Chekist vs. Chekist

The Other Russia reports on the phenomena of security agency vs. security agency in Putin's Russia. Seems that the FSB (the Russian CIA/FBI) has it in for the FSKN (the Russian DEA). Strange irony that no legislative or judicial oversight could lead to such fratricide. Here's more:

"The latest scandal is the arrest of four FSKN officials, including Lt. General Alexander Bulbov, by the FSB. On October 1st, the officers were detained, and held on charges of corruption and leaking secrets. The lack of any transparency in the security sector makes it impossible to guess what other personal battles have been waged in recent months.

In a public and lucid article published shortly thereafter in Kommersant, Viktor Cherkesov, the head of the FSKN, called for peace among the agencies. “A ‘war of all on all’ will result in a complete disintegration of the network,” he wrote. “We must prevent a scandal and all-out fighting.” He continued, “Whoever can help the Federal Narcotics Control Service rid itself of turncoats may always count on me… But whoever is prepared to try to turn the noble cause of doing away with corruption into something else may count on resistance from me.”

Churkesov’s statement publicly acknowledges that there is strife among the siloviki (officials in Putin’s government with military and security backgrounds). For once, it appears that the incredible in-fighting and power struggles behind the closed doors of Putin’s government are coming to light."

Kind of reminds me of American CIA vs. FBI vs. NSA vs. everyone.

Recruiting, A Tale of Standards and Pizza

A recent article in the Chicago Tribune details the difficulties the armed forces are having in their recruiting activities and the need to decrease standards to fill quotas. Among other things the number of convicted felons allowed in with "character waivers" has quadrupled over the last four years. The defense department maintains their standards remain high, and as one spokesman put it,

"That's a pretty tough standard," he said. "Not to be cheeky about this, but [if] we apply that standard to our legislative overseers, a significant fraction would need waivers to join the United States military."

Given the level of corruption and abuse of power seen in the last seven years I wouldn't dispute that point. Locally our National Guard unit hopes that the lure of X-Box tournaments, free pizza, and money will help fill the ranks as the photo above attests (click to enlarge for details that not even I could make up). With an unconstitutional war waged by an administration of ethically challenged former draft evaders grinding on to an unknown purpose and no foreseeable end its a wonder anyone would sign up.

Dual Coronations or Who Needs Elections Anyway?

The world's largest nuclear powers are both going through the motions of political democracy and unless something really unusual happens the "fix" is in and the outcomes have already been decided. In other words nothing to see, move along.

Vladimir Putin, taking a somewhat oblique path to power, will stand as a representative of the pro-Kremlin party United Russia and essentially become prime-minister for life. Most of Russia seems to be going along with the exception of a few malcontents.

America, which was founded as a reaction against the abuses of hereditary monarchy, is set to re- install the Democratic ruling family. Once again a few malcontents question the wisdom of this. Hillary Clinton facing an incredibly incompetent selection of Republican challengers has the presidency more or less sewn up according to the media powers that be. Sadly the Democratic party which owed its recent popularity as an alternative to corruption and endless war seems posed to turn its back on the people and turn a blind eye to corruption and more war.

Anti War a World Wide Task

There are times as a small town anti-war activist of sorts that I wonder if things could be more difficult given media marginalization, nationalism, and ignorance. Then I see these guys protesting the ongoing Russian wars in Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia that never make the news in America.Needless to say I think my problems are of a lesser magnitude. The above are photos from a weekly protest in Moscow which interestingly questions among other things the issue of the mysterious bombings as well as murders and prosecutions which are used to justify the second Chechen war and authoritarianism that started shortly after Putin's election. Opposing war is truly a world-wide task and needs to be seen as such if peace can ever be a universal goal. Please check out voinenet.ru site and the fascinating video there. It reminds me of similar places in small town USA.

Happy (Belated) Constitution Day

Somehow I seemed to have missed the parades and nationally televised festivities that mark each September 18th of the year as America observes Constitution Day. Unfortunately there are those who would rather that the the document behind all these celebrations only be brought out, let alone acted upon on, on ceremonial occasions only. Such party-poopers might include the current executive branch of government as well as more than a few members of the legislative branch who find parts of the constitution inconvenient or even at odds with their career plans. There are a few salient features that are worth revisiting which I will list, though not necessarily in order:

Duties of congress include the right

To declare war, grant letters of marque and reprisal, and make rules concerning captures on land and water;

To raise and support armies, but no appropriation of money to that use shall be for a longer term than two years;

Also

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.

The President, Vice President and all civil officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on impeachment for, and conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors.

The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments. When sitting for that purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. When the President of the United States is tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: and no person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two thirds of the members present.

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall not extend further than to removal from office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy any office of honor, trust or profit under the United States: but the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law.

Pardon my hack job on the U.S. Constitution though I believe others have done worse.

Words of Wisdom and Fear

"No nation can preserve its freedom in the midst of continual warfare."

James Madison

"Since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, our nation has fought a global war against violent extremists who use terrorism as their weapon of choice, and who seek to destroy our free way of life. Our enemies seek weapons of mass destruction and, if they are successful, will likely attempt to use them in their conflict with free people everywhere. Currently, the struggle is centered in Iraq and Afghanistan, but we will need to be prepared and arranged to successfully defend our nation and its interests around the globe for years to come."

U.S. Quadrennial Defense Review, 2006

Harbingers of Doom or Another Week in the Life of Bush's America

"The most merciful thing in the world...is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." H.P. Lovecraft

I think Lovecraft may have had in mind a week such as the one just past when he uttered those words. Certainly correlating seemingly unrelated events would leave one with a distinct feeling of unease regarding the United States and its continued headlong surge into moral and financial bankruptcy courtesy of the Bush administration. Tear yourself away from the latest O.J. spectacle and consider the following:

The failure of the U.S. congress to restore habeas corpus by a 56-43 vote in the senate that fell just short of invoking cloture.
A similar debacle regarding the "Webb Amendment" to allow troops in combat equal amounts of time off to attempt to recover. Once again failure to invoke cloture, which raises some uncomfortable questions as noted at the Daily Kos:

"But why would anyone agree to allow Republicans, who are already on pace to shatter all previous filibuster records, to stop an amendment this important and this sensible without even lifting a finger? And the question here is not just why anyone would allow it, but why everyone did. A single Senator could have put a stop to this simply by saying, "I object" when the unanimous consent request was made. Just one Senator.

Yet none did.

Not Harry Reid. Not Russ Feingold. Not Bernie Sanders.

Nobody.

And so the Webb amendment died quietly yesterday, allowing Republicans to enjoy all the obstructionist benefits of a filibuster, without having to stand up and tell Americans and their fighting men and women in the military exactly what they were doing. And not a moment was "wasted" on the "extended debate" that's supposed to make up a filibuster.

Everyone just politely agreed that 56-44 would be a losing vote for America's sons and daughters wearing the uniform in Iraq and Afghanistan. And they did it on national television. And America yawned, hit the snooze button, and slept in."

Even more unsettling questions and observations are raised at Tomdispatch.com which makes one wonder if the American political process offers any solutions at all.

"The great debate about Iraq is not, and never really was, about what we should do in Iraq. No matter how many Iraqis have died or become refugees thanks to the Bush intervention, they remain largely ignored bit players in our central drama, which is, and always was, about what we will make of America. Now, the outcome of that debate is coming more clearly into view and it's not a pretty picture. The compromise the two parties are hammering out on Iraq policy reflects a deeper compromise the public seems to be groping toward on national identity -- between who we are in reality (pragmatic, if sidelined, civilians who know a war is badly lost and want to end it) and who we are in our imaginations (heroic soldiers proving our character in the theater of war).

All theater, all storytelling, rests on the power of illusion and the willing suspension of disbelief. Bush and the Republicans have repeatedly given millions of doubters a chance to suspend their post-Vietnam disbelief in traditional tales of American character; the Democrats have given millions of doubters a chance to suspend their disbelief that the will of the people can make any difference whatsoever. The two parties join together to give the whole nation a chance to believe that a fierce debate still rages about whether or not to end the war. That political show we can expect to go on at least until Election Day 2008.

And we can expect both parties, and the media who keep the show going, to abide by an unspoken agreement that one kind of question will never be asked, because the tension it raises might be unbearable: Is it moral for our troops to occupy another country for years, bomb its cities and villages, and kill untold numbers of people halfway across the planet? If the script ever makes room for that question, we'll be able to watch -- and participate in -- a far more profound debate about the war."

Meanwhile other chickens came home to roost, the dollar slowly drifted downward against the Canadian loonie and the Russian ruble among others. The real measure of value is now energy rather than the currency of a country unable to come up with a coherent national energy policy that doesn't involve military domination of petroleum production in distant parts of the world. Which brings up the latest record setting price of oil and its inconvenient implications for the future.

The Impending Helium Famine

Just when you thought there wasn't anything else to possibly worry about along comes the great impending ......helium shortage. Physics Today fills us in on the implications of a shortage of the universe's second most abundant element:

"Drained budgets and postponed projects are widespread these days among the physics labs, manufacturers, and other businesses that depend on helium for their work, direct consequences of a worldwide shortage of the element, which ironically is one of the most abundant on Earth.

For the last 10 years, groups around the US, including the American Physical Society, have been predicting that a severe shortage of the gas—which has many more valuable applications than filling party balloons—would emerge early in the 21st century. Pointing to a 1996 federal law that mandates sale of the federal helium reserve by 2015, they've warned that once the reserve—which supplies some 40% of domestic needs and 35% of worldwide requirements—is sold off, it can never be replaced.

The prophecies are already coming true, but for a different reason. The supply crimp that arose last year is the result of production glitches around the world that gas industry experts say underscore the need to develop new helium sources. If supply is tight now, they say, it's likely to be far more constricted once the reserve is depleted.

A byproduct of radioactive decay within Earth, helium is often a component of natural gas. Helium refiners extract natural gas from gas fields—in the US, the fields are mostly in Texas and Kansas—and cool it to below 90 K. At that point, everything except helium liquefies; the helium is distilled and compressed or further cooled to liquid form. In addition to the federal reserve, which is in a gas field near Amarillo, Texas, several sources worldwide supply helium: a handful of other US gas fields, and plants in other countries including Algeria, Qatar, Poland, and Russia....

The situation is likely to become even more dire in the near future. Kornbluth and Leslie Theiss, field office manager at the US Bureau of Land Management's helium operations in Amarillo, say the worldwide demand for helium is growing, fueled at least in part by the growth of high-tech manufacturing in China, Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea. Companies in those countries use helium in the production of semiconductors, flat-panel displays, and optical fibers."

So it appears that would be Donald Duck imitators and lawnchair pilots will be in for rough times ahead as we further deplete the Earth of its valuables.

Fighting Bob Fest 2007

Fighting Bob Fest 2007 took place Saturday, Sept. 8th on a bright sunny day at the Sauk county fairgrounds in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Upwards of 6,500 people attended Wisconsin's largest political gathering which is now in its 6th year.
Speakers included noted anti-war activist and contender for Nancy Pelosi's seat in congress, Cindy Sheehan, Texas populist, Jim Hightower, and impeachment proponent and "The Nation"s Washington correspondent, John Nichols.
The mood among attendees was definitely pro-impeachment, anti-war, and anti- corporate statism. While the state Democratic party was well represented, there was clearly a feeling of disgust with what many view as the invertebrate leadership of the national party including the front runners for the presidential nomination.
Jeremy Scahill gave a scathing indictment of both parties as well as a chilling look at the growth of corporate paramilitaries as exemplified by the Blackwater corporation. His talk was, in my opinion, one the highlights of an outstanding opportunity for progressives in the spirit of "Fighting Bob" Lafollette to continue a grand and vital legacy.

Just Another Soccer Game in Russia

Novaya Gazetta has an article highlighting the growing neo-nazi presence at Russian soccer matches. Ilya Yashin goes on to make the point that sporting events are occasions not under state control :

" Football fans· movement is one of few organized forces in the country that is out of state control. It·s more and more often that fans stage political actions at the stadiums. Actually, the stands have become long ago the rostrum for giving utterance to radical political slogans. The groups inside fans· movement consolidate not only on the basis of clubs interests, but also political principles. And most of the fans· groups share nationalist ideology."

To a point this is true however the pro-Putin youth movement Nashi (Ours) gets more than a few recruits from the local Moscow followers of Spartak as noted here and here:

"From its very beginning, stories about Nashi have been heavy with references to brawny soccer hooligans, and activists at competing organizations have been more than willing to name names. Sergei Shagrunov, head of the Motherland party's youth group ,and Vladimir Abel, a top official with the National Bolshevik Party (NBP), both identified Roman Verbitskii, the head of Spartak Moscow's Gladiator fan club, as the head of Nashi's regional-development department in articles in "Kommersant-Daily," "Moskovskii komsomolets," and "Vedomosti." "Ekspert" reported on 5 September that Verbitskii and another leader of the Gladiators, Vasilii Stepanov, aka Vasya the Killer, have attended meetings at the Kremlin with other Nashi members. However, Nashi press secretary Ivan Mostovich told "Kommersant-Daily" on 31 August that he does not know any Roman Verbitskii.

Despite these denials, media stories alleging a connection between soccer hooligans and Nashi continue to proliferate. Verbitskii's name in particular has featured in recent stories about a 29 August incident in central Moscow. About 30-40 masked men armed with baseball bats and some wearing symbols of the Nashi youth organization attacked members of the NBP, Avant-Garde Red Youth, and youth organizations from the Motherland and Communist parties. Aleksandr Averin, an NBP activist who was a victim in the incident, said he saw Verbitskii among the attackers. NBP official Abel told "Kommersant-Daily" on 31 August that this is not the first attack on the NBP in which Verbitskii has played a part. "Criminal charges involving a certain Roman Verbitskii have been filed in connection with three previous incidents," he said. The daily also cited an anonymous police source that Verbitskii was present at the attack.

So far, neither Verbitskii nor anyone else has been charged in this attack. Also, reports in gazeta.ru and "Novaya gazeta" this week suggested that they are not likely to be. Writing in "Novaya gazeta," No. 68, Yabloko youth-branch head Ilya Yashin, citing an anonymous police source, reported that presidential-administration official Nikita Ivanov visited the police station where the group of men suspected of taking part in the attack were being held and arranged for them to be quickly released without following regular police procedures. According to Yashin, Ivanov, 31, is nominally the deputy head of the administration for interregional and cultural relations with foreign countries at the presidential administration, but his department is in fact primarily concerned with youth policy and preventing an Orange Revolution. So far, only gazeta.ru has echoed Yashin's claims about Ivanov's activities that day, and Ivanov's office has declined to comment."

“It’s an open secret that Nashi security, at least at its Moscow events, is provided by Spartak football hooligans with ties to racist skinheads.” I’m also told that United Russia (Putin’s political party and practically the only party in the country) in Vladivostok openly collaborates with neo-Nazis to defend its interests on the streets. Putin is a shrewd politician, preaching anti-fascism on one hand (indeed the Nashi outfit is sold to the public as an antifascist one) while simultaneously employing xenophobic rhetoric himself. Rudnitsky concludes his piece on skinheads, “If anything, they’re [Kremlin operatives] interested in co-opting the fascists and turning them into a politically useful tool in case of a threat from an Orange -- or a National-Bolsheviks -- revolution.” But there is no real threat, not now anyway. And further study is needed on just how closely Nashists and Nazis (to the extent that there’s a difference) are indeed colluding."

BTW I don't think there is a well established Sponge Bob Square Pants KKK wannabe connection as the photo above might suggest.

Adios Arctic Ice

The National Snow and Ice Data Center announced earlier this week that the northern polar sea ice level is at the lowest coverage seen since monitoring began.

"The low ice extent for August 2007 stands out sharply compared to all previous Augusts. The August 2007 monthly average extent was 5.32 million square kilometers (2.05 million square miles), falling well below August 2005 extent, which was 6.30 million square kilometers (2.42 million square miles). Additionally, August 2007 ice extent is 31% below the long-term average of 7.67 million square kilometers (2.95 million square miles).

Even more stunning is that the August 2007 monthly average is the lowest extent in the satellite record for any month, including any previous September, which is typically the lowest month each year. September 2005, the previous record, had a monthly mean extent of 5.56 million square kilometers (2.14 million square miles).

August 2007 sea ice extent was lower than September 2005 extent by 240,000 square kilometers (92,000 square miles)."

By the way the legendary Northwest Passage is now open:

"Of particular note is imminent opening of the fabled Northwest Passage through the channels of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. This shortcut between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans was first navigated by Roald Amundsen in the early 1900s. It took his group over two years of arduous and dangerous navigation through narrow lanes of open water amongst thick, compact ice. Analysts at the Canadian Ice Service and the U.S. National Ice Center confirm that the passage is almost completely clear and that the region is more open than it has ever been since the advent of routine monitoring in 1972. The Northwest Passage traces from Baffin Bay in the South toward M'Clure Strait."

Quote of the Weekend

"During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act."
---George Orwell

(Photo of Edmund O'Brien as Winston Smith in "1984" circa 1955.)

The Wisdom of Henry Wallace

A couple of weeks ago I quoted Herbert Hoover regarding economics. Mr. Hoover is remembered as being the only Iowan elected to the presidency and ushering in the Great Depression. A lesser known man, Henry A. Wallace, was Iowa's contribution to the vice-presidency under FDR. A recovering republican he eventually ran for the presidency in 1948 as the Progressive Party candidate after being castigated as too radical by the Democratic establishment of the day (sounds familiar) and was smeared as being pro-communist in the pre-swift-boating era. Naturally I was intrigued by his take on American fascism which continues to have, if anything, increased relevancy these days, here's a sample from 1944:

"The American fascists are most easily recognized by their deliberate perversion of truth and fact. Their newspapers and propaganda carefully cultivate every fissure of disunity, every crack in the common front against fascism. They use every opportunity to impugn democracy....They claim to be super-patriots, but they would destroy every liberty guaranteed by the Constitution. They demand free enterprise, but are the spokesmen for monopoly and vested interest. Their final objective toward which all their deceit is directed is to capture political power so that, using the power of the state and the power of the market simultaneously, they may keep the common man in eternal subjection."

Arrests in Politkovskaya Case

Ten individuals have been charged in the killing of controversial Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in October 2006. Yuri Chaika, General Prosecutor of the Russian Federation, made the announcement which implicated an alleged group of Chechen contract killers, members of the FSB, the Interior ministry, and Russian police. The real target however appears to be a rogue oligarch with a checkered career, Boris Berezovsky.

" But he hinted that the real mastermind behind the plot to kill the campaigning journalist was a Russian citizen living abroad who had arranged the murder to discredit the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. Asked whether he meant the exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky, Mr Chaika refused to answer but smiled."

While speaking out against the Putin government, Berezovsky has a history of shady dealings which include association with Chechen kidnapping rings, the bankruptcy of Aeroflot, and possible involvement in the murder of American journalist Paul Klebnikov who had written an unflattering biography as noted here:

"Russia Blog reader likely won't be feeling sorry for Mr. Berezovsky – he was profiled in “Godfather of the Kremlin”, the book written by the late Forbes journalist Paul Klebnikov. In his book, Mr. Klebnikov alleged that Berezovsky ordered several contract killings of rivals while amassing his vast personal fortune. Berezovsky became one of the most hated men in Russia during the late 1990s, when he took advantage of Boris Yeltsin's drunkeness to manipulate the President's daughter Tatyana Dyachenko and take control of the Kremlin. Klebnikov described how Berezovsky “negotiated” with the Chechen commanders behind Yeltsin’s back, even while Russian troops were being slaughtered in Chechnya. Once Berezovsky was outmaneuvered by Putin’s siloviki faction, the oligarch fled to London, where he funded opposition groups in Russia while proclaiming that he was just another innocent businessman crushed by the evil ex-KGB officer."

Meanwhile Novaya Gazetta (which now has just started an English version on the Web) has an interesting article which suggests there may be even more to come.

"The number of the arrested and those who are to be arrested says about several points. First, one may assume that separate investigations by Prosecutor General’s Office and by the Novaya Gazeta came to at least two stable criminal groups that cooperate “fruitfully” with each other. This is interpenetration of crime and law enforcement bodies that Anna wrote about many times. This is absence of control that makes warrant officers and majors sell their official powers. It must be stressed that this is the joint business established years ago and based on the grave crime and offence. If we unraveled this tangle, then the details of many celebrated unsolved cases would be disclosed.

Second, the murder was planned and prepared meticulously by professionals who had had experience of solving such kind of “problems”.
Third, it cost expensive. It’s too early to talk about those who ordered this murder; coming elections considering that may cause political special operations around circumstances of the crime. Besides, we don’t have guarantees that real clients’ names will be mentioned in the indictment. And that wouldn’t be investigation’s fault.

We have repeated many times that we don’t have claims against those who investigate the murder of the Novaya Gazeta’s journalist. We are collaborating, and the mutual opinion is that this collaboration is effective. We just want to be sure that certain “rational reasons” that don’t relate to this matter directly, wouldn’t influence the outcome of our joint work. The outcome we need is clear. The killers, accomplices and real clients of this murder must be established and convicted.

Analyzing circumstances of Anna’s death we reconstructed approximately the crime. The mediators got the order in spring or summer 2006. In the beginning of September Politkovskaya began to be shadowed. Before that, her actual address of residence (she had moved to a flat on Lesnaya Street not long before that) was established using facilities of the special service. She was shadowed from morning till night. Generally, Anya was very careful, considering the number of hidden and evident threats. She always reported to editorial staff about all “peculiarities” that happened to her and her relatives.

But in the end of August and beginning of September the situation was different. Her mother was in hospital and they just had buried the father. Anya’s route was practically same those days, differently from her usual working days. In the morning she had a walk with her dog, and then she went shopping and came to see her mother in the hospital. In the afternoon she took again her dog for a walk and late in the day she came to hospital again. When you have problems about your relatives you don’t care of yourself too much. Anya mentioned, though, some strange people hat she met on her staircase.

Yes, those strange people, to put it more exactly one man, really had to be met by her. We think that the killer had at least twice entered the block of flats before, following Politkovskaya and scouting the place. 7 October at 16:01 he fired 5 shots. The first and the fifth bullet (checking shot) were shot into the head. Remodeled gas gun with silencer was left at the crime scene. This gun had no crime records before.

The killer rushed out from the entrance, got in a car and left the crime scene. The publication of the frames fixing all this, made by someone and passed to the journalists, prejudiced the investigation very much.

As you understand, there are a lot of essential details laying behind this laconic chronicle that cannot be disclosed yet.
We often hear questions and reproaches why investigation takes so long and why we journalists say “no comment” for long time.
About term of investigation. Anna Politkovskaya published over 500 articles in the Novaya Gazeta. Almost each of them could have been the reason of the murder. It’s not only materials about Chechnya. The geography is rather large. It’s Dagestan, Ingushetia, Kabardino-Balkaria, Astrakhan, Bashkiria, St. Petersburg, and Moscow. That is why initially there were many versions. One of the first ones was about special squad officer in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk whose family name is Lapin. This man threatened Politkovskaya many times. Now he is being tried in the court about another case. Lapin’s accomplices, who are also officers, were wanted by the federal security service. The investigation of Politkovskaya’s murder had questions to them too. One of them was found in the city of Khanty-Mansiysk. He didn’t hide; he lived at home and continued his service. But it turned out that those people didn’t have any relation to this murder.

This way, step by step, version by version, the skilful investigative work was done.

Many things were happening around these two investigations – ours and the official one. Agent provocateurs tried to foul the trail and distract the investigation. Some people tried to get the money offered by the Novaya’s shareholder Alexander Lebedev as consideration for the information given. There were also threats and we will tell about it later."

Russia Getting New Early Warning Satellites...and not a moment too soon

And in another interesting defense related development Pavel Podvig reports that Russia intends to update its early warning satellite system which currently does not provide continuous coverage. I find this a little disturbing to put it mildly considering the likelihood of hair -trigger launch on warning status of the Strategic Rocket Forces. In this case an upgrade is probably in everyone's interest, though according to this article (in Russian) it won't be done until 2009:

"Испытания новой космической системы СПРН намечены на 2009 год"

Bombers Without Bombs?

Pavel Podvig at the Russian Strategic Rocket Forces Blog makes the interesting assertion that the resumed bomber flights are flying without bombs. ITAR-TASS makes the same claim:

"MOSCOW, August 21 (Itar-Tass) - Planes of the Russian long-range aviation are flying continuous airborne alert missions without having any nuclear weapons on board, Deputy Commander of the Russian Long-Range Aviation Major-General Anatoly Zhikharev told reporters here on Tuesday.

“All such planes are provided with training missiles”, he stated. “Continuous alert missions were resumed on August 17 on decision of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and President of the Russian Federation after an interval, which had lasted from 1992,” the general added. “They are being flown in difficult conditions, including pre-reconnaissance, refuelling in the air, and opposition to fighters of NATO and other countries”.

“We have continued the Soviet times tradition and are flying missions in the north-eastern part of the Atlantic Ocean, over the Norwegian, Northern and Japanese Seas, and also beyond the North Pole and over the Aleutian Islands,” Zhikharev stressed, adding that “Russian pilots are not intruding into foreign airspace”. “There is nothing aggressive in respect to other countries,” he stressed. The general noted that “two crew rotations a week are needed to keep the pilots trained and this is a normal regime for the Air Force”.

I was under the impression that the Aleutians were part of Alaska, perhaps Major-General Zhikharev studied geography at the same place GWB studied the history of the Vietnamese War.

They Can't Find Bin Laden But They Can Find You

Creeping authoritarianism comes at us from all dimensions. The decision to utilize satellite surveillance in the domestic arena is only the most recent disturbing development. It is also the hallmark of government which does not trust its citizens, though the feeling is mutual to a large extent. The following express the concerns of many:

"It potentially marks a transformation of American political culture toward a surveillance state in which the entire public domain is subject to official monitoring," said Steven Aftergood, director of the Project on Government Secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists.

Scientists--another growing group of potential subversives in an already crowded field. BTW here's a good link to them.

Above All Don't Panic Everthing is Fine

November, 1929

“Any lack of confidence in the economic future or the basic strength of business in the United States is foolish.”

—Herbert Hoover

August, 2007

"I remind people the economy's pretty darn strong."

-George Bush

This Bomber Helmet Comes With a Really Cool Mp3 Player

Well the Russians are at it again if you hadn't noticed. Tired of being dissed by the West and the U.S. in particular for the past 17 years , Vladimir Putin announced the resumption of the old "Fail Safe" style nuclear bomber runs earlier this past week.
What could be responsible for such bellicose action you may ask? Could it have been the reneged promises regarding NATO expansion during the Clinton era, the new U.S. bases in Central Asia, the desire for Caspian oil, "Colored Revolutions" engineered by former CIA head Admiral Woolsey and friends at "Freedom House", or most recently the missile defense furor? Pretty hard to say what was the final straw. Interestingly Washington seems to be taking this latest development in stride:

"The White House yesterday downplayed concerns about the Russian move, saying it was a matter for Moscow what it did with its planes. The US has had a consistent policy over the last month or so of conciliatory responses in an attempt to reduce tensions over European missile defence."

Real Western wrath appears to have been reserved for the recent court ruling absolving the owner of allofmp3.com of wrongdoing:

"The record industry today attacked a decision by a Russian court to clear a music website boss of copyright infringement in a test case for the country's fight against piracy.

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) said it was "extremely disappointed" that the court had failed to convict Denis Kvasov, who ran the download site allofmp3.com, claiming that the site was "in clear violation of Russia's law."

Now there's a clear threat to Western civilization.

The Russian "Right"

My friend Mark at Norwegianity quoted this article regarding the latest Russian atrocity.Trying to distinguish skin-head provocations from government sanctioned activities can be difficult. The traditional need for authoritarian government in Russia now resembles to a large degree America's desire for security. A good source for info regarding contemporary extremist Russia can be found here. A revealing article gives what I think is the best analysis of current Russian politics extreme and other:

"MANIFESTATIONS OF RADICAL NATIONALISM

Violence

In the spring of 2007, radical violence continued to grow. Over the three spring months, xenophobic and neo-Nazi attacks affected at least 137 people, killing 18. [1] This 14% growth rate vs. the same period last year (at least 120 attacked, 15 killed in the spring of 2006) is somewhat lower than the average (we usually observe 25-30% higher rates of violence for each subsequent year), but there are no reasons yet to report improvement.

Spring has always been a period of increased skinhead activity, due to a number of dates celebrated by Russian neo-Nazis, particularly (but not only) April 20, Hitler’s birthday. Even though law enforcement agencies traditionally seek to suppress skinhead activity on the eve of Hitler's birthday each year, their efforts are often insufficient and cannot stem the violence. Instead, authorities tend to deny the scope of hate crime. Comparing SOVA’s spring 2006 report[2] and today’s figures, the number of known victims has increased from 87 to 120, i.e. almost a 50% increase! We can hardly expect this year to be any different, especially given the surprising “decrease” of officially reported skinhead attacks in May. Before 5 May, we documented 10 or 11 new victims each week, but we know of only 13 victims attacked between 6 and 31 May. [3] We find this hard to believe, given particularly that May in Moscow was marked by a series of large-scale skinhead actions usually associated with violent incidents (commonly shortly before or after, but not during the rally). In addition, 18 May is the anniversary of the death of Dmitry Borovikov - the former leader of St. Petersburg’s most aggressive skinhead group. Last year in Moscow, at least five racist attacks marked the 40 day anniversary of his death, and we cannot believe that things were any different this spring. In the lead-up to this anniversary, right-wing radical websites themselves reported preparations for attacks.

Apparently, two reasons why we have seen fewer incidents of specifically skinhead attacks in May are either that assaults were combined with robbery[4] or because the reporting of these crimes never found its way into newspapers. [5] The latter scenario is particularly dangerous, because underreporting distorts the already vague knowledge of the scope of racist and neo-Nazi violence in Russia. Moreover, the ultra-right takes advantage of this lack of accurate reporting. Russian public opinion perceives skinheads as dangerous and powerful, [6] so rumors and panic spread fast when there are no accurate reports of such crimes, let alone reports of their prosecution and punishment.

Shortly before 20 April 2007, at least three cities in Russia – Belgorod, Ryazan and Izhevsk - were struck by panic amidst rumors of a forthcoming surge of skinheads coming in from other cities to engage in mass fighting and other offences (the neo-Nazis themselves were behind many such rumors). In fact, similar rumors were reported in previous years, but never before have they produced such mass hysteria. Parents did not allow their children to go to school and teachers endorsed absenteeism, while the police were overwhelmed by the number of anxious calls. As a result, the local media, law enforcement authorities, and the local government were forced to address the situation. [7]

A high-profile crime in the spring of 2007 was the death of 17-year-old skater Stanislav Korepanov, fatally wounded by local skinheads. It was this murder that triggered these rumors of “a skinhead invasion.” For some reason, a local independent newspaper – Dyen - was blamed for spreading all the rumors, even though the paper only provided consistent coverage of the events and insisted all the while that skinheads were behind the killing.

More often than ever before, members of the left-wing and various youth subcultures reported experiencing skinhead violence – almost half of all victims we know about (61 of 136) belonged to this category. However, even though some skinheads indeed target the ‘Antifa’ and “informal” youth in particular, the real reason behind such heightened reporting is that the victims are active, online, and involved in social networks, increasing the probability that such crimes will be covered in the media.

Over the three spring months, we documented at least 20 incidents of vandalism against places of worship, cemeteries and memorials, due to apparently nationalist motives. As in the past, the most common targets were installations which belonged to the Jewish community (7 attacks), Protestant Christians (6 attacks), and “ideological” sites, such as the World War II memorial in Kazan and others (4 attacks).

A high-profile case of religious vandalism was reported in Saratov Oblast on 5 and 6 May. Over the span of 24 hours, vandals attacked a cemetery in the village of Rybushka and an Adventist prayer house in Engels, and made an attempt to blow up a synagogue in Saratov. Another notable case of “ideological” vandalism occurred in Kemerovo, where assailants attacked a local Communist Party office in May, painted swastikas on the walls, destroyed furniture and equipment, and even shot off firearms in the office.

Activities of Organized Right-Wing Groups

The spring of 2007 was also marked by increased public activity by organized right-wing radical groups - which clearly is connected with the forthcoming elections.

Public Events

The Russian ultra-right were able to organize a substantial number of large-scale public events in the spring. Rallies, pickets and marches, while they did not reach a national scale (unlike the 2006 Russian March or the action in support of political prisoners on 28 January 2007) were nevertheless high-profile events.

What strikes observers is not the frequency or attendance of right-wing rallies and marches, but instead the authorities’ exaggerated tolerance of such incidents. The question is not about banning rallies and marches – we have stated on many occasions that a preventive ban would be unlawful. That being said, right-wing radicals have increasingly given the police every reason to intervene lawfully.

On 1 May, an ultra-right coalition headed by the Movement against Illegal Immigration (DPNI) led the ‘1st of May March’ outside VDNKh Metro Station in Moscow - their first officially permitted public event since 4 November 2005. Neither the xenophobic slogans, nor the obscenities which, as many witnesses report, they chanted loudly as they marched, nor even the Nazi salutes attracted police attention. Likewise, police failed to pay attention to the 26 May rally staged by neo-Nazis under the slogan “Liberalism leads to degradation, National-Socialism means a healthy nation" - featuring fairly explicit incitement to violence ("Russia will be Russian or unpopulated... Good hunting, wolves"). Rallies held to mark Hitler’s birthday featured 200 ultra-right activists of the National-Socialist Society (NSO) and similar groups raising their arms in a Nazi salutation outside the Presidential Administration Offices in Staraya Square, while their “competitors” DPNI and Slavic Union (SS) did the same in Pushkin Square.

At the same time, the political opposition had its events banned or suppressed with excessive cruelty – for example, Marches of the Dissenters in Moscow and St. Petersburg. The obvious difference in the treatment of peaceful oppositional marches and provocative neo-Nazi gatherings showed that notwithstanding numerous declarations, Russian authorities are not willing to control unlawful ultra-right manifestations. This inaction helps to confirm a popular perception (however true it may be) that these groups enjoy high-level political support.

The same assumption was confirmed by other incidents, such as the attack against another failed Gay Pride march in Moscow on 27 May. As opposed to last year, preparation for this year’s event was not as provocative, and the venue of the Gay Pride march – or, rather, a picket against homophobia - was known in advance, certainly helpful for protecting the participants (even though the protection was far from sufficient). However, skinhead attackers were certainly aware of the numerous homophobic statements made by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov and State Duma members from across the political spectrum (some not only urged the authorities to ban Gay Pride, but explicitly justified homophobic violence[8]). Attackers interpreted these signals as tacit approval of violence by the police, and they were proved right in the end. According to witnesses, police often allowed violent homophobic individuals to beat victims before arresting the attackers.

Provocation of Mass Public Disturbances

Over the period analyzed in this report, right-wing radicals have skillfully applied their prior experience of provoking mass public disturbances. Once having discovered the following working model, the ultra-right now applies it whenever they can.

First, right-wing activists mobilize after every major conflict which involves serious injuries or death and people of different ethnicities. The conflict is then refigured as an interethnic conflict and evidence of “outrageous behavior by non-Russians who seek to exterminate ethnic Russians." The local community is flooded by right-wing radical activists (particularly DPNI members) from neighboring cities, and even from Moscow. Provocative, discriminatory leaflets (anti-Caucasus, anti-immigrant, etc.) are widely distributed throughout the area. Usually, right-wing activists then convene a "popular gathering” which doesn’t require official permission, as opposed to a meeting or a rally. In case of a death, they time the "popular gathering" to coincide with the funeral ceremony, when propganda can be constructed on the strong emotions of loss and grief. DPNI or other right-wing web forums are used the whole time to coordinate activities. During the “popular gathering,” a pre-written resolution is adopted by the masses, followed by riots and violent clashes with police.

We should note, however, that this action has not been fully implemented since the events in Kondopoga last year, because police and local governments have become aware of its working and been successful in preventing the resultant violence.

For example, such preventive actions occurred in Krasnoarmeysk, Saratov Oblast, when radicals attempted to provoke a riot following a fight between local Azeri and ethnic Russian entrepreneurs - two traditionally antagonistic groups. An ethnic Russian involved in the fighting was killed. The ultra-right immediately thereafter arrived in Krasnoarmeysk and disseminated their “anti-Caucasian” leaflets. However before the day of the funeral, more police forces were called into the city and the most active propagandists were arrested (later to be identified as members of the Popular Unity Party led by Baburin).

At the end of May, a similar scenario began to unfold in Stavropol after a row of mass fighting between Caucasian and ethnic Russian youths. However, we won’t go into too much detail here, because the key events took place in June (outside the scope of this report). We mention it here only to highlight the efficiency of municipal services in preventing a conflict from developing into "another Kondopoga."

Another reason why the incident in Saratov Oblast is remarkable: upon suppressing the riot, local authorities stopped there and did nothing to prevent future incidents. Indeed, the authorities did not even attempt to charge anyone with inciting riots, and the only “punishment” faced by the Popular Union activists was to be expelled from the area. This response – or, rather, lack of response – reaffirms the impunity of right-wing radicals and encourages them to seek even more ingenious ways to get round the tactical barriers created by administrations and law enforcement agencies. Moreover, every time the authorities agree to some of the discriminatory demands put forward by a "popular gathering,” they contribute to instability and legitimize discriminatory practices.

Coalitions and Splits

In our winter-2007 report we noted increased party building efforts in the anticipation of the pivotal 2007/2008 election season. Of course, as elections near, the internal party-building process unravels, amidst splits and scandals surrounding the fight for leadership.

At the end of March, Sergey Baburin’s Narodnaya Volya (Popular Will) Party held its 7th congress, adopting a resolution to rename the party as the Popular Union[9] and to strengthen it by merging with “13 kindred patriotic organizations” (the Union of Orthodox Gonfalon Carriers, L. Simonovich’s Union of Orthodox Fraternities, N. Kuryanovich’s St. Sergius’ Union of Russian People, Igor Artyomov’s Russian All-National Union (RONS), and others). The Popular Union declared its intention to explore and cultivate “the field of Russian nationalism” - allegedly the only space yet unoccupied on the Russian political spectrum (apparently, they mean by formally registered political parties). The new party adopted a slogan – “Long Live Russia!” - and a manifesto, entitled The Unification Act of Russia’s National and Popular Patriotic Forces which mentions the “nation-forming role of the [ethic] Russian people who have built a great power based on Orthodox Christian values.”


On May 6, 2007, the Great Russia Party held its founding congress, electing an official leader – Andrei Savelyev, a State Duma member of Rogozin’s Rodina party known for his ultra-right views. The new party ostensibly copied its founding documents and program from those of the Fair Russia Party, but virtually all of the new party's initiators are open about their party being explicitly ultra-right. At the same time, little is known about its membership. It was reported that the Central Council secretary is Sergei Pykhtin (D. Rogozin’s and A. Savelyev’s associate in the Congress of Russian Communities), and the Secretary of the Central Council Presidium is ex-member of the Moscow City Duma Yuri Popov known for his discriminatory draft laws. However, member of the Organizing Committee D. Rogozin has not joined the new party on the grounds that his formal involvement might be a barrier to its official registration. Similarly, it is unknown whether another OC member, A. Belov, has formally joined the party. [10]

As new coalitions emerge, older nationalist coalitions are being increasingly fragmented by squabbles and quarrels.

In May, the split in the Union of Russian People (SRN) was formalized. The group was originally established in 2005 to bring together a broad spectrum of Orthodox and Monarchist nationalists, some of them more radical than others. As expected, the death of SRN leader Vyacheslav Klykov was immediately followed by internal conflicts. Although the Second Congress in November 2006 avoided undergoing a formal split, very soon after, radicals led by Konstantin Dushenov (St. Petersburg), Mikhail Nazarov (Moscow) and Alexander Turik (Irkutsk) refused to accept the new leader, General Ivashov, dismissing his election as a “provocation staged by security agents” and "a takeover.” A shadow third SRN congress was convened in Irkutsk in May to formalize the split of the radical arm from General Ivashov’s “moderate” SRN.

Similarly, the National Bolshevik Front has split in two. Back in early 2007, activists of the Moscow NBF branch led by Ivan Strukov participated in events held by DPNI and associated groups on behalf of NBF (displaying the party symbols). On May 12, 2007, in Moscow, they held a so-called Second Congress of the National Bolshevik Front[11]. The congress decided to rename the group (into the Russian National Bolshevik Front), elected an Executive Committee (Ivan Strukov, Roman Golovkin, Roman Kisselyov, Yakov Gorbunov), and adopted new program documents emphasizing the group’s ultra-right, racist outlook (not accidentally, Ivan Strukov called the 12 May event “a congress of the National-Socialist Front” in his blog). An announcement came on the next day that the “congress” was illegitimate, and Strukov's associates were separatists ousted from NBF. Interestingly enough, this formal announcement was made by the Eurasian Youth Union (ESM) which is associated with the former members of Limonov’s party, rather than by NBF’s formal leaders (Alexei Golubovich and Maxim Zhurkin).

The "Russian March” Organizing Committee (OC) – which Andrei Savelyev had planned to use as a basis for his Great Russia Party - was also torn apart by quarrels. Three groups left the OC – the Russian Unifying Movement (ROD), the Russian Order, and Revenge. The remaining OC members are DPNI, Pamyat National Patriotic Front, the Slav Union, the Russian All-National Union (RONS), the National Imperial Party of Russia (NDPR), M. Nazarov’s Moscow SRN branch, N. Kuryanovich’s St. Sergius’ SRN, and the mentioned NBF arm led by I. Strukov.

There was also a final split between DPNI and the neo-Nazi NSO (Dmitry Rumyantsev) and Format-18 (Maxim “Tesak” Martsinkevich) groups. Apparently, the split was caused by a struggle for leadership and by suspicions that DPNI leader Belov might be an agent-provocateur (these suspicions were reconfirmed in February 2007 after DPNI announced a rally in Stavropol to protest against the killing of local Cossack leader Andrei Khanin, but never showed up at the rally). The conflict culminated in violence - on 7 March 2007, during a right-wing radical gathering, Rumyantsev and Belov both accused each other of being agent-provocateurs. Film cameras caught Rumyantsev hitting Belov rather violently, all the while being observed by the public (incidentally, physical violence has been reported in regions as well as political rivalries escalate: for example, in early May in Stavropol, RONS activists physically attacked a leader, or “high priest,” of local right-wing Pagans). NSO has been reported partnering up with the Rus' Party established by RNE veterans. The Rus’ Party is not well-known, because they have not organized any real public events, while still filing for official registration. However, in March they were denied this registration and proceeded to organize neo-Nazi rallies on 21 April and 26 May in Moscow.

Nationalism as an Electoral Resource

Right-wing radicals are not the only ones who are looking forward to exploiting nationalist sentiments in the forthcoming elections. Most political parties have displayed this inclination in the spring of 2007 - including some which are not normally considered nationalist.

In particular, addressing the Central Committee plenary session on 24 March, Communist Party leader Gennady Zyuganov declared an intention “to raise the [ethnic] Russian issue in a broad aspect.” He also reminded the audience that the Communist Party “placed [this issue] on the agenda back in 1991” and has consistently returned to it ever since. [12] Zyuganov also said that the Communist Party “must not allow anyone - from United Russia to the most reactionary forces – to freeride on the Russian issue.” The Communist leader urged his party to advocate for the [ethnic] Russian culture, to develop the concept of “[ethnic] Russian socialism” and to take up more challenges in the future, such as “breakthrough to the Baltic Sea, bringing together the Russian lands, and reaching the Black Sea,” etc.

In April, Oleg Paschenko of the Fair Russia Party - known in Krasnodar Krai for getting away with his anti-Semitism remarks - was elected to the local parliament in spite of numerous attempts to sue him for incitement to ethnic hatred. [13] His election endured both a scandal, and the fact that Fair Russia leader Sergey Mironov assured the public that the party would deny support to this candidate. A month before, another “Fair Russian” – Sergey Andreyev of St. Petersburg – attempted to play on anti-Georgian sentiments by accusing his political opponent, figure skater Anton Sikharulidze of United Russia Party, of having falsified the voting results with the help of “young Georgians.”

Likewise, the party in power did not stay away from "the field of Russian nationalism." On May 16, 2007, the Russian Project website was finally launched, announced by the United Russia back in February. If anyone had any doubts as to how explicitly ethno-nationalist the project would be, these should immediately disappear just by looking at the website. Moreover, while some people had expressed concerns that by picking up “the Russian issue,” the United Russia Party could promote ethno-xenophobic sentiments without actively engaging in them, it is now clear that the most odious right-wing radical ideas and resources find themselves legitimized under the UR aegis. In particular, the UR website takes its news feed from the so-called Russian Network (their banners are displayed at the bottom of the home page). The Russian Network includes, alongside mainstream publications such as Moscow News and RBC, Konstantin Dushenov’s Rus Pravoslavnaya (Orthodox Russia), a paper officially positioned as “anti-Semitic, ‘Black Hundred’-inspired newspaper of Russian nationalists (Dushenov currently faces criminal charges under art. 282 of the Criminal Code); right-wing radical paper Russian Spetsnaz; Zolotoi Lev (Golden Lion) magazine whose editorial board is chaired by Andrei Savelyev and Sergey Pykhtin, leaders of the recently established Great Russia Party – the magazine publishes explicitly racist articles; the webpage of the Russian Doctrine containing discriminatory statements with regard to non-Russian ethnicities and non-Orthodox believers and adopted by the Great Russia Party leaders as their program document; websites of the Eurasian Youth Union and Eurasia associated with Alexander Dugin - currently playing the role of a respectable expert, but better known as an ideologist and promoter of proto-fascist, fascist and “new right” ideas in Russia; and other, equally odious resources[14]."

Sounds like American authoritarianism with a Russian accent: hate foreigners, gays, and other religions.

