, but the result is students who graduate knowing nothing about their course of study. Think about that the next time you're visiting the doctor in Moscow--just how qualified is she really? (since you're an American I'm guessing you have a decent private insurance provider, so you probably don't face that problem. But many do not.) During my time in Kyiv, I came to realize that I was more qualified to practice in their own legal system than some of the Ukrainian lawyers I worked with. I have no doubt these so-called 'professionals' were degreed in paper only.

So you do not like the results of "free" socialized medicine? As far as college students graduating and not knowing their subject, they can do the same here without a bribe...and the Rusiians speak English better.

What did you do in Kiev? Were you able to do it without bribery? I can tell you that construction in Ukraine, on schedule and on budget (particularly with the Orange Revolution going on in mid-project) would have been impossible without a generous "petty cash" box. You went with the program or you did not get the job done.

[^_^ 5,021]

Or... Wikipedia Ukrainian.

What?

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

What?

It's someone who learns about Ukraine via the net...mainly wiki.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

What?

Watch and learn

[Captain Hammer 113]

So you do not like the results of "free" socialized medicine? As far as college students graduating and not knowing their subject, they can do the same here without a bribe...and the Rusiians speak English better.

Sure. Which isn't at all what I was talking about, but yes, sure.

What did you do in Kiev? Were you able to do it without bribery? I can tell you that construction in Ukraine, on schedule and on budget (particularly with the Orange Revolution going on in mid-project) would have been impossible without a generous "petty cash" box. You went with the program or you did not get the job done.

I sat behind a desk in a cushy office. Thankfully, I have no first-hand experience with the construction industry in Ukraine. But I have no doubt that what you say is true. In fact, I've been agreeing with that point all along.

[Captain Hammer 113]

Watch and learn

Really, we're going to go there again? Thought we were having a nice little chat. Well if you're going down that road again, do it in another thread then please, out of respect for your wife's very substantial achievement.