The world of "Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire"

I've decided to start this thread as a sort of place to put some of the "deleted scenes" of the original timeline. I will start with these articles that didn't make the final version of ZRE but I do plan to come back from time to time and update other ideas that I had or that have come to me since finishing the TL.

And a few of you have indicated a desire to do a spinoff of Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire. This thread will also to give some folks a place to post your spinoffs, TLIAD's and short stories. Feel free to do so, as I for one would love to read some of them...

Some new names in this update:

___________________________________________________________


DELETED SCENES- PART ONE

Benedict Cumberbatch:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Cumberbatch

Magneto:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magneto_(comics)

Zack Snyder:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zack_Snyder

Danny Trejo:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_Trejo

Stolichnaya:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stolichnaya

__________________________________________________ ___

UIS Presidential Candidate Vladimir Putin in an interview with the BBC on August 1, 2011.

Discussing the state of the UIS media during the Presidency of Vladimir Zhirinovsky

BBC: Mr. Putin, President Lebed came under fire from the West in 2003 over his nationalization of the State Media Company: VGTRK. This coupled with his partial nationalization of the Yukos Oil Company and his removal of Viktor Ivanenko as President of Yukos also won him support from the Worker’s Party as well as the Communist Party. You, however, were very critical of those decisions.

Putin: I was critical because they were lies. He didn’t nationalize them; he just made a big show for the Russian people and then backed off and put his own people to run those companies.

BBC: Lebed named Mikhail Khodorkovsky, a former deputy head of the Communist Youth League, as head of Yukos in 2003. That seemed to be a very large concession to the Communists.

Putin: If the last five years has shown us anything it is that Mikhail Khodorkovsky is no Communist. He is the richest man in the UIS now, and the man he replaced, Viktor Ivanenko, is the second richest man in the UIS. And do you know who the third richest man in the UIS is?

BBC: Who?

Putin: Andrei Zavidiya, the “CEO” of the VGTRK.

BBC: But Zavidiya was very critical of Lebed’s decision in 2003 to seize the VGTRK.

Putin: That was part of the show. That was the agreement, that way it would look good to the Russian people. Here was Lebed breaking up the big corporations. But look at the “compromise” that they worked out with Zavidiya. He is paid over eighty million dollars a year as CEO of the VGTRK. They then name him head of the State Committee on the Press and the Federal Service of Television and Radio Broadcasting. He now is the guy responsible for giving out licenses to all of the VGTRK’s competitors. If they don’t tout the party line, if they don’t pledge fealty to Tsar Alexander, he shuts them down or worse…buys them out.

BBC: Mr. Zavidiya was very critical of you, calling you a “cackling hen”.

Putin: I just asked him one question. How is this not a conflict of interest? How can he run one company and also run the agency that hands out licenses to its competitors…all while buying up every media company he can? It is worse now than under the Soviets, but the West doesn’t see it because it is all done in the name of capitalism.

_____________________


60 Minutes on CBS News - “Lebed: The man behind the mask?” from April 23, 2008

Portions of a Mike Wallace interview with Andrey Zavidiya, former Vice President of Russia.

Courtesy of CBS

Mike Wallace: Mr. Zavidiya, some have criticized your attempt to take total control of the media market in the UIS.


Andrey Zavidiya: Let them complain.

Mike Wallace: Don’t you think it’s a bit unethical for you to be buying up every free market television station when you are CEO of the State Media?

Andrey Zavidiya: I don’t know. Is it unethical for Bank of America to buy out Merrill Lynch and LaSalle Bank?

Mike Wallace: That is a considerably different situation; Bank of America doesn’t also control the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time of the merger.

Andrey Zavidiya: I never let my position as head of State Committee on the Press and the Federal Service of Television and Radio Broadcasting influence by business decisions.

Mike Wallace: What about your shutdown of Boris Berezovsky’s network? That was seen as an attempt to destroy your competition.

Andrey Zavidiya: He made a foolish decision, and I responded accordingly. He decided to run news articles that implicated President Lebed and even me in the murder of General Vyacheslav Tikhomirov, former marshal of the UIS. I told him he better be damn sure he knew what he was doing, because this was nothing short of slander.

Mike Wallace: So you took his broadcast license from him?

Andrey Zavidiya: Let me ask you something sir. If you were to broadcast tonight on your news program that President John Engler was responsible for the murder of a leading member of the Democratic Party, say former President Bob Kerrey, what would happen? What would happen tomorrow morning when Bob Kerrey appeared for the entire world to see? What would happen to your program if it came out that you lied, and not just some small lie, but a lie that was insidious and damaged the very institution of democracy in your country? Do you think this program would still be on the air tomorrow?

__________________________________________


Screenplay of the film “The Uncanny X-Men” (2011)

Director:
Zack Snyder

Starring:
Benedict Cumberbatch (Erik Lehnsherr)
Danny Trejo (Bartender)



5. INT. EL PATRON BAR
The setting is a very dodgy looking Mexican bar. We see three men sitting at a table with a bottle of vodka and several shot glasses in front of them. They all look Russian or Serbian and somewhat intimidating. They are conversing with each other in Serbian. The BARTENDER is behind the bar wiping down some glasses. On the wall are both the UIS flag and the Mexican flag. We see ERIK LEHNSHERR walk into the bar looking completely out of place. He is dressed like a British backpacker, with a t-shirt and a panama hat along with a large backpack. He is holding a map and staring at it with a confused look.

BARTENDER (IN SPANISH)
You lost?

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Uh, si. Si. Uh…don-day…un…Hotel Pacifico?

At this time the three men look up and look amused at the clearly misplaced tourist.

