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Time Magazine's Person of the Year

Time Magazine's Person of the Year

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"He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years."

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1696150,00.html

Putin: Good news or bad news?

And what will happen when his term ends?

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As journalists, their very lives depend on being on RasPutins good side. Vlad The Poisoner doesn't take unfriendly journalists kindly.

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Originally posted by HumeA
"He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years."

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1696150,00.html

Putin: Good news or bad news?

And what will happen when his term ends?
I hear he is trying to extend it.

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Originally posted by Merk
RasPutins
I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen that pun.

Excellent!

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Originally posted by shavixmir
I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen that pun.

Excellent!
It would be even funnier if he were Ethiopian.

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I thought it was the loonie

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Originally posted by shavixmir
I can't believe this is the first time I've ever seen that pun.

Excellent!
Me too 🙂.

That's kind of psychological warfare in his favor. It suggests he's unkillable.

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Originally posted by rwingett
It would be even funnier if he were Ethiopian.
Why?

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Why?
'Ras' is an Ethiopian title. So if Putin were Ethiopian, he could be Ras Putin.

We see this title most prominently in the naming of the 'Rastafarian' religion. The name comes from Haile Selassie, who they considered to be god incarnate. But Haile Selassie is his post-coronation name. He was born Tafari Makkonen. Later he was given the title 'Ras' and became Ras Tafari. Hence, Rastafarianism.

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Originally posted by HumeA
"He is not a democrat in any way that the West would define it. He is not a paragon of free speech. He stands, above all, for stability—stability before freedom, stability before choice, stability in a country that has hardly seen it for a hundred years."

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1696150,00.html

Putin: Good news or bad news?

And what will happen when his term ends?
"...stability before freedom..." truly a man after that other "man of the year", Dubya's heart...anyone for a telephone bug?

Slimes is turning into a laughing stock by nominating these nasty oppressive worldleaders as men of the year.

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Originally posted by howardgee
"...stability before freedom..." truly a man after that other "man of the year", Dubya's heart...anyone for a telephone bug?

Slimes is turning into a laughing stock by nominating these nasty oppressive worldleaders as men of the year.
But it's not supposed to be about 'the nicest person of the year', it's the most influential... And 'oppressive' world leaders are nothing new: Hitler (1938), Stalin (1939 & 1942).

The full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_the_Year

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Originally posted by HumeA
But it's not supposed to be about 'the nicest person of the year', it's the most influential... And 'oppressive' world leaders are nothing new: Hitler (1938), Stalin (1939 & 1942).

The full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_the_Year
I think Bas Rutin would be a much better choice.

G.

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Originally posted by rwingett
'Ras' is an Ethiopian title. So if Putin were Ethiopian, he could be Ras Putin.

We see this title most prominently in the naming of the 'Rastafarian' religion. The name comes from Haile Selassie, who they considered to be god incarnate. But Haile Selassie is his post-coronation name. He was born Tafari Makkonen. Later he was given the title 'Ras' and became Ras Tafari. Hence, Rastafarianism.
Interesting! If it was going to be African and not Jamaican, I'd have thought it would at least be West African.

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Originally posted by AThousandYoung
Interesting! If it was going to be African and not Jamaican, I'd have thought it would at least be West African.
The religion really isn't African, despite their worshiping Haile Selassie, and no one in Ethiopia practices it. It was founded in Jamaica by Marcus Garvey as sort of an Afro-Centric, black power type of thing. They picked Haile Selassie because he was the world's only black Head of State at the time, and because he was supposedly able to trace his lineage all the way back to King Solomon.

The line in the Bob Marley "Redemption Song" refers specifically to him and his death in 1975 at the hands of the Mengistu regime.

How long shall they kill our prophets,
While we stand aside and look? ooh!
Some say its just a part of it:
We've got to fulfil de book.

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Originally posted by HumeA
But it's not supposed to be about 'the nicest person of the year', it's the most influential... And 'oppressive' world leaders are nothing new: Hitler (1938), Stalin (1939 & 1942).

The full list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_the_Year
??? Putin is the most influential person of the year?