Will Russian And Chinese Military Forces On Syrian Soil Prevent Obama From Bombing Syria?
‘Everyone knows that the Obama administration has been steadily gearing up for a military campaign against Syria. Everyone also knows that Russia and China do not want to see this happen. Now Russia and China are sending military forces to Syria.
It is being reported that Russia, China, Iran and Syria will be conducting the “Middle East’s largest ever military exercise” next month. Apparently tens of thousands of troops will be involved. This will be the first time that the Russians and the Chinese have jointly deployed large numbers of troops in Syria.’
Will Russian And Chinese Military Forces On Syrian Soil Prevent Obama From Bombing Syria?
(via cultureofresistance)
#Syria: The Road to #War Continues
by Devon DB, May 24, 2012
It has been revealed in recent days that the US and Turkey are in fact aiding the Syrian rebels and that the push for intervention is growing. It is important to realize the affects of this not only in Syria, but also for that of Iran and Russia, two of the most prominent and vocal backers of the Assad regime.
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Race To Oblivion: #Russia test fires #AMDpiercing strategic #missile
May 23, 2012
The Russian military have successfully launched a top secret advanced intercontinental ballistic missile. It is designed to counter the American antimissile shield currently being deployed in several regions.
The new weapon is an advanced version of the Topol-M and Yars missiles, already deployed by the Russian Strategic Missile Forces. The experiment was boosted off from the Plesetsk launch site in north-western Russia’s Arkhangelsk region on Wednesday. It delivered its test block to the Kura target range in Kamchatka Peninsula in the Far East.
The main purpose of the launch was to confirm feasibility of the design approaches incorporated into the missile, spokesman for the Forces Colonel Vadim Koval told journalists.
The successful test comes after a failed launch of the prototype on September 27, 2011. At the time the missile’s first-stage engine reportedly failed, which resulted in it dropping some 10 kilometers from the launch pad.
The medium-weight ICBM is “one of the military-technical measures, which Russia’s military-political leadership is taking in response to the deployment of a global antimissile defense system by the Americans,” says retired Col.-General Viktor Yesin.
The new missile may be ready for service “soon” and would boost Russia’s nuclear deterrence “in the uncertain situation”, the former head the Strategic Missile Forces’ General Staff told Interfax news agency.
According to military sources, the upgraded design behind the new weapon focused on its fuel formula. The solid propellant has been improved and allows for a faster boost, shortening the initial phase of the flight. During the boosting phase the missile is relatively slow and predictable, which makes it more vulnerable to anti-missiles.
Little detail about the new ICBM has been revealed. Unofficially dubbed Avangard, it is expected to have a MIRV-ed warhead with improved maneuvering and targeting capabilities of the vehicles. Some reports say that rather than having a traditional “bus” delivering each warhead to its target, designers chose to equip them with individual engines. This would allow active maneuvering on the descent phase.
Silo-based and mobile launcher-mounted versions of the missile are currently in development.
Russia's New/Old President- #Oil #Keystone #Environment #AIR #H2O #DGR
Putin, lays down the Fishing Gear Image: 1st Days-Riot police prevented protests by rounding up about 300 people, including men and women in cafes who were wearing the white ribbons symbolizing opposition to Putin, a day after detaining more than 400 during clashes. Oil-P Graphics vs. Russian drain on sovereign wealth @ P>$95/barrel http://www.oil-price.net/
Q: Exactly how Responsible/Liable 4/2 Global interest of global warming and H2O/Air-pollution does either Putin- likely 12 yr. stint-, and Alberta, Canada’s rapidly escalating Tar Sands fields (read pristine Boreal Forest destruction w. loss of aquifer) ….is committed by these trajectories; to what extremes will markets be “captivated”….merely to ensure “false markets” for these diminishing Utility products ( buried H-C resources) be?
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Boreal Forest:
TED-Boreal/Tar Sands Cost-(video): http://www.ted.com/talks/garth_lenz_images_of_beauty_and_devastation.html
Methane Green-House Gas scaler
Methane- previously frozen/encapsulated strong gas release from defrosting tunda (National Geographic special)(Article): http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/12/081219-methane-siberia.html
New Mechanism of Past Global Warming? Thawing Permafrost 50 Million Years Ago Led to Global Warming Events (Article): http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/04/120404133801.htm
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World’s lacks fresh water- Todays status
http://www.worldculturepictorial.com/blog/content/world-water-crisis-facts-shortage-sanitation-safe-drinking
Twitlonger: Russia’s New/Old President- #Keystone #Environment #AIR #H2O
Russia to Tormail: “I must break you.” Tormail to Russia: “I don’t think so.”
Opus Magnus, April 21, 2012
It looks like the Russian government has taken drastic action to eliminate a big name in liberated email services. Tormail.net has had its domain name pulled by its Russian registrar, and they say the chances are slim of getting the domain name back.
Take heart; they aren’t gone, but everyone with a tormail.net email address has just been moved to tormail.org via a different registrar. You can get official word from Tormail’s hidden service, which is untouched by Russia’s attack.
[…]
Opus Magnus: Russia to Tormail: “I must break you.” Tormail to Russia: “I don’t think so.”
#HumanRights Commissioner appalled at extension of custody for #PussyRiot
20.04.2012, via @AnonOpsSweden
Federal Human Rights Commissioner Markus Löning has issued the following statement on the extension of custody for members of the group Pussy Riot:
Zusatzinformationen
I am appalled at the extension of custody for three members of the Russian women artists’ group Pussy Riot.
The right to freedom of opinion and the effects of custody on the women, some of whom have young children, were not adequately recognized.
I share the opinion of Mikhail Fedotov, the Chairman of the Russian President’s council on human rights, who said that the principle of proportionality was not respected in this case.
