Boris Karlof can go suck a beet

Hulk Hogan speaks for us all. He defends us all against the likes of Boris Karlof. Be thankful Hulk is looking out for us.

Back in the USSR

What with all the new excitement in Crimea - it's been awhile - I've been thinking fondly of Cold War's past.

Alas, it's just a comedy montage, and not really a geopolitical reality. Despite the action in the Black Sea. It is somewhat interesting, kind of.

Sochi is just down the road from the old Crimea, which is cool, right?

into the dust bin

Sigh. Communism. How I miss you. Look here at this cold hard logic. It was scientists who sent monkeys into space, not Jesus.

It is the working class who built the factories and the buildings, the tractors and trucks. It is people who build our cities and monuments, not Jesus. Not the spiritual and fiscal bourgeoisie.


Comrades!

Dino War on Religion and other Pillars of Society

Behold this work of art! Encapsulating every 10 year old boy's internal storyspace. Dinosaurs at war, with aliens in the mix - somehow!

The dinosaur represents Freedom.

Obama's Goonsquad suffers calamitously in the Dino Uprising.

Also, Demand Full Atheism.

Send a Dog

Laika, the first Earthling to leave the planet. How greater could be the glory? Laika, SPACEDOG!

Glory enough to make the art for a pack of Soviet smokes. That smooth flavor and gentle smoke reminds one of the heroic sacrifices from our dog friends on our behalf. Thank you, dogs, for all you do for us!

Of course, dogs have been used in war from the day war was invented, I bet. Or thereabouts. Here we have a dog bomb - a little terrier packed with explosives, trained to run under tanks. You wouldn't trust a job like this to a monkey, or a cat. Only dog will deliver, and BOOM.

But a dog can be trained in the hippy as well, out protesting in the street and fightin' The Man! Kanellos has inspired (and probably fathered) the next generation of Anarchy Dogs.

Soviet the Magazine

Get the latest issue of Soviet Union, the Magazine, to keep up on all the happenings in the superhip USSR!

See the many plazas and stately buildings and learn about plans for even greater public works!

Just saying hi!, Comrade. :)

Red Son Set

From the "What if" Superman comic "Superman: Red Son", which, I'll point out for the few non-super nerds in the audience, has a double meaning. "Red" for Soviet, as this story tells the tale of Kal-El crashing in Ukraine instead of Kansas, and the history that unfolds from that small change in impact trajectory.

The second, more subtle meaning is Kal-El is from a Red Sun system - Krypton. In truth, the entirety of Superman's powers come from living on a Yellow Sun world, like Earth. If you sent Superman back to a Krypton like planet, he'd be just a normal dude like you and me (except super swole). Thus, "Red Son", as Kal-El is the last "legitimate" person from Krypton. There's been some criminals and other undesirables, but they don't count.

Yet, sadly, even Soviet Superman couldn't save Communism.

Defeated, by greed, and freedom. It's sadly true.

If you agree that, in THEORY!, Communism is based on "sharing", and Capitalism is based on "greed", then you can see how perhaps we live in the evil Universe, today, where Capitalism reigns supreme, to the max. And this is why:

The freedom of the individual (and his/her cliques) as compared to CENTRAL PLANNING and other high handed Communist attempts to mold human society. The lesson is: A Central Power should not try and mold a society. Rather, give it the freedom and protection it needs to mold itself within the bounds of that society.

South Korea compared to North Korea is our real time lab experiment. South Korea, like it or not, is the fucking future.

That door has closed.

Hero to some

Against the evil NAZI hordes, mind you, who had just lain waste to your country. Would not any man in this army be considered a hero to his fellow countrymen? Every tribe is looking for heroes, and war often provides them. So too, revolution.

Vladmir I Lenin, nerd who changed the world.

The nerd celebrated at sporting events.

The nerd who would sweep away the royalty of earth in the name of the common man.

The nerd who is a hero to many, but certainly not all. Are there any heroes who are? Lenin was sincere in his revolutionary beliefs, and is not responsible for any of the later horrors of the USSR - that's Stalin and his successors, but mostly Stalin. Dude was whack and in the running for "Evilest human, ever". Don't blame his deeds on Lenin, who liked kittens, and fighting authority. Here's an 1895 mugshot:

A nerd who got inspired by some other nerds (Marx, Engalls), and led a worldwide revolution. It would be incredibly awesome if it didn't collapse so quickly into totalitarian nightmare. Maybe there's a lesson there.

Or maybe not.