FIRST MAN (SARCASTICALLY)
Hey…English man! Why are you going to Hotel Pacifico? Come! Join us!

The three men laugh.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Well, I suppose I could use a pint.

BARTENDER
No pint. Only bottle.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Uh, ok. I guess I’ll have a bottle of Guinness.

The three men start laughing again.

FIRST MAN
You won’t find Guinness here!

ERIK LEHNSHERR
OK, well, what do you have?

BARTENDER
Tequila. Tic Tack. Vodka.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Well, I’ve have my fair share of Tic Tack when I was in El Salvador, and my fair share of Tequila here in Mexico. I suppose since I’m about to cross the border a Vodka would be fine.

The BARTENDER glares at ERIK and says nothing as he grabs a bottle of Russian vodka.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Ah, Russian vodka! Quite nice!

The three men start to laugh.

FIRST MAN
You like Russian vodka?

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Yes. I must admit, I do. I suppose everyone in England has a soft spot for Russian vodka. With sanctions making it so hard to get-

The THIRD MAN glares at ERIK at the mention of the word sanctions.

ERIK LEHNSHERR (EMBARRESSED)
I’m terribly sorry. I just meant to say that it was quite difficult to get good Russian vodka for quite some time in England. But I, uh, I…let me start over. Erik Lehnsherr here-

ERIK sticks his hand out as he pulls up a chair. The three men ignore his hand.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Right. Uh, well, thank you for inviting me to join you. Must say, it is nice to find other Europeans here in Mexico. I must admit, I didn’t expect to find a Russian bar here in Juarez. You are Russian, correct?

FIRST MAN (LAUGHING)
No. We are Serbs.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Serbs! Lovely! Congratulations on beating us in football last year, must say, didn’t expect to see that coming.

The three men seem to be pleased at the statement. The THIRD MAN seems to almost lower his guard as he smirks.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Of course I didn’t expect you to lose to Croatia by six goals either. I guess they just wanted it more than you did.

At the mention of Croatia, the demeanor of the three men changes once again, with the third man suddenly looking like he is about to take the vodka bottle and hit ERIK over the head with it.

FIRST MAN
Why do you come to Juarez, English man?

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Ah, well, you see, I’m looking for some old acquaintances. Ironically, I met them in Bosnia, or what use to be Bosnia.

FIRST MAN
You were in Bosnia?

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Yes? Have you ever been?

FIRST MAN
Yes. I’m from Sarajevo. South Sarajevo. We all are.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Ah, lovely city Sarajevo. Bloody shame what happened to it.

FIRST MAN (suspiciously)
You went to Sarajevo?

ERIK seems to ignore the statement as the BARTENDER brings over a shot glass and a bottle of vodka.

ERIK LEHNSHERR (TO THE BARTENDER)
Gracias.

The bartender pours ERIK a shot.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
I must say, I really love Russian vodka. Very well made. Even the bottle is a work of art.

ERIK holds up the shot glass

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Cheers!

The THREE MEN look suspiciously at ERIK. We can now see that the THIRD MAN has a gun in his belt which he pulls out under the table and points towards ERIK.

FIRST MAN
Ziveli.

ERIK and the three men down their shots. The three men look at each other nervously.

SECOND MAN
When did you go to Sarajevo?

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Hmm? Sarajevo? Oh, I suppose the last time I was there was…hmmm. Eighteen years ago. When I was a boy.

FIRST MAN (SUSPICIOUSLY)
You were in Sarajevo…eighteen years ago?

ERIK LEHNSHERR (TAKING THE VODKA BOTTLE)
I must say, if you want something made right, you need to go to the Russians. Here-

ERIK bends over and opens up his backpack. He pulls out his passport.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Here, look at this.

He flicks his British passport across the table to the first man. The first man doesn’t touch it.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
I thought I’d save some money and get my passport from a Romanian. Gentleman named George Odekirk. Lovely fellow, but the quality is just not what you get with a Nabokov passport. I mean, you can take one look at that and you can tell my name isn’t Erik Lehnsherr. I might as well tell everyone my real name with that bloody thing. I might as well tell them I’m Bosnian.

The three men just up from the table. The SECOND MAN pulls a knife out while the THIRD MAN pulls out his gun. However, we see the vodka bottle fly off of the table and strike the SECOND MAN in the face, dropping him to the ground. The THIRD MAN then seems to be struggling with the gun. HE seems unable to keep the gun from turning.

THIRD MAN (IN SERBIAN)
What…are…you…doing? Please…stop!

ERIK LEHNSHERR (IN SERBIAN)
I begged you too. I was just a boy and I got down on my knees and begged you for my life. For my mother’s life. Do you remember? Do you remember a boy named Rasim Oric or was he just one of many thousands? Do you remember when we last met? Because I promise you, I’ve been thinking about you ever since.

The BARTENDER reaches under the counter and pulls out a shotgun. We see the knife that was on the table fly past ERIK and hit the bartender in the forehead, killing him instantly. Suddenly the knife comes flying back to the same spot on the table.

ERIK LEHNSHERR (IN SERBIAN)
Do you remember me?! Do you remember Rasim Oric?!

The barrel of the gun is now at the mouth of THIRD MAN. He has his lips pressed together tightly as the gun pushes its way inside of his mouth.

THIRD MAN (IN SERBIAN)
Mercy…

ERIK LEHNSHERR (IN SERBIAN)
You are the last person who should be asking me for mercy.

The gun goes off. We see the THIRD MAN crumple to the ground, dead. The FIRST MAN is standing in horror at what he has just witnessed.

ERIK LEHNSHERR (IN SERBIAN)
Hello Darko. It’s so good to have finally found you. Please, take a seat.

The FIRST MAN nearly falls into the chair.

