GRU is the English transliteration of the Russian acronym ГРУ, which stands for "Гла́вное Разве́дывательное Управле́ние" (Glavnoe Razvedyvatel'noe Upravlenie), meaning Main Intelligence Directorate. The full name is GRU GSh (GRU GenShtaba, i.e. "GRU of the General Staff". )The GRU was created in 1918 by Lenin, and given the task of handling all military intelligence. It operated residencies all over the world, along with the SIGINT (signal intelligence) station, in Lourdes, Cuba, and throughout the former Soviet bloc countries, especially in Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia.\nThe GRU was totally independent of most other power centers in the Soviet Union, most famously the CPSU and KGB. At the time of the GRU's creation, Lenin ordered the Cheka (predecessor of the KGB) not to interfere with the GRU's operations. The rivalry between the GRU and KGB was even more intense than the rivalry between the FBI and CIA.\n\nhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GRU if you want to see what the emblem looks like
200907
because a bat is a symbol of fear, and secrecy.
639665
G.I. stands for "Government issue".  Duke is not G.I. Joe.  In the mid-nineties it was established that G.I. Joe was founder of the team, and a commemorative 3 3/4" action ficture was produced a long with a full-size replica of the very first G.I. Joe.  He came with a card that explained his real name and stats. I don't have this, but I saw the ad in a comic book, so I can't fill in more details.
422264
The Ak47 was used by th soviets, and most breakaway contries in that region were the old soviet union. It is also the most widly produced, durable, inexpensive weapon there is. Just look at it like this, i have used one. i poured a handful of sand right into the chamber with it open. fired, no problem.
573721
It is not a secret weapon of some type.  It is a research station and is jointly monitored and used by civilian personnel and university research staff.\n\nIf you are interested, there is much information on the web at the provided address.
328051
To answer your questions in order:\n\nYes, the Soviet Union (which included Russia) was an ally of the US and the British.  The USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also called the Soviet Union.  Russia was a part of the USSR, but wasn't called Russia then), led by Stalin, signed a non-aggression pact with Hitler (leader of Germany).  This was in force until Hitler broke it and invaded the Soviet Union.  Stalin was taken unawares and unprepared, so Hitler did well at first.  Stalin therefore allied with the British and the US to fight the Germans.  The "cold war" didn't start until after WWII During the jostling for control over the states freed from the Nazis. \n\n*****\n\nThe USSR and the Japanese didn't work together.  The war in Europe against Germany) ended sooner than that in Japan (May 8, 1945 for Germany’s surrender and August 15, 1945 for Japan’s) and the USSR was free to declare war on Japan, which it did.  This was one of the reasons that the US dropped nuclear bombs on Japan.  It wanted to end the war before the Soviet Union forces entered the fighting, who would then stay and have control in that country and region.  \n\nAfter WWII Germany was divided into two halves, appropriately called West and East Germany.  The US, the United Kingdom (the British) and France controlled the West.  The Soviet Union controlled the East.  Germany was two different countries.  The US, UK and France set up a democracy in the West and then left (although the US left troops to guard against an attack from the Soviet Union, and many are still stationed there.  Now the bases are used as staging grounds for operations in the Afghanistan and Iraq).  The country they created was called the Federal Republic of Germany.\n\nThe Soviet Union established a country in the Eastern half, called the German Democratic Republic. This was not democratic though – it was communist.  The Soviet Union had many troops stationed there as well, and had a lot of influence in the Eastern half.  Vladimir Putin, the current President of the Russian Federation, worked in East Germany as a spy when he was part of the KGB (this isn’t a secret – he admits it freely and uses his excellent German in speeches).\n\n*****\nGermany played a very strong role in the War.  They were allied with Japan, but because they had some common enemies in their efforts to expand their territories.  In Europe, the war started when Germany annexed Austria and Czechoslovakia, claiming to be uniting the Germans who lived there (Austrians speak German and there were a lot of Germans in Czechoslovakia.  The moved there in the centuries that it belonged to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Austrian Empire and the Holy Roman Empire, which were all names used at different times to describe the same Empire ruled from the Austrian city of Vienna). At this point there was a lot of nervousness in Europe, as Hitler was using rhetoric such as “Germans need more land to live, which is their birthright.” But the British made a deal with Hitler that they would let him keep those countries if he didn’t go any further.  Hitler agreed, but he invaded Poland anyway, and kept going from there. He took France, Bombed England and wanted to invade, and moved through Eastern Europe.  He also invaded the USSR, as mentioned above.\n\nThe US at this point wasn’t involved.  Hitler made an alliance with the Japanese, who were engaged in their own war of expansion, because both were fighting the British and French (the British had a lot of Colonial holdings in the Pacific, and the French had some, too).  \n\nThe US became involved when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.  The Japanese wanted the US to withdraw from the pacific, but instead the US declared war on the Japanese.  The Japanese and the Germans were allied, so Germany declared war on the US, which then also entered the European war.  It was already helping the UK and the USSR with equipment and logistical support,
57350
"I am a Cheburashka now" (or, if this one is a question "am I a Cheburashka now?").\n\n"Cheburashka" is a name of russian cartoon fictional character. You can take a look on him at http://www.myltik.ru/archives/cheburashka1.jpg
30464
It stands for George Stanley Halas who was the  longtime owner of the Bears.\n\nFor more information on him visit the source link below
301861
The spelling is incorrect... is Mikhail Gorbachev\n\nHis website is:\n\nhttp://www.mikhailgorbachev.org/\n\nGOOD LUCK!
603834
"As well as the current MI5 and MI6, there have been a number of British military intelligence groups designated as MI-(section number) existing at various times since the First World War, which have now been abandoned or subsumed by MI5, MI6 or GCHQ. These included MI1 (Directorate of Military Intelligence), MI2 (intelligence in the Soviet Union and Scandinavia), MI3 (Germany and Eastern Europe), MI4 (aerial reconnaissance during the Second World War), MI7 (Military Propaganda during World War I), MI8 (interception and interpretation of communications), MI9 (covert operations and PoW escape), MI10 (weapons and technical analysis), MI11 (Field Security Police), MI12 (German specialists), MI14 (German specialists), MI17 (secretariat for MI departments) and MI18 (Prisoner of War debriefing). MI(R) was responsible for the creation of the secret Home Guard Auxiliary Units. Most British military intelligence is now gathered and analysed by the Defence Intelligence Staff, part of the Ministry of Defence, with support from MI6, GCHQ and allied intelligence organisations."
402111
I'm sure there are many different ways to get your foot in the door, but I will give you one path that I think is reasonably solid.\n\nFirst, it's really important that you can be trusted and that your loyalty is unquestionable.  Previous military service helps with this.  If you were/are in the military have combat and weapons experience this is a big plus.  With this you are automatically given a higher security clearance.\n\nThe other thing that would help you a great deal is knowing multiple languages fluently or have a demonstrated capacity to learn languages quickly.  This is also a big plus.\n\nFinally, apply for a job at the CIA, NSA, State Department or Military intelligence.  Being intelligent and demonstrating good reasoning and creative problem solving is a big part of this.  If they're going to put you out in the field in the lion's den they want to know that you can handle yourself so if you are a timid, weak, and generally stupid you're not going to get the sensitive jobs.\n\nPersonally I would love to work for the State Department Foreign Service and plan to take the exam in a  year or so.  However, I would not want to be involved in any espionage as I think it is extremely dangerous.\n\nMy opinion on the CIA, FSB (formerly KGB), MI6 and similar organizations is that they are necessary to maintain national security for their respective countries.  The CIA of today seems to be relatively weak and incompetent compared to its days in the Cold War.  However, it may just be the public front for an ultra-secret agency operating in the background similar to the GRU in Soviet era.  The GRU was so secretive that even KGB agents didn't know it existed.\n\nAnyways it's exciting and interesting to think about, but it's not for me.\n\nIf you like this kind of thing read the following book:\n\nSpy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer : The True Story of the Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames\nby Victor Cherkashin
75286
if you read Russian, read here:\nhttp://history.tuad.nsk.ru/Author/Russ/T/TimchenkoJaJu/golgofa/razd1-1.html\n\nIn brief, he was a Tsarist general who took the bolsheviks' side after the revolution (the first general to do that). Played important role during the civil war, was briefly arrested in 1931, but was released the same year.\n\nIn English you might try to search Bonch-Bruevitch or something similar
577696
Nixon was the first to use it during the Watergate Scandal. It was created by Dulles, director of the CIA. As far as I know it hasn't been used lately but who knows...odds are best it is though
251656
It was a former soviet republic, part of the now defunct USSR. it is now its own political entity and has its own government and capital, Kiev.
32746
Great question!\n\nAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary:\n>>\n The Gr. word occurs first in Lucian, who ascribes to Aristotle a classification of his own works into ‘esoteric’ and ‘exoteric’. (Cic. De Fin. v. §5 recognizes such a classification but uses only the term ‘exoteric’, leaving the opposite class undesignated; Aristotle himself merely uses it in the sense of ‘popular, untechnical’.) By later writers the word was employed to designate the secret doctrines said to have been taught by Pythagoras to a select few among his disciples.] \n>>\n\nEsoteric comes from the Greek word "esoterikos" from "esoteros" meaning "inner".\n\nEsoteric things are for the "in" crowd -- in other words they are secret, confidential, hard to understand, or only for the inner circle.\n\nThe opposite of esoteric is "exoteric", meaning out in the open.
194291
Because there was a war beetween Moldova and Pridnestrovie (republic , not officially recognized by world , population - mostly Russian  , historical issue,I lived there for 2 years  ) . Moldova wants independence and in the same step wants to get down Pridnestrovie and colonialise while cooperating with Ukraniane goverment)  .Its very obvious that Russia will not tolerate this pressure  .
581915
The myth is the Israeli diplomatic corp.  It depends on what you would call intelligence.  Electronic eavesdropping/weather reports/fog of war/code breaking and the like would probably belong to the NSA.  For human intelligence it would actually be the Chinese.  They seem to easily find people that would betray their country and the FBI is full of Chinese moles.  The KGB was also a master of human intelligence.
21303
It was more a political move than anything else.  It was equipped with radio transmitters to show the world that the USSR did it first.