Their bombs

Operation Sailor Hat was a military experiment to see the effects of 500 tons of explosives - without the now (1965) recognized issues of radiation. A wicked lot of TNT, stacked in cool domes. Like Brutalist igloos of DOOM.

For what purpose? Better means to wage war. For, as any Soviet would tell you, or anybody from Central and South America, or Asia, or the Middle East, the USA is always waging war, with their tanks and their bombs.

Enough! No more war and killing! Let us come together as Comrades!

Let us build groovy peace rockets and travel to the stars!

Let us live in peace and fraternity, and sorority! It will be groovy.

Also, too, here's what 500 tons of TNT exploding looks like:

 

 Awesome!

Church and State

 

In order to improve morale during WW2, Stalin brought back a "Stalin'd up!" version of the Orthodox Church which had been hitherto crushed by official Soviet policy. And why not? In 1942 Russia, all things go better with Stalin!

I really dig this style and the medieval shout outs. I'm not sure what book Stalin is selling here, since I don't think the Bible made it back into this brief version of the Church (Khrushchev later crushed it once again). Might be a blank journal so you can record your most patriotic thoughts about how awesome Stalin is.

Stalin cares. House visits for the grieving widows of the war. A Saint, I tells ya!

Soviet Strong

A few things: As long as there is scarcity of resources, Communism cannot work in the large scale. If there were no scarcity of resources (AKA Star Trek's "replicator" which takes elements then fabricates items on command - take heed of the development of the 3d printer. It's the beginning of the replicator), then pure Communism is a must. Everyone's equal in the scheme of things, there's no money, everyone's happy and their children are nurtured and healthy, education for all, entertainment for all, science for all: The Soviet future, one in which every single person is a sovietnik. Look it up. And enjoy these pictures.

I've got a ton of Soviet propaganda art on the old HD "Cloud" because I find it stunningly beautiful. The style of it. Gorgeous and inspiring and awesome now that the USSR is no longer an immanent threat to end the world.

This might be one of Galactus's heralds. Make no mistake: It was the Cold War that created NASA and got man on the moon in ten freaking years  - which is simply incredible. A staggering accomplishment that shall echo in history for as long as we have it. Since the fall of the USSR records reveal what many suspected of the Soviet space program: more duct tape and spit than fearsome space conqueroring machine. They had some smart folks (also some NAZI's just like the USA) and the power of the state behind them, and the Soviet space program accomplished great things - first satellite in space; first animal in space; first man in space; first woman in space. Remarkable stuff, but as soon as NASA was funded and the space race began in earnest, the Soviets could not keep up. Not enough bucks, you see. The crippling affects of the past 30 years had caught up to them. And so it was the space race that truly began the fall of the USSR and its empire. Yay, space! Because in truth the USSR was mostly awful, though with many positives. But still mostly awful and worth fighting. Yay, also, America!

Also too:

At last! It's time someone actually took the fight to the KKK and any other race based hate organization. In a tolerant society you've got to tolerate almost everyone, be they religious, atheist, man, woman, black, red, yellow, white, gay, straight, lame, hipster, uptight, etc. But the one person we as a society cannot tolerate is the intolerant. Those who would seek to limit the rights of others, for whatever reason. They are the enemies of tolerance and must be opposed wherever they rear their hoary heads, for they are poison upon the body Tolerance and if given enough sway can end it. So, tolerance for all! Except for the intolerant, who must be opposed vociferously and actively.

Ergo, go Black Panther! Fuck the CSA.

Another World

It's like a fantasy land written by a bearded Sperglord. But it was real, and here captured in 1910 by Prokudin. Dude ruled - here is he, indeed, chilling by an olde tymey stream:

A macro:

Prokudin's got it right: Everyone needs a walking stick. A sturdy one is useful for so many pursuits.

Black and white memories

My mental images of the past - all of the past, well, from the 1950's to the beginning of time - are in black and white. People lived in black and white back then, right?

Of course not. Their sky, blue, their grass, green, their dirt and wood, brown and tall. Just like our world. But having seen enough black and white photos of recent history, I've been programmed to think of the past as B&W. It's weird, but I think pretty common. And hence how shocking it is to see an old time dude or event in color. Honest Abe looks fine in color, and is ugly as sin. Can you imagine him running for President today? LOL Abe.

Tolstoy, Leo (1908). Looks like he could be in an old time hippy band, playing bass or rhythm guitar.

Zindan Prison in Bukhara, 1907. Good times, good times. In color!