FIRST MAN (SERBIAN)
Please, I was only following orders!

ERIK LEHNSHERR (SERBIAN)
I know. Which is why I’m killing you last.

FIRST MAN (SERBIAN)
Please! I never meant to hurt anyone! I don’t want to die here, like this.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
I didn’t want to watch you rape my sister and then shoot my father in a football stadium either. But, you had your orders.

ERIK bends over and picks up the broken vodka bottle off the ground.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
Well, this won’t do.

We see a bottle fly off the shelf from the bar, across the room and into ERIK’S hand.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
You know, the first time I ever saw a bottle of Stolichnaya was during the Rape of Sarajevo.

We see the top unscrewing itself despite the fact that ERIK is not touching the top of the bottle.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
And do you know what I will always remember about that bottle?

We see the cap of the vodka bottle floating next to ERIK’S head.

ERIK LEHNSHERR
The bottle cap.

The bottle cap goes flying into the FIRST MAN’S forehead, killing him.

________________________________________________

Controversy over X-Men reboot’s portrayal of super villain Magneto

Entertainment Weekly
July 22, 2010



(SAN DIEGO) Well, we have to admit, Zack Snyder is off to a pretty good start. Controversy surrounding the planned 2011 release of the X-men reboot, The Uncanny X-Men, passed its first hurdle after fans at Comic-Con appeared to embrace British actor Benedict Cumberbatch, who is slated to play arch-villain Magneto in the upcoming film. After a three minute clip was played, fans in attendance stood and cheered for over two minutes over Cumberbatch’s gritty and dark portrayal of the comic book icon.

“I must admit, I know this is a risky role,” Cumberbatch admitted during a Q&A after the clip was played, “Magneto is an iconic figure in comic book history, and we are radically changing his back story. But we think it fits with what we are trying to do.”

Controversy erupted after Snyder announced that he was casting Cumberbatch as the lead in the upcoming X-Man reboot, while also admitting that he was “scrapping the origin” of Magneto and going with a more modern take on the popular anti-hero.

“We decided to go with a younger Magneto,” director Zack Snyder said, “one who didn’t grow up as a Jew in Germany during World War II. Part of this is out of necessity. Magneto would be around 80-years old today in the original story, and this gives us more options with the franchise.”

The new back story of Magneto features him as a Bosnian refugee who flees Sarajevo during the Rape of Sarajevo in 1996 as a child. Several Muslim rights groups have condemned the portrayal, citing concerns over Magneto’s implied Islamic faith in the films coupled with his desire to commit terrorist acts.

“I understand that many people are worried about Magneto coming off as some sort of mutant Islamic terrorist in this film,” Cumberbatch added, “but I assure you, the only thing we are changing is Magneto’s back story. He is not going to be portrayed as some sort of cheap terrorist caricature.”



Screenplay of the film “Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (2005)


Director:
Tim Burton

Starring:
John Goodman (General Buck Turgidson)
Helena Bonham Carter (UIS Ambassador Raisa de Sadeski)
Stanley Tucci (President Merkin Muffley)
Johnny Depp (Dr. Strangelove)
Tim Roth (Jack Stanies)





24. INT. THE WAR ROOM.
We see AMBASSADOR DE SADESKI standing next to PRESIDENT MUFFLEY. GENERAL TURGIDSON and STANIES are standing off to the side listening to the ambassador.

DE SADESKI
I assure you Mr. President, the Elipton bomb is very, very real. When it is detonated, it will turn the entire planet into a lifeless rock. Earth will resemble the moon, and everything on the surface of this planet will be exterminated.

GENERAL TURGIDSON
Ambassador, that is just ridiculous. Even the most cynical, tree hugging liberal scientist employed by the US government doesn’t think that one bomb could do that much damage. And although I may question their judgment on pretty much everything regarding global warming, I tend to believe them when they say that the UIS can’t destroy the planet.

DE SADESKI
Well, why don’t you ask your so called expert on UIS nuclear capabilities if this is possible?

MUFFLEY
Uh, Dr. Strangelove, is this possible? Did the UIS have the capability to destroy the planet when you were employed by the, uh, Latvians?

We see DR. STRANGELOVE slowly wheel himself out of a shadow and into the light. He is wearing dark glasses and is smoking a cigarette. He is wheelchair bound and his gloved right hand is shaking ever so slightly. DE SADESKI glares at STRANGELOVE with unmistakable contempt.

STRANGELOVE
But of course my President. The technology is present and easily obtainable. All one needs is the…will to build such a bomb.

MUFFLEY (TO DE SADESKI)
But why would you build such a bomb in the first place?

DE SADESKI
I was opposed, as was our President. But as you know, former President Vladimir Zhirinovsky sometimes got rather silly ideas in his head. And unfortunately, after he saw Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, he became obsessed with the Elipton device.

TURGIDSON
You mean to tell me there is no way to prevent this bomb from going off?

DE SADESKI
Well, after Kosovo we were somewhat concerned about being hit first and being unable to respond. So it is triggered automatically in the event of a nuclear strike. We are powerless to stop it.

MUFFLEY
Dr. Strangelove, is there anything we can do to stop this bomb?

Cut away as we see TURGIDSON turn to STANIES and whispers to him

TURGIDSON (TO STANIES)
Where did we find this guy again?

STANIES
Latvia. He was a former Soviet scientist from Latvia.

TURGIDSON
Strangelove doesn’t sound like a Russian name. Or a Latvian name.

STANIES
It was the name on his passport when he came to this country.

