What's on your mind today?

[Tank]

The last one. It's dead now.

[Tank]

The Western Tanager.


Image Credit: Garret Burton

That's a gaudy little guy!

[Recusant]

Yes, often used on the cover of bird identification books for the western US. They're in the family Cardinalidae--nearly all the males in that family have colorful plumage.

[MarcusA]

Friday's on my mind.

[No one]

Everyday is exactly the same.

[The Magic Pudding.]

What is going on in Russia?

[Dark Lightning]

Last I saw, Prigo"whatever" bitched at the Russian MoD and his boys got hit from behind by a missile or two. He's too far from a tall building to throw him out a window thereof. The Russians and their hired thug mercenaries are now feeding on each other. Bon appetite!

[Tank]

See 'Should we talk about the weather.'

[billy rubin]

prigo backed off, it seems, heading for belorus

he better stay away from high windows for a while

[Tank]

And door handles.

[billy rubin]

i honestly dont know what happened. prigo was on the march, and then abruptly backed off.

why? putin said mean things, but that shouldnt have stopped him. was he expecting that russias military would all cut loose and join him? was he offered something that isnt apparent?

putin has a long memory and a long reach. prigo has shown himself to be a threat, and i frankly dont see him living out the year, unless there isgoing to be a profoundly different second act to this production.

[Tank]

I think he's a dead man walking now. Unless he was Putin's gay lover and has the pictures to prove it.

[Dark Lightning]

Prigo is going to end up glowing blue in the dark from ionizing radiation, just like the Polonium cat here-

[Icarus]

Prigo was known as Putin's chef. What if Prigo himselph has some Pollonium and some friends in the Kremlin. It is not inconceivable that Putin could end up glowing blue. There are almost surely some of his cohorts who would be more comfortable with a Putin demise.

From this distance, admittedly from an uninformed distance, Russia could be better off with a president who is not a power crazed madman.

[Asmodean]

I think he's a dead man walking now. Unless he was Putin's gay lover and has the pictures to prove it.

I wonder if you may be overestimating the reach and competency of ye-Soviet-hit-squads.

Yes, they may be effective, but given a sufficiently paranoid and sufficiently powerful target, who will not take that meeting or shakke that hand or trust that cup of tea...

Prigozhin is not some journalist, lonesome dissident or lonesome dissident journalist. He's likely to show up to any meeting within the boundaries he controls and with enough safeguards (firepower being just one such) to if not guarantee his safety, then at least assure that his chances are overall favourable.

That said, I also don't think pictures of Putin in gay sex positions would help him at all. Putin has an entire ministry of propaganda to discredit any such blackmail and its effects would likely be far less than those he already has to deal with as the result of that whole non-coup coup.