what actual ‘colonies’ did they have?

as a cold warrior i’m not suggesting that their imperial thrust didn’t flow into the Warsaw Pact?

but “colonial”?
that’s more of a western European notion.

it may seem like a fine point, but i caution you against easy concepts and knee-jerk catch-phrases when it comes to the Russian mind– even those of us westerners who swim in the same gene pool don’t have quite the same dark edge to our sensibilities– we are mere iron to their steel in the absence of the refiner’s fire.

was he being ironic in a sailor’s uniform? i think so– remember “Mission Accomplished” in flight suit? Putin is a patient man.

in light of the current Ossetia situation, not only will Bush 43 do nothing to assist Georgia [who did provide ~2000 bodies for cannon fodder since returned to the motherland] because he needs to preserve Russia as an ally in re Iran.

This is part of Russian culture. Any Russian male worth his salt (pun intended) imbibes heavy metals, either naturally or in the form of supplements.

It is no secret, that Latin Americans use lead in confections and folk remedies. Ukrainians nibble on dioxin — right up to the president himself. Russians ingest radioactive heavy metals. They do because they can. These elements are universal. Everyone has a high tolerance to them and no one dies from them. Litvinenko probably died of AIDS, not radioactivity. This is not a lily-livered Westerner.

Russians throughout Siberia grew up drinking water from rivers contaminated with slag waste. Everyone has a high tolerance to cadmium, copper — you name it.

Litvinenko even had a set of toothpicks made for him out of a cesium alloy by his grandfather. He used to use them after bouts of sushi-eating. He ate the sushi not because it was Western or elitist, but because like any Russian male with a high metabolism, he needed the mercury.

Currently the nutrient in favour is polonium and thorium. Not everyone can get the most delectable isotopes — they are being stockpiled by the oligarchy. (I do not condone everything Putin does).

Putin himself takes ldaily ead and polonium supplements.