Shutterbugsailer Loc: Staten Island NY (AKA Cincinnati by the Sea)

While I have been sticking my head in the sand regarding the Russia/Ukraine conflict, I had an interesting conversation with a neighbor who is a keen amateur bodybuilder and history buff. He likened the situation in the region to his training in bodybuilding. He played football in high school with no intention to continue the game afterwards. As part of his training, he lifted weights on and off season, resulting in the typical physique of a football lineman; Huge muscles, covered by a layer of fat. With football out of the picture, he decided to take up bodybuilding. First he cut his caloric intake and changed his workout regimen from heavy weights and low reps to lighter weights and more repetitions, resulting in a smaller and leaner physique. With his bodyfat levels down to the lowest level in his life, he began to bulk up slowly, and came close to his football weight, while avoiding the layer of fat from his gridiron days. In his opinion, Russia seems to have followed his training regimen. The Soviet Union was extremely powerful by virtue of its vast land, varied natural resources, and huge population. But it was far from "all muscle" Many of the formerly independent republics incorporated into the former USSR differed from "Mother Russia" and each other in terms of religion, language, customs, and ideology, and as such, maintained their regional identity, along with a willingness to abandon the USSR like rats on a sinking ship. Stalin found this out the hard way, once the Nazis invaded. Many of these regions, particularly the Baltic states, initially welcomed the Germans as liberators and were only too willing to collaborate with them. It was not until they started discriminating against them for being "not quite Aryan" that Stalin was able to wage a great Patriotic war and make loyal communists out of them, at least for the time being, and were willing cannon fodder for said war. Fast fowarding it to the late 80s. With no common enemies to unite and support for communism waning in Europe, many of these Republics separated from Russia and returned to their autonomous state. While it seemed at first to weaken Russia, in the end it made it stronger militarily speaking In WW2, it was quantity of men and munitions that defeated the enemy, rather than quality that saved the day for the USSR. Today's military is totally different. Under communism, with the state responsible for industry, quality control was absent, including armaments, and design and manufacturing defects ran rampant. With private enterprise flourishing, along with free market competition, the quality of their arms has become second to none. By shedding both communisim, and the excess weight of its most impoverished regions, Russia became 100% lean muscle. Its desire to retake Ukraine is a way of bulking up again. Ukraine is strategically located right on its borders, has a strong manufacturing base, along with natural resources, and is populated by those with a similar cultural heritage as Mother Russia, many of whom would happily go back to their old roots