TURGIDSON
Hmmm. Seems strange that he knows so much about Zhirinovsky’s bomb. And hell, the ambassador almost seems to recognize him…

STANIES
Trust me. He is from Latvia. He was a scientist before the fall of the Soviet Union. After that he moved to Macedonia to get an associates degree in massage therapy. I can assure you, he is not a former Marshal of the UIS wanted for war crimes by the UN Tribunal.

TURGIDSON
But I didn’t mention the UN Tribunal?

We now return to the discussion between PRESIDENT MUFFLEY, AMBASSADOR DE SADESKI, and DR. STRANGELOVE

STRANGELOVE
I can tell you that, since coming to this country I have been commissioned to study the Elipton bomb, and, ehm, duplicate it…for research purposes only of course.

DE SADESKI
Of course, after all, it isn’t like you have any loyalty to your home country anymore.

STRANGELOVE
Well maybe if my home country didn’t send me to The Skopje School of Massage Therapy as punishment for a single, totally accidental, genocide, I wouldn’t have to be here right now.

STANGELOVE looks around the room, realizing what he said.

STRANGELOVE
Did I say genocide? I sometimes get confused when I speak English. I meant…I accidently crashed the company car.

MUFFLEY
Doctor, is there anything we can do to disable the bomb?

STRANGELOVE
Yes. Don’t drop a thermal nuclear bomb on the Union of Independent States.

MUFFLEY (DISSAPOINTED)
Uh, thank you Doctor.

STRANGELOVE (GIVING A FASCIST SALUTE)
I serve the United of Independent States!

MUFFLEY
Uh, it’s just United States. They are not independent.

STRANGELOVE
Yes. They are not independent at all! Oh, they like to think they are. But they are not! Nobody thinks they are independent! Nobody says “look at Georgia, they are independent!” Ha! They are not independent…they are all part of the United of Independent States!
 
Here you go everyone Despite everything going on in Iraq now.

:D:eek::confused:

PS next update called "the same thief leading the sheep" This is a three part arc


Part1: The road strait to hell


[FONT=&quot]Fears of civil war in Iraq loom as election results delayed[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The New Yorker [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]May 17, 2014[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot](Beirut) Three weeks after voting in the fifth general election since the demise of the Hussein regime that violently fell almost twelve years earlier. Many Iraqi’s are still fed up about the country’s current direction. As basic services, security and the economy continue to take a beating from widespread corruption, the ineffectiveness of the Jafarri government, the constant squabbling among the politicians and what many Sunni and Shia Iraqis are calling the Kurdish issue. In independent polls conducted by the Al Ahrar news channel show that Iraqis want a return to the old days and prefer the dismantlement of parliament that many see as responsible for the countries many problems. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]One resident by the name of Khalid said, “I voted for Allawi, even though I am Shia as I want something different, personally I wish they would get rid of the parliament and put in just a president”. “Because these guys they come to you from America, Canada and England and they say we will build this and that but when we elect them, they don’t even bother to answer our calls.” “You know the worst thing is I worked as a baker before the fall and now I have a 14 hour job as a laborer so I can feed my family and these guys show up get their rights, land and money”. “We don’t get anything, only squat and empty promises. I promise my self when I voted this is the last time if nothing changes I wont even bother next time”. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Khalid who didn’t give his last name is a laborer who does odd jobs to make ends meet. He fled the mostly Sunni Baghdad neighborhood of Al-Khadraa a few months after Saddam’s death when Shia militias from Iran began kicking out Sunnis from Shia areas. This in turn led to former Iraqi units to form and join different death squads and in July of 2002 Khalid received a death threat not taking it seriously as these were still stable times. A few days later masked gunmen shot at his house and although no one was killed he left along with his family to Al Khadamiya a mostly shite neighborhood a few days later.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Khalid’s story is similar to many others who had to flee their homes it also reflects a lot of his peoples frustration and helplessness. The days preceding the elections and after have been quite eventful with suicide bombings and car bombing happening across the country. The city of Mosul has been the hardest hit area where the government has lost near total control and rival militias are fighting it out against one another. The Peshmerga who want to expand control of Iraqi Kurdistan before a vote on independence backed by the UIS are currently battling the Jihadist Jaysh al Sunnah (Army of Al sunnah) funded by Saudi Arabia. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The UIS see the Kurdish people as having a right to “determine” their future. Mosul became a focal point after the “rape of Kirkuk” where Peshmerga aligned factions began a campaign of ethnic cleansing against the Arab population. The remaining Arab populations of Kirkuk fled to Mosul and have been there ever since. In this election it is expected that the Hizb Al tawheed (Party of Union) a far right ultranationalists, pan Arab party is expected to be the king maker in the next election which is between former intern Iraqi Prime minister Iyad Allawi and Current prime minister Hassem Al Jaffari. Whatever the result maybe Iraq is in for more bloodshed and instability. With different sides being funded by many foreign powers in a region that all ready has more then its fair share of instability. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Excerpts from the Book “Iraq after Saddam: A trial by fire”[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Imperial College London 2008 [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Dr. Fawaz Gerges [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Chapter 1: Early mistakes, the road strait to hell [/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]In the immediate aftermath of the demise of Saddam’s regime the United Nations moved to fill the power vacuum left behind. As before Saddams end they were all ready there keeping Iraqis from starving through the oil for food program. Saddam and the UN were what really kept the country together as a decade of intense political and economic sanctions had crippled the country, decimated its middle class. The sanctions had left the country on a literally Spartan lifestyle with ordinary people getting only the basic to survive but not thrive, hospitals were crippled and medical supplies were running out. Basically the country was kept constantly on the verge of the abyss. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Following the demise of Saddam’s regime there was a wave of euphoria in the country unseen in decades. The joy that swept through the country didn’t last long as several factors contributed to the current state of the country. Immediately the UN Security Council passed a resolution that authorized it to launch a “stabilization mission” in order to re-establish law and order. The UN also established a “national transition council” made up of prominent dissidents; local individuals and people with experience governing but weren’t Ba’athists. They also setup a truth and reconciliation council similar to South Africa after apartheid.[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]On paper these were logical and morally good choices but in reality the people brought in either didn’t have the necessary experience or like Iyad Allawi weren’t in the country for decades so they really didn’t know what was going on. The problems started immediately as the army deserted its posts the borders were open and the Iranians began smuggling in thousands of fighters and individuals including People like Muqtada Al Sadr and organizations like Badr force and special operations groups. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Muqtada is somewhat of a joke in mainstream Iraqi society widely referred to as Muqtata meaning (pencil sharpener) for his crazy antics and his erratic behaviour. That includes changing political alliances and urging grocery store owners to separate tomatoes and cucumbers so that young boys don’t get “ideas”, also only allowing men to buy cucumbers. His “Mehdi” army a political and military force that controls several cities is ridiculed as the “Dartie army” meaning fart army in Arabic because of their perceived backwardness, lack of manners and general desire to cause trouble for ordinary people. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]As 2003 entered the national transitional council made little progress in creating a constitution. Several members who represented the minorities like the Kurds and Assyrians only bothered to show up at the meetings after UN representative literally begged them to attend. The Kurds like the Assyrians had “gotten a better deal” under the UIS where the UIS would provide diplomatic and political support for them in exchange for them to cause a lot of headaches for the UN. In the meantime Allawi ran Iraq after being selected in a close and hot race that saw tempers flare. Allawi wasn’t bad he was just incapable of handling the job and Shia who believed he was a traitor by working with the Sunnis. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]In late 2003 for allawi and the national council writing the constitution became the least of their worries after Kurdish Pashmerga began turning back families who were returning to Kirkuk to inspect their homes and try to rebuild their lives. Many Arabs were decided not to return after Al Jazzera that was becoming the most popular channel in the middle east reported that foreign men with thick accents were raiding Arab houses in the middle of the night and killing the men, while raping the women. Things got worse in early 2004 when the national council finally agreed to a “basic temporary” constitution that would run the country. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]Elections were scheduled for mid 2005. On January 5th of 2004 Iraqis in Baghdad woke up to the sound of massive explosions. The news of the constitution didn’t sit to well with many people and extremists took advantage of the Sunni-Shite “problem” to make it permanent when over 50 car bombings targets dozens of locations across Sunni and Shia neighbourhoods. The bombings were so powerful that it felt like an earthquake was happening and by the end of the day an estimated 700 were killed and more then 2000 were wounded. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]By the end of the day everyone was busy blaming the other that they didn’t realize that the Kurds were building up forces along Kirkuk. Arabs in Mosul began expelling Kurds en masse and so for Iraq these early mistakes were leading strait to the road to hell. There was no turning back. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]A complicated story: The love and hate “relationship” of the UIS and the Middle East Routledge series on Asian and Middle Eastern affairs[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]By Mark Evans Weaver 2014 Routledge press,[/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]The Union of Independent states had a hectic foreign policy in the Middle East under Vladimir Zhirinovsky it was basically start as many fires as possible. In the aftermath of the “Arab spring” that would turn into the “Arab winter” in 2007 after the end of the bloody civil war in Syria that resulted in the continuation of the Assad dynasty. Zhirinovsky during his time as president was clearly Islam phobic but after Saddams “we will drive the Kurds to the gates of Russia” Zhirinovsky became worried and fully supported the Kurds. The new Russian president Alexander Lebed continued that policy seeing the value of having an ally in the Middle East under a south Ossetia like arrangement. A policy Lebed would continue for both the republic of Dubai and the Palestinian Arab federation. [/FONT]

[FONT=&quot]This relationship between the UIS and these breakaway semi-independent states would continue and become even more independent as the UIS would be semi isolated again in the aftermath of the Maidian revolution that took place in Ukraine. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Former UIS president Zhirinovksy wishes “That Zionist lover Stalin would have kept the Austrians under his boot because of Euro vision”. [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]The London Daily [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]May 15, 2003[/FONT]


[FONT=&quot]He may still be under house arrest but Crazy Z is still making his antics. After a Hungarian transvestite won the Eurovision contest. Zhirinovsky called this the end of Europe, now there no men or women its just “it”.[/FONT]
 
Here you go everyone Despite everything going on in Iraq now.

:D:eek::confused:
I’m sorry but did Pellegrino really give is seal of approval for this?

I’ve read Pellegrino’s work and it is one of the reasons I made AH dot com account. What you wrote above goes against established canon (eg Georgia gained cotrol of South Ossetia in Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire) and Pellegrino’s plans (eg Pellegrino talked about Bassel al-Assad loosing power Mubarak-style and cancelling plans for an Orange Revolution/Maidian in Ukraine, instead having it be more like Quebec Sovereignty Movement). It is also full of spelling mistakes.

And I can not see a transvestite, let alone a Hungarian one, winning in 2003. As example UK’s "anti-gay law" (Section 28) was still active in May 2003.
 
I’m sorry but did Pellegrino really give is seal of approval for this?

I’ve read Pellegrino’s work and it is one of the reasons I made AH dot com account. What you wrote above goes against established canon (eg Georgia gained cotrol of South Ossetia in Zhirinovsky's Russian Empire) and Pellegrino’s plans (eg Pellegrino talked about Bassel al-Assad loosing power Mubarak-style and cancelling plans for an Orange Revolution/Maidian in Ukraine, instead having it be more like Quebec Sovereignty Movement). It is also full of spelling mistakes.

