Jun 25 2009

Russians accusing the USA of collectivism… surreal

Category: economy,Obama,Russia,socialism — harmonicminer @ 9:08 am

America walks the road of collectivism

Dear reader, let us first and foremost establish a known fact as our guiding principle: the Principle of American Extremes.

Simply put, in the American culture and government, any law passed and program enacted will be taken to the absolute extreme. Note, I do not say logical extremes but absolute extreme, beyond any measure of logic or hint of common sense or wisdom.

So begins an article in Pravda observing the collectivist tendencies of the American Left, and actually instructing the USA on the dangers of collectivism.

What’s next? A USA newspaper running an editorial accusing the Chinese of “wild west capitalism” a la 19th-century America?  Maybe warning the Chinese about “robber barons” (who pretty much never existed as commonly described)?

The world has become very strange.

The Democrats want to take over US healthcare, and intend to nationalize essentially all of it, all the while protesting they don’t plan to do that, even though that is the logical result of the policies they now pursue.  They want to institute a huge carbon tax (again claiming it will only affect “polluters”) which will affect the prices paid by everyone for everything, and cost the poor the most, because they live on smaller margins.  (The Left is for the “little guy” alright.  That’s why they want him to STAY little.)  The Democrats want union organizers to be able to pressure individuals to sign up for the union (card check legislation pending), and want to put an end to the secret ballot formerly required for unionization.  Would you turn down two huge guys name Guido and Alfonzo standing at your front door, with a few of their friends in the pickup truck on the curb, “just asking for your signature”?  Just about every new policy contemplated by Obama and Democrats is one of decreasing freedom for Americans, and more power for the government.

It is not a given that the USA will be the focal point of freedom in the world forever.  If we continue to abdicate that role by inches, and then by feet, that honor may fall to liberalizing societies to which we now feel superior, but which may be instructing our descendants on the finer points of freedom….  or even the major ones.

Mar 21 2009

Russian missiles in Iran

Category: Iran,Israel,national security,Obama,Russia — harmonicminer @ 9:05 am

While Russia complains that the USA is being provocative in moving to install anti-missile defenses in Europe, defenses designed to intercept Iranian nuclear-tipped missiles, but certainly unable to counter a full-scale Russian attack, Russia is selling missiles to iran, supposedly for “air-defense.”

Russia confirms Iran missile contract

Russian news agencies cited a top defense official Wednesday as confirming that a contract to sell powerful air-defense missiles to Iran was signed two years ago, but saying no such weapons have yet been delivered.

We’re certainly happy to hear that.

Russian officials have consistently denied claims the country already has provided some of the S-300 missiles to Iran. They have not said whether a contract existed.

Except now they have apparently confirmed that it does.

The state-run ITAR-Tass and RIA-Novosti news agencies and the independent Interfax quoted an unnamed top official in the Federal Military-Technical Cooperation Service as saying the contract was signed two years ago. Service spokesman Andrei Tarabrin told The Associated Press he could not immediately comment.

What would he say?  Nyah Nyah Nyah?

Supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East and the issue has been the subject of intense speculation and diplomatic wrangling for months.

That’s an understatement.  If Iran is able to easily defend itself from any Israeli attack to defang its nuclear weapons production program, there will be no remaining barrier to full development and deployment of nuclear weapons.  No one wants this in the Middle East, except Iran and Russia, apparently.

Israel and the United States fear that, were Iran to possess S-300 missiles, it would use them to protect its nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment plant at Natanz or the country’s first atomic power plant, which is now being built by Russian contractors at Bushehr.

Of course, Obama can just talk to the Russians and make them see reason.  They’re really all just good, internationally spirited statesmen who want world peace.  And Iran is just misunderstood and aggrieved over the vicious US incursions in the Middle East, and just needs to feel safe from the Great Satan.

And Joe Biden is the tooth fairy.

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Feb 03 2009

Spielberg, where are you?

Category: religion,Russia,society — harmonicminer @ 10:06 am

In American film, religious figures are mocked, accused of every conceivable crime and misdeed, and generally presented as being just below used car salesmen in moral character.  (Pretty much the only celluloid life-form lower than a priest or minister is a Pentagon General.)   But a Russian film producer apparently disagrees.

A Russian TV producer said on Thursday he was launching a “There is God” advertising campaign in London to counter atheist posters that were displayed on buses in January.

The British Humanist Association (BHA) raised 140,000 pounds ($200,000) to place slogans reading “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” on 800 buses. Religious organizations and believers organized protests, but advertising regulators said it was not in conflict with any laws.

….Russian TV producer, Alexander Korobko, …signed a contract with CBS Outdoor to put “There is God” posters on 25 London double-deckers from March 9. The posters will have photographs of a Russian monastery on them.

So, the question:  can anyone name a Hollywood producer who is actually funding public service messages in favor of belief in God?

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Jan 04 2009

Lionizing the rodent

Category: Cuba,Russia — harmonicminer @ 2:01 am

The president of Russia congratulates Communist Cