Evaluation and summing up my too prolonged sitting with you

[Balu]

First of all I am grateful to ALL of you (including those who were in my ignore list) enabling me to refresh my English and to see you again in your natural habitant. I can not say that I learned anything new, but it was very pleasant to feel myself in atmosphere similar to that of old time.
As far as my task was not to convince you in anything I don't think that I failed in fulfilling this mission. I am sure that you can not disagree that I spoke with you frankly, expressing my personal attitude to any subject and you had an opportunity to see the points of view different from those expressed by your mass media.
I am pretty glad that I found your forum and learned the majority of the most active forum users, which will be very useful for me in future. The other benefit are the questions and topics you are constantly raising to discuss on this board this or that way. This will save me a lot of time to find the proper material to be aware of the events and subjects you consider interesting and important. So, as you see, I am loosing nothing leaving you.
This is my final decision and it is not subject to alterations.
P.S. My personal request to the Chief of this board is to delete my account.
P.P.S. My offer to Robert is valid and in force and I'll appear here in a year or so to contact you on this subject should we both are alive and healthy.

[Black Diamond]

In other words, Kath kicked the shit out of you and you can't put her on ignore.

[NightTrain]

Farewell, Balu.

Happy Trails.

[revelarts]

All the Best Balu. Been a pleasure.

I hope things work out well for you on your next assignment:poke:

[hjmick]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nFf4c7NRv0

[Abbey Marie]

First of all I am grateful to ALL of you (including those who were in my ignore list) enabling me to refresh my English and to see you again in your natural habitant. I can not say that I learned anything new, but it was very pleasant to feel myself in atmosphere similar to that of old time.
As far as my task was not to convince you in anything I don't think that I failed in fulfilling this mission. I am sure that you can not disagree that I spoke with you frankly, expressing my personal attitude to any subject and you had an opportunity to see the points of view different from those expressed by your mass media.
I am pretty glad that I found your forum and learned the majority of the most active forum users, which will be very useful for me in future. The other benefit are the questions and topics you are constantly raising to discuss on this board this or that way. This will save me a lot of time to find the proper material to be aware of the events and subjects you consider interesting and important. So, as you see, I am loosing nothing leaving you.
This is my final decision and it is not subject to alterations.
P.S. My personal request to the Chief of this board is to delete my account.
P.P.S. My offer to Robert is valid and in force and I'll appear here in a year or so to contact you on this subject should we both are alive and healthy.

So in your own words, you learned absolutely nothing being here, and you lose absolutely nothing by leaving. You are not leaving me with a very gracious view of Russians, Balu. But I will be the bigger person and say it was interesting reading your posts until very recently, and I wish you well.

[Russ]

Sorry to see you going, Balu, I enjoyed many of your posts and will miss your perspective.

[jimnyc]

First of all I am grateful to ALL of you (including those who were in my ignore list) enabling me to refresh my English and to see you again in your natural habitant. I can not say that I learned anything new, but it was very pleasant to feel myself in atmosphere similar to that of old time.
As far as my task was not to convince you in anything I don't think that I failed in fulfilling this mission. I am sure that you can not disagree that I spoke with you frankly, expressing my personal attitude to any subject and you had an opportunity to see the points of view different from those expressed by your mass media.
I am pretty glad that I found your forum and learned the majority of the most active forum users, which will be very useful for me in future. The other benefit are the questions and topics you are constantly raising to discuss on this board this or that way. This will save me a lot of time to find the proper material to be aware of the events and subjects you consider interesting and important. So, as you see, I am loosing nothing leaving you.
This is my final decision and it is not subject to alterations.
P.S. My personal request to the Chief of this board is to delete my account.
P.P.S. My offer to Robert is valid and in force and I'll appear here in a year or so to contact you on this subject should we both are alive and healthy.

Truthfully, Balu, I think you DID learn from us, just as we learned from you, at least I did. I learned YOUR perspective on things. I also learned about Russia in our "friendly" threads in the lounge, and got to see pictures and things that I wouldn't have seen if you didn't post them. And the same as you - you learned OUR perspective on things, and saw how many of us have differing opinions ourselves, and different from your own media.

You're a Russian fellow. You're more or less one of a kind here. And of course you have opinions from a much different perspective than us, which of course leads to disagreements. So yeah, you post something political, and if it's a touchy subject - you would get immediate replies from 8 folks disagreeing with you. Yes, that makes it tougher, but really the same if you take things one post at a time.

I always promote the ignore button to folks out there that are involved in fighting that never ends. You did that, and then some. :) That's each persons choice to make. Everyone feels differently about that.

You DO lose in leaving, just as we do. Anyone can say as they wish, but that's just the truth. Relationships are there whether for bad or good. I know Tyr loves you and isn't going to want to see you leave. I will miss all of the fun threads and your humor. And yep, I'll miss your Russian perspective on things going on around the world, even if I didn't always agree with what you had to say about things. I know you say it's final, but listen to Tyr, and listen to what I'm saying. NO MATTER which American political board you visit - they ALL have fighting and shit like that, we don't own that. :)

While I would love to grant any request to any member, we don't ever delete accounts. Reason is - if I deleted your account, your posts get messed up. Threads you started get deleted. Posts you made in threads disappear and things get royally screwed up. Besides, you wrote a lot of good stuff over time, and now it's recorded. :)

If you don't reply and disappear - I wish you the best my friend. :salute:

[Elessar]

In spite of a lot of things said during his stay, this will be a loss of sorts.

I like his photographs in particular.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Truthfully, Balu, I think you DID learn from us, just as we learned from you, at least I did. I learned YOUR perspective on things. I also learned about Russia in our "friendly" threads in the lounge, and got to see pictures and things that I wouldn't have seen if you didn't post them. And the same as you - you learned OUR perspective on things, and saw how many of us have differing opinions ourselves, and different from your own media.

You're a Russian fellow. You're more or less one of a kind here. And of course you have opinions from a much different perspective than us, which of course leads to disagreements. So yeah, you post something political, and if it's a touchy subject - you would get immediate replies from 8 folks disagreeing with you. Yes, that makes it tougher, but really the same if you take things one post at a time.

I always promote the ignore button to folks out there that are involved in fighting that never ends. You did that, and then some. :) That's each persons choice to make. Everyone feels differently about that.

You DO lose in leaving, just as we do. Anyone can say as they wish, but that's just the truth. Relationships are there whether for bad or good. I know Tyr loves you and isn't going to want to see you leave. I will miss all of the fun threads and your humor. And yep, I'll miss your Russian perspective on things going on around the world, even if I didn't always agree with what you had to say about things. I know you say it's final, but listen to Tyr, and listen to what I'm saying. NO MATTER which American political board you visit - they ALL have fighting and shit like that, we don't own that. :)

While I would love to grant any request to any member, we don't ever delete accounts. Reason is - if I deleted your account, your posts get messed up. Threads you started get deleted. Posts you made in threads disappear and things get royally screwed up. Besides, you wrote a lot of good stuff over time, and now it's recorded. :)

If you don't reply and disappear - I wish you the best my friend. :salute:

Thank you Jim, well said my friend...

I have messaged Balu here and asked him to stay. Yes he has had fights here with my friends but in the end he posted a damn lot of great stuff and gave us all a different perspective to consider.
Not for me to say any other than, if he does not reconsider as I requested then in my opinion this board loses as it needs more members than just us die hard, often hardcore conservatives.
He defended his nation and his views same as we do ours..
Getting all personal with him over that I did not agree with but he is a man, a retired Russian military officer and needed not my interfering.
Anybody that knows me here and is my friend knows I defend my friends(to the death if need be) but when my friends fight I try to stay neutral. Balu is my friend, and I found him to be an honorable man-- one that shared about his life, his family , his culture..
I dare say any that truly know me, surely know that I pick my friends carefully and only after I am sure of their character..
Despite our differences, primarily being language and cultural--we are not enemies with RUSSIA OR THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE..

Should Balu not reconsider, I wish he and his family the very best and note that its our loss as well..

This is me being neutral about this sad state of affairs in this matter..
I ask that nobody cause me to not be neutral.. A simple request as I dont want to go there, but I also never ever back down !!!!!-Tyr

[jimnyc]

He defended his nation and his views same as we do ours..

I ALWAYS talk about how the USA is the greatest nation on Earth. And I also said many times - I would expect many others living elsewhere to feel similarly about their respective countries. Nothing wrong with having pride in where your from. Of course it leads to the banging of members heads together - but that's natural.

Often folks will refer to the fighting here. This member, that member, or a bunch of members. But I defy anyone to really find me one political forum that is any different. In fact, the majority are worse, because the majority are much larger. And if you do find a forum where no fighting is allowed, no cursing and nothing negative that leads to the things we see - those places usually suck.

Personally, I would never leave because I don't like someone else or a few members, but that's me. Too many alternatives to make things work, IMO.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

I ALWAYS talk about how the USA is the greatest nation on Earth. And I also said many times - I would expect many others living elsewhere to feel similarly about their respective countries. Nothing wrong with having pride in where your from. Of course it leads to the banging of members heads together - but that's natural.

Often folks will refer to the fighting here. This member, that member, or a bunch of members. But I defy anyone to really find me one political forum that is any different. In fact, the majority are worse, because the majority are much larger. And if you do find a forum where no fighting is allowed, no cursing and nothing negative that leads to the things we see - those places usually suck.

Personally, I would never leave because I don't like someone else or a few members, but that's me. Too many alternatives to make things work, IMO.

So true.. How well I remember the royal welcome that I got when I first came here. It was not a pretty sight.
A gang gave me a very special welcome and yet I managed to stay while almost all of them did not .
As you say every political message board has this going on and most are much much worse in it.
I asked Balu to stay and I damn well meant it..
That is me , just one member that appreciated his posts and his character, others have the right to not do so.
After all this iz merica...
and we are patriotic , decent and honorable if not then we are scum just like the many that choose to be lowlife scum..
My dad taught me to walk a straight path, seek not to harm others and be honest.
He also taught me to never back down , and beat hell out of an opponent that richly deserved it.
Ive done that many, many times over in the real world.
A man is nothing if he stands not by decent principles-come hell or high water, IMHO.

Life cheated me long ago when I did not die young as was my (crazy) plan.
Now I have to grow old, rethink why I didnt get myself killed in my wild young escapades and wonder just how much more rough its going to get before this old horse steps into that long dark and foreboding shadow..-Tyr

[Black Diamond]

So true.. How well I remember the royal welcome that I got when I first came here. It was not a pretty sight.
A gang gave me a very special welcome and yet I managed to stay while almost all of them did not .
As you say every political message board has this going on and most are much much worse in it.
I asked Balu to stay and I damn well meant it..
That is me , just one member that appreciated his posts and his character, others have the right to not do so.
After all this iz merica...
and we are patriotic , decent and honorable if not then we are scum just like the many that choose to be lowlife scum..
My dad taught me to walk a straight path, seek not to harm others and be honest.
He also taught me to never back down , and beat hell out of an opponent that richly deserved it.
Ive done that many, many times over in the real world.
A man is nothing if he stands not by decent principles-come hell or high water, IMHO.

Life cheated me long ago when I did not die young as was my (crazy) plan.
Now I have to grow old, rethink why I didnt get myself killed in my wild young escapades and wonder just how much more rough its going to get before this old horse steps into that long dark and foreboding shadow..-Tyr
I don't like balu at all but I like a lot of what is in this post.

[Drummond]

I'm afraid my view cannot be a particularly charitable one.

I'm sorry to see Balu go. As to why ... well, this forum would've provided an ideal opportunity for him to learn not only a representative perspective on how we in the West view issues, his country, and its perceived place in world affairs .. but to then transmit this back to his countrymen. An open, even-handed, objective appraisal achieved from all of this could have done much to cut through propagandist grandstanding, and ultimately, achieve really useful mutual understanding.

Instead .. what did we have ?

Propagandist positioning which never relented for an instant. Preconceptions never dented or usefully reviewed. Consequently .. a 'divide' which persisted, despite all of the material and opportunity that was provided, that could've achieved something useful.

In short ... Balu came to us with a closed mind, insisted it remained closed, while at the same time wanting to bend OUR thinking to HIS preference.

Balu .. ours is the side of freedom and liberty. Ours is the democratic way, not mired in State control and enslaved to it. You were, and have remained, so enslaved to what you've been taught that all the dialogue in the world had no hope of freeing you of it.

And I tell you that this is an enormous shame.

I am sorry for you, Balu. I say this because I am, and not for the sake of point-scoring. So much more could have been achieved from your presence here, than actually WAS.

I hope you do return one day, and that when you do, you'll do so with an open and receptive mind, one capable of being remedially deprogrammed. I doubt you will, or even can. But I sincerely hope to be proved wrong in that.

Goodbye, Balu.

[Gunny]

Sorry. Don't miss him. I didn't even know he was gone. I don't like pansies that operate a sounding board. If I want to talk to myself and "everyone agree" I got a pretty big mirror in the bathroom. He's probably stinking up someone else's board now.

Whether or not he's a liar ... he's damned sure a coward.

[Drummond]

Sorry. Don't miss him. I didn't even know he was gone. I don't like pansies that operate a sounding board. If I want to talk to myself and "everyone agree" I got a pretty big mirror in the bathroom. He's probably stinking up someone else's board now.

Whether or not he's a liar ... he's damned sure a coward.

He came here pre-programmed, and arrogantly thought he could bend us to his perspective. There was much arrogance in that approach.

I don't miss Balu either. Even so, I'm sticking to what I've already posted. Balu is a product of the society he comes from, and though he'll never realise it, he is also a victim of it.

We have freedom and decency going for us on this side of the geopolitical divide. Balu, regardless of what he thinks, has no doubt been deprived of that for the entirety of his existence.

He is what he's been taught to be. The real 'culprit' here is the system that shaped him to be what he is. I don't think he has a true conception in his head of the freedoms we take for granted, but he nonetheless THINKS he does.

All that said, Balu's arrogance was hard to take at times. So I won't miss him.

[Gunny]

He came here pre-programmed, and arrogantly thought he could bend us to his perspective. There was much arrogance in that approach.

I don't miss Balu either. Even so, I'm sticking to what I've already posted. Balu is a product of the society he comes from, and though he'll never realise it, he is also a victim of it.

We have freedom and decency going for us on this side of the geopolitical divide. Balu, regardless of what he thinks, has no doubt been deprived of that for the entirety of his existence.

He is what he's been taught to be. The real 'culprit' here is the system that shaped him to be what he is. I don't think he has a true conception in his head of the freedoms we take for granted, but he nonetheless THINKS he does.

All that said, Balu's arrogance was hard to take at times. So I won't miss him.I do not disagree with anything you posted. The distinction is you are posting about idealism while I am posting about actual impact. His undoing will be his lack of respect for his "enemy". He tried to impress us with propaganda. He tried to impress us with his "superior intellect".

All the while not realizing our countries are as forged by war as his. And Americans are the worst. Our worst enemy are our own spoiled American brats, not some other country'

He is correct in that he learned nothing. That's what happens when you don't observe others.

[Drummond]

I do not disagree with anything you posted. The distinction is you are posting about idealism while I am posting about actual impact. His undoing will be his lack of respect for his "enemy". He tried to impress us with propaganda. He tried to impress us with his "superior intellect".

All the while not realizing our countries are as forged by war as his. And Americans are the worst. Our worst enemy are our own spoiled American brats, not some other country'

He is correct in that he learned nothing. That's what happens when you don't observe others.

Points well taken, Gunny. I think his lack of respect (actually, an unsupportable belief in his own superiority) for his adversaries was something ingrained in him over many years by his society, his background. But that doesn't make it acceptable, of course, and that disrespect turned anything he said into a counterproductive exercise.

He's been his own worst enemy in that regard.

He came here to preach, and had no interest in listening to people in any receptive way and learning anything from anyone here. That much became obvious pretty quickly. It was thoroughly stupid.