And I can not see a transvestite, let alone a Hungarian one, winning in 2003. As example UK’s "anti-gay law" (Section 28) was still active in May 2003.
Yes he did, i correct the mistakes and a few other stuff,
 
I don't have an issue with spin offs personally. I haven't read all of them by my understanding is some of the P&S spinoffs run afoul of canon. I think one should obviously take that into account, that what you are reading is not necesarily canon. But I do enjoy hearing and reading what others think the world of ZRE could look like. I don't always agree, but it is cool to think that as an author I wrote something that has people talking and thinking about something I created.

With that being said...

recently I was doing a google search for "Andrey Zavidiya". As readers of ZRE know, he was Zhirinovsky's running mate in OTL in 1991 and emerged as a key (if somewhat slimy) character in the TL. I never did find a picture of him from OTL and was always curious as to what he really looked like.

Well, to my shock, I found something familiar on stormfront.

Apparently there is a guy on stormfront who fancies himself as a Russia expert and who is apparently from Italy (for shame Italy :(). He was in the middle of a thread discussing Putin's racial policies and if Zhirinovsky would be better for Russia or something like that, an argument in which he then posted primary sources to back up his positions.

The thing is, he posted a copy of a fake news article from ZRE to this thread as a primary source to his rant.

So, I assume all of you already have serious issues with the reliability of any position or arguement made on stormfront. But if you didn't, keep this in mind. I wrote a work of total fiction. It was not true. There never was a nation called the "Union of Independent States." Boris Yeltsin was not assasinated and Vladimir Zhirinovsky was never elected President of Russia. it was all made up.

And despite that some poster on stormfront used a fake news article to help him make his point, either apparently having failed to make even the most cursory effort at fact checking (doubtful) or having such a disregard for the truth that he had no qualms about posting something he new to be pure fiction in his argument (most likely).

The point of this is, if you are an Italian fascist (hell, I don't even care what country you are from) who posts on stormfront, you DO NOT have permission to do a spin off of ZRE or use my work in any way. :mad:
 
Oh this is too funny, that Stormfront posters make a mistake of posting your stuff. Maybe you should have not written such a convincing fascist in Zhirinovsky :D:p
 
I think one should obviously take that into account, that what you are reading is not necesarily canon
faith-in-humanity-restored.jpg

Just replace "humanity" with "timeline" :p

Since you're here, I thought I'd bring this up in the new thread instead of raising the ZRE thread and getting accused of necroing:

You know, one of the things I think we will see in TTL is a bit more of a willingness to (hate to say it) stereotype the Russian as the bad guy. Back in the day it was easy to use Russia as the bad guy in a movie, whereas nowdays they do seem tend to shy away from using China or Russia as the bad guy in order to help international sales. But in TTL, I can see Russia, or at the least the pro-Zhirinovsky general who seeks to overthrow the government, as the perfect villian.

In the original Iron Man I remember thinking they just tried to hard to get Obadiah Stane as the villian and in the process sort of screwed up the potential that was there with Reza and the Ten Rings, making the terrorist group little more than a MacGuffin. In this TL, I could see the Ten Rings get more of the development it deserved. Perhaps the most likely angle would be the Ten Rings is the name of a Special Forces Unit of the UIS army, which seeks to use an Iron Man suit to do some evil shit. Rahter than have Obadiah Stane then come into the picture (which was the low point of an otherwise good film, I mean seriously, even if the CEO of BP or Halliburton was some sort of evil genius in OTL, you think he'd fly out to Pakistan to meet with Bin Laden?) have Reza (or Rostov) take the original suit of armor and use it to terrorize civilians in Afghanistan. Eventually there is a battle and Stark is forced to retreat. Although Stark's new suit is clearly better, Reza/Rostov's training and just overall badassery makes him a formatable opponent. Reza/Rostov then decides to take the fight to Stark's homefront and punish Stark and the United States while emerging as a clear fascist who Zhirinovsky would find to be a kindred spirit. In the end you could even have Stark/Iron Man pull off the win when he pulls a "dirty trick" that shows that he has learned the lesson from Reza: that sometimes you have to hit below the belt.
So essentially you want Reza/Rostov to be the Crimson Dynamo? Yes, I could see that working :cool:

Though i would avoid making the Ten Rings into a UIS special forces group as it would seriously mess with their backstory. I'd say you should have Reza/Rostov be a former Soviet agent with the nickname/codename "Crimson Dynamo" that became a mercenary with ties to UIS at the end of the Cold War, fighting all over the world before becoming a member of the Ten Rings (maybe have it mentioned that he trained members of the organization in the African jungle, as a nod to the "School of Africas"?). Then he captures Tony Stark, gets his first suit, has confronts Iron Man, etc, etc, etc.

And if there is ever anything like Captain America: the Winter Soldier in the TL, than in the historic montage scene computer Zola would reveal that it was the Winter Soldier that shot Yeltsin in 1991 :p

Really, I think you should consider writing some more ATL movie scripts like you did with the X-Men and Doctor Strangelove. There are a bunch of things you can play around with in the Marvel franchise. As a relic of the Cold War, many of their Villains seem to have something to do with Russia or at least a "nameless Eastern European country" (for Spiderman alone, I can think of Kraven the Hunter, The Chameleon, Rhino, Hammerhead, etc.). Then there is the fact you can play with actors (e.g.: what if Tom Cruise or Nick Cage was cast as Iron Man?) and ownership (e.g.: what if one studio held rights to Avengers and Spiderman?)
 
I'm just wondering how the movie "Savior" starring Dennis Quaid could have turned out though.