I urge the Russian authorities to release the women without delay and to consider closing the case.Background information:
On 21 February 2012 the members of the Russian punk artists’ group Pussy Riot performed a “punk prayer” entitled “Virgin Mary, redeem us of Putin” in a Moscow cathedral. A video clip which was subsequently published online shows the group dancing in the church and singing their protest song with their faces covered by colourful balaclavas. The performance ended after several minutes without any damage to persons or property.
Three members of the group were arrested and taken into custody a few days later, following indignant reactions by the Russian Orthodox Church and some Russian officials.
On 19 April their custody was extended by two months. Investigations on charges of severe hooliganism are underway. According to the Russian criminal code the women could face up to seven years’ imprisonment.
The authorities have justified their extreme response with the argument that the artists committed an act of religious hate. The German Government is in contact with the group’s lawyers via the embassy in Moscow and will continue monitoring the case closely.
Auswärtiges Amt - Information Service - Human Rights Commissioner appalled at extension of custody for Pussy Riot
Russia Stunned After Japanese Plan To Evacuate 40 Million Revealed
Posted by EU Times on Apr 15th, 2012
A new report circulating in the Kremlin today prepared by the Foreign Ministry on the planned re-opening of talks with Japan over the disputed Kuril Islands during the next fortnight states that Russian diplomats were “stunned” after being told by their Japanese counterparts that upwards of 40 million of their peoples were in “extreme danger” of life threatening radiation poisoning and could very well likely be faced with forced evacuations away from their countries eastern most located cities… including the world’s largest one, Tokyo.
The Kuril Islands are located in Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast region and stretch approximately 1,300 km (810 miles) northeast from Hokkaidō, Japan, to Kamchatka, Russia, separating the Sea of Okhotsk from the North Pacific Ocean. There are 56 islands and many more minor rocks. It consists of Greater Kuril Ridge and Lesser Kuril Ridge, all of which were captured by Soviet Forces in the closing days of World War II from the Japanese.
The “extreme danger” facing tens of millions of the Japanese peoples is the result of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster that was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.
According to this report, Japanese diplomats have signaled to their Russian counterparts that the returning of the Kuril Islands to Japan is “critical” as they have no other place to resettle so many people that would, in essence, become the largest migration of human beings since the 1930’s when Soviet leader Stalin forced tens of millions to resettle Russia’s far eastern regions.
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Russia Stunned After Japanese Plan To Evacuate 40 Million Revealed | EUTimes.net
Pussy Riot: a riot of their own
via @AmnestyUK
A little while ago I was blogging about protest songs and Bob Dylan. I’m sure you’ll recall (!) that I was saying that Dylan’s often described as a “protest singer” more because of his artistic decisions than the content of his songs. Or something like that …
By contrast, I don’t think there’s any ambiguity over the (now well-known) Russian punk band Pussy Riot. Everything about this band screams “protest”. Their name, their brightly-coloured clothing, the fact they wear balaclavas. And where they play. They’re known for their staged “protest”-style outdoor performances - they’re a sort of cross between street theatre and political demo. Have a look at some videos: here, here and here.
Personally, in purely musical terms, I reckon we might be talking style over content. I like a good dollop of punk rock like the next man/woman, but Pussy Riot do strike me as being more Sigue Sigue Sputnik than the Sex Pistols.
Anyway, rock and roll has been about stylised confrontation ever since … well, always. Pussy Riot’s stuff wouldn’t cause much of a stir in many parts of the world, yet the Russian authorities seem to be out to make an example of them. A stunt of theirs in a church in February (see the video) has led to three of the band’s members being arrested and charged with a criminal offence (“hooliganism” under article 213 of Russia’s criminal code). They could end up with a seven-year prison sentence.
Right. What about what they did …? Provocative? Yes. Offensive to some people? Undoubtedly, not least, I imagine, for some Christians. But should they go to prison for it? You’re joking ….
Nevertheless, three Pussy Riot members - Maria Alekhina, Nadezhda Tolokonnikova and Ekaterina Samusevich - have now been behind bars for weeks awaiting a hearing to determine whether they are going to go on trial; they’re likely to stay locked up until at least 25 April.
What’s really just a piece of attention-grabbing political theatre, a statement of political anger with guitars as props, should not be the concern of the courts. What they did was somewhat disruptive and not to everyone’s taste, but it surely wasn’t in the least bit criminal. The right to free expression, to be able to speak openly and sometimes give rise to offence whilst doing so, is a firmly established human rights principle. Amnesty says that Maria, Nadezhda and Ekaterina - the Pussy Riot Three - are prisoners of conscience and should be released immediately. That’s surely right. (Meanwhile, of course, there’s the utterly unbelievable case of two brothers in Cuba who’ve been jailed for listening to political hip hop ….. bloody hell. Take action on their case).
I should declare an interest. Not only do I work for Amnesty but I also like a bit of political music, especially the flamboyantly in-your-face kind that the pussy rioters specialise in. Over the years I’ve enjoyed Crass’ militant anarchism, Billy Bragg’s proletarian balladry and Huggy Bear/Bikini Kill’s riot grrl stuff (quite a good gig this last one: Hacienda, in about 1993). And if I want to go and hear a punk-poet decrying capitalism in a bookshop in east London (I have been known to do exactly this!) then I think I should be able to so without fearing the police will arrest either me or the person on the mic.
In their punk classic White Riot, The Clash used to shout out the lines “Everybody’s doing / Just what they’re told to / Nobody wants / To go to jail”, their rallying cry against conformity and fear. Like a lot of disgruntled Russians, Pussy Riot want to be able to speak out without going to jail. They want a (symbolic) riot of their own.