In a somewhat disturbing development, ignored I might add by the MSM, scientists have discovered that ionized dust can organize itself into DNA-like structures capable of reproducing itself and passing on information.
As reported in New Scientist:

"Like DNA, the dust spirals can store information. They do so in the scaffolding of their bodies, as they have two stable states – one with a large diameter and the other with a small one – so a spiral could carry a series of wide and narrow sections.

The specific order of these sections can be copied from one dust spiral to another, like a genetic code. The researchers aren't sure how it happens, but they think each narrow section of spiral creates a permanent vortex of moving dust outside it. So if another spiral drifts alongside it, that vortex pinches the same length into its narrow state."

Clearly it is time to closely inspect under furniture and beds for previously unsuspected lifeforms.

America's Diminishing Security

While American politicians blather on on about their commitment to wars on terror, "Islamofacism", and the ever elusive Bin Laden organization, much more serious threats resulting from American unilateralism coalesce. The irony is that people we could have engaged and worked with see no benefit in having anything to do with a country that thinks it is the boss, owner, and protector of the world and its resources. Unfortunately there is nothing to suggest that the current crop of likely presidential candidates of either party will veer from the hegemonism that currently characterizes this country's approach to the world.
Meanwhile Kommersant reports the following which of course is unreported in any American MSM:
" The Peace Mission 2007 exercises get underway on Thursday to become the organization’s largest military drill. All member countries, Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, are sending its troops for the drills. The previous maneuvers took place in August 2005 in the Shandong Peninsula in China but involved only Russian and Chinese soldiers. Beijing organized the Shangdong exercises clearly with an eye back to the Tulip Revolution in Kyrgyzstan. Russia and China were to fight with imaginary extremists who were attempting to cease power in a neighboring country. The drills took place on the coast and looked like a landing onto a large island such as Taiwan."
" Russia took on almost all expenses on the maneuvers’ organization. The Russian Defense Ministry says they cost it more than 2 billion rubles. The money renovated Chebarkul, creating new and restoring old infrastructure. Chelyabinsk Region Governor Pyotr Sumin earmarked an additional 64 million rubles to these ends. The organizers were evidently anxious to please Chinese soldiers. Beijing’s military were greeted with a traditional bread and salt welcome ceremony and put up in four-bed rooms. All Chinese quarters have TV sets with Chinese channels and DVD players in them. The Russian Defense Minister built the biggest-ever press center in the Russian army to cover the exercises.

The generosity is no surprising. Peace Mission 2007 is essentially part of a plan to turn the SCO into a Central Asian military and political bloc to protect Russia’s interests and counter a growing influence of the United States in the region. The same task is to be voiced at the August 14 summit in Kyrgyzstan’s Bishkek which will bring together all SCO leaders. June meetings of SCO foreign and defense policy chiefs have shown that Moscow would seek support of its allies to counter Washington in issues ranging from the proposed U.S. missile shield in Eastern Europe to expelling the U.S. military base from the Manas airport in Kyrgyzstan. Vladimir Putin and his counterparts are to fly right from Bishkek to Chebarkul for the final stage of Peace Mission 2007 to demonstrate that the SCO has the resources and power to “fight against aggressive plans”.

One can only wonder what our ever over stretched military is prepared or able to do now that American allies are fewer and fewer thanks to the bankrupt policies of the current occupant of the White house.

First Blackwater Now Gazprom...Private Armies March

My theory that America and Russia are now more or less indistinguishable gets another shot in the arm. While it is well known that the U.S. relies on mercenaries in Iraq to an unprecedented level, witness this link to Jeremy Scahill's scathing expose, now we learn that Gazprom, the world's largest oil and natural gas company now has the Russian Duma's permission to have their own private army. God only knows what sort of advice George and Vlad exchange these days.

Bush's War Without End or Why Iraq Will Never End

One can only come to the disappointing conclusion that there will be no "end" of American involvement in Iraq. Ever. The American political process has identified no politician with a hope of assuming power who has any desire to pull the U.S. out while vested interests continue to call the shots in American foreign policy.
Evidence abounds, the mammoth embassy in Baghdad, the enormous military bases, the preoccupation with predatory petroleum legislation. To call for a true withdrawal of American forces would call into question so many basic assumptions about America it would be nothing short of revolutionary. Seemingly unrelated subjects including energy policy, the future of the automobile industry, peak oil, the use of the American military in accomplishing lord knows whose goals, climate change, the "special" relationship with Israel, and more would come into scrutiny--an unlikely scenario.
If anything matters will get worse as American politicians of both parties rush to demonize Iran and sleep walk into another even more disastrous conflict.

Neocon Ship of Fools

Johann Hari has an interesting account of what is an excursion into the netherworlds of American political life, a cruise with 500 National Review subscribers. The scariest aspect is that the views are representative of what passes for the elite in this country.

"The Iraq war has been an amazing success, global warming is just a myth – and as for Guantanamo Bay, it's practically a holiday camp... The annual cruise organised by the 'National Review', mouthpiece of right-wing America, is a parallel universe populated by straight-talking, gun-toting, God-fearing Republicans."

Read and be afraid.

Accidents will happen........

New Scientist relates where the next bio-terror episode may come from, your friendly neighborhood biodefence-lab. They cite a litany of accidents from labs from across the country that would put your average would- be terrorist to shame if they ever hit the general population.

"• At the University of New Mexico, one worker was jabbed with an anthrax-laden needle, and another with a syringe containing an undisclosed, genetically engineered microbe.

• At the Medical University of Ohio, workers were exposed to and infected with Valley Fever.

• At the University of Chicago, there was another puncture with an undisclosed agent normally requiring heavy containment, probably anthrax or plague.

• At the University of California at Berkeley, workers handled deadly Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which spreads in the air, without containment when it was mislabelled as harmless.

• At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, TB escaped containment after equipment failed.

As yet, none of the accidents have been serious in outcome. But, Hammond fears, more such accidents may go unreported. "Instead of a 'culture of responsibility', the federal government has instilled a culture of denial" he says. "Labs hide problems, and think that accident reporting is for masochists."

Tanks, Missiles, and Mullets

Russia has announced it's intention to pullout of the Conventional Armed Forces In Europe Treaty. It appears that Segways and lobsters with George Bush weren't sufficient inducements for Vladimir Putin to moderate his policies. The actual military implications are not likely to be substantial but the symbolism of how bad Russian-Western relations have become will be clear.

In the meantime The Exile reports that symbol of hipness gone awry, the mullet, is sweeping Russia. Pictured above is a pioneer of the Russian mullet, the late Victor Tsoi of the 80s-90s band Kino. The foreign policy implications of this are currently unknown.

Lastly the latest installment of Get Your Putin On via the Exile.

Fighting for Oil More than a Slogan

The Air Force reports their cost of fuel is beginning to impact their costs and presumably America's ongoing military budgetary calamity.