Speaking of which, could we aim at a sports angle in the Zhirinovsky TL? For instance, how is Russian football developing in the UIS?
 
faith-in-humanity-restored.jpg

Just replace "humanity" with "timeline" :p

Since you're here, I thought I'd bring this up in the new thread instead of raising the ZRE thread and getting accused of necroing:

So essentially you want Reza/Rostov to be the Crimson Dynamo? Yes, I could see that working :cool:

Though i would avoid making the Ten Rings into a UIS special forces group as it would seriously mess with their backstory. I'd say you should have Reza/Rostov be a former Soviet agent with the nickname/codename "Crimson Dynamo" that became a mercenary with ties to UIS at the end of the Cold War, fighting all over the world before becoming a member of the Ten Rings (maybe have it mentioned that he trained members of the organization in the African jungle, as a nod to the "School of Africas"?). Then he captures Tony Stark, gets his first suit, has confronts Iron Man, etc, etc, etc.

And if there is ever anything like Captain America: the Winter Soldier in the TL, than in the historic montage scene computer Zola would reveal that it was the Winter Soldier that shot Yeltsin in 1991 :p

Really, I think you should consider writing some more ATL movie scripts like you did with the X-Men and Doctor Strangelove. There are a bunch of things you can play around with in the Marvel franchise. As a relic of the Cold War, many of their Villains seem to have something to do with Russia or at least a "nameless Eastern European country" (for Spiderman alone, I can think of Kraven the Hunter, The Chameleon, Rhino, Hammerhead, etc.). Then there is the fact you can play with actors (e.g.: what if Tom Cruise or Nick Cage was cast as Iron Man?) and ownership (e.g.: what if one studio held rights to Avengers and Spiderman?)

I totally forgot about the Crimson Dynamo! But you are right, I think he fits that story line I described much better than the other one I described. I could see him going into that script and working perfectly...
And as for other Marvel franchises, the one I was really looking at was Fantastic Four and Dr. Doom. With a slight tweek of Doom's back story, I would create a much darker Fantastic Four. In this TL, Doom and his family fled his homeland of Latveria as a child, most likely during the Prague Spring. Spreading to Romania, the Latverians rebelled behind their charismatic leader: Werner Doom. After the Communist government of Nicolae Ceaușescu crushes the Latverian protests, the Doom family flees to the Untied States. Unfortunately for Doom, his family is targeted by the KGB and the Romanian government and Werner is assassinated. Werner's son, Victor, becomes a successful billionaire entrepreneur who is widely admired in the United States but who has a pathological hatred of anything communist or even leftist. After the fall of the communists in Romania, Doom returns to his homeland which soon is mired in a civil war due to the intervention of the USSR.

Yes, in Fantastic Four Latveria is none other than Szekelyland!

Doom seems disinterested in politics but favors closer ties to the United States and absolutely hates the dictatorship of General Victor Stănculescu, whom he regards as a communist. Despite this he decides to run as President of Latveria shortly after the fall of Zhirinovsky. It is at this time that we discover that Doom is, and has always been, a close ally of Vladimir Zhirinovsky. He wins and soon turns Latveria into a totalitarian state and merges his company with the nation, giving the company virtual diplomatic immunity as it pollutes the environment or something totally not PC like that. It then turns out that Doom has used his lucrative government contracts to steal technology from the US military, which he uses to create "Doombots." The Doombots are then turned loose on ethnic minorities in his country. By now the Fantastic Four decide to attack Doom, who has the world hostage due to his "control" over the US military computer system (his company installed the software or something like that, I dunno, some Terminator 3 shit) and we get a battle where Doom is determined to destroy the Fantastic Four not because he hates them (he actually use to date the Invisible Girl in this film and became good friends with Reed Richards). He does it because he feels he has to stop the Communists from destroying his country and his people, and he holds the mind set “you are with me or you are with the Communists.” He is determined to set the Doombots loose on any country that he personally deems a threat to his way of life. So we have the UIS (under Lebed) and the United States in his crosshairs as a result.

Basically, Doom is a much more sympathetic character at first in this film, much like Magneto. You understand why he was driven to do what he did; even if there is no question what he is doing is evil. And the bond between the Invisible Girl and Reed Richards and Doom is not artificial in this film; it is a real friendship that was pushed over the brink by Doom’s extremism. Much like Charles Xavier and Magneto, you can sense the difficulty both Reed and Doom have in fighting each other. They are truly good friends who now find themselves on the opposite side of this battle that both feel they can not walk away from.
 

Gian

Banned
Now that you mention movies, maybe there might be some changes to Disney as well, right?
 
Speaking of which, could we aim at a sports angle in the Zhirinovsky TL? For instance, how is Russian football developing in the UIS?

Funny you should mention that...

As you all know, sometimes something in the news triggers an idea for this TL.

Well, I had an interesting idea for a future update when and if this mini Lebed TL gets going:

FIFA gets into a lot of hot water after it comes out that leading members were bribed into giving the 2022 World Cup to a small Persian Gulf Nation. Fans are angered at the fact that the country is just way to hot to play football there. And it is clear that FIFA is getting into world politics with this selection as almost every Muslim country in the world doesn't reconize this small Persian Gulf nation and will be forced to either boycott the World Cup or give in and field a team to go to a country that they regard as an illegal state.

Yup, the idea I had was where the UIS bribed FIFA into selecting The Republic of Dubai to host the 2022 World Cup. :eek:

Obviously the idea would have been ASB last year, but right now I have such a low opinion of FIFA that I think they would agree to have the World Cup in an Afghan minefield is someone threw enough money at them. :mad:
 

Gian

Banned
Funny you should mention that...

As you all know, sometimes something in the news triggers an idea for this TL.

Well, I had an interesting idea for a future update when and if this mini Lebed TL gets going:

FIFA gets into a lot of hot water after it comes out that leading members were bribed into giving the 2022 World Cup to a small Persian Gulf Nation. Fans are angered at the fact that the country is just way to hot to play football there. And it is clear that FIFA is getting into world politics with this selection as almost every Muslim country in the world doesn't reconize this small Persian Gulf nation and will be forced to either boycott the World Cup or give in and field a team to go to a country that they regard as an illegal state.

Yup, the idea I had was where the UIS bribed FIFA into selecting The Republic of Dubai to host the 2022 World Cup. :eek:

Obviously the idea would have been ASB last year, but right now I have such a low opinion of FIFA that I think they would agree to have the World Cup in an Afghan minefield is someone threw enough money at them. :mad:

I actually like this idea. We should go through with it.

Also, what about my question regarding Disney or cartoons in general? Would there be a lot of changes to it ITTL?
 
Funny you should mention that...

As you all know, sometimes something in the news triggers an idea for this TL.

Well, I had an interesting idea for a future update when and if this mini Lebed TL gets going:

FIFA gets into a lot of hot water after it comes out that leading members were bribed into giving the 2022 World Cup to a small Persian Gulf Nation. Fans are angered at the fact that the country is just way to hot to play football there. And it is clear that FIFA is getting into world politics with this selection as almost every Muslim country in the world doesn't reconize this small Persian Gulf nation and will be forced to either boycott the World Cup or give in and field a team to go to a country that they regard as an illegal state.

Yup, the idea I had was where the UIS bribed FIFA into selecting The Republic of Dubai to host the 2022 World Cup. :eek:

Obviously the idea would have been ASB last year, but right now I have such a low opinion of FIFA that I think they would agree to have the World Cup in an Afghan minefield is someone threw enough money at them. :mad:

Or how about FIFA getting in trouble for accepting bribes from the UIS football delegation for giving them the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosting rights.
 
Now that you mention movies, maybe there might be some changes to Disney as well, right?

I would imagine yes, but I am not sure which movies would see changes. A lot of Disney films are based on historic events that were around long before the UIS (can't see the UIS altering Mulan or Aladdin much in TTL).

Maybe there might be some minor changes to POTC, a Russian pirate thrown into the mix. But other than that, I don't see any changes with that film either.

The problem is to put a Russian angle into a Disney movie could make it a lot...darker. And dark Disney movies don't really work. Something like a Russian Monster in Monsters Inc I could see, but other than that, I don't think there would be radical changes unless there is a Disney Movie based on something real from TTL (think a Russian version of The Rookie, with a former Russian hockey player who makes an unlikely comeback in 2003 after sanctions are lifted or something like that).
 
This reminds me of how I wish I could use the UIS for the AHFA Euro 2016 when it happens in this site. Reminds me of the AHFA World Cup that is going on right now.

Speaking of which, here is my idea on how the existence of the UIS could influence anime in general:

- Full Metal Panic: Sagara Sousuke's story will be rather different from OTL canon as Mithril would be facing off against Amalgram, that is actually being backed and by the UIS and actually controls them. With the existence of the Arm Slaves, the UIS in the world of FMP would use them to carry out their atrocities on a much larger scale.

- Various Gundam series created in the 21st Century: Gundam 00 will definitely be way different as both Europe and Asia will not want to integrate the UIS in.

Video games that have the UIS as villains will definitely get a huge boost though, especially the Command and Conquer series and Battlefield.
 
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I actually like this idea. We should go through with it.

Also, what about my question regarding Disney or cartoons in general? Would there be a lot of changes to it ITTL?

Or how about FIFA getting in trouble for accepting bribes from the UIS football delegation for giving them the 2018 FIFA World Cup hosting rights.

I think it works as a sort wider conspiracy. FIFA perhaps selects A Novo Gorod in the UIS as a site for the 2018 World Cup and Lebed bribes his way into getting the UIS a Winter Olympics in Sukhumi Abkhazia! :eek:
 
I think it works as a sort wider conspiracy. FIFA perhaps selects A Novo Gorod in the UIS as a site for the 2018 World Cup and Lebed bribes his way into getting the UIS a Winter Olympics in Sukhumi Abkhazia! :eek:

Sochi comes to mind in this case.

Speaking of which, what would Alex Jones and his conspiracies be like? Or would be just remain a regular person?
 
Sochi comes to mind in this case.

Speaking of which, what would Alex Jones and his conspiracies be like? Or would be just remain a regular person?

Sochi would make more sense, but Sukhumi makes more "political" sense in that it furthur establishes UIS control over Abkhazia as opposed to Georgian control.

And I am sure Alex Jones would still be into conspiracy theories here as well, the only question is would he have as big of an audience or would he be some random guy talking crazy at the bar that you don't like to go to.
 

Gian

Banned
I would imagine yes, but I am not sure which movies would see changes. A lot of Disney films are based on historic events that were around long before the UIS (can't see the UIS altering Mulan or Aladdin much in TTL).

Maybe there might be some minor changes to POTC, a Russian pirate thrown into the mix. But other than that, I don't see any changes with that film either.

The problem is to put a Russian angle into a Disney movie could make it a lot...darker. And dark Disney movies don't really work. Something like a Russian Monster in Monsters Inc I could see, but other than that, I don't think there would be radical changes unless there is a Disney Movie based on something real from TTL (think a Russian version of The Rookie, with a former Russian hockey player who makes an unlikely comeback in 2003 after sanctions are lifted or something like that).

I was thinking basically like Syndrome being a Russian (if you've seen the film "the Incredibles") or King Candy (from "Wreck-it-Ralph") having a Russian accent and such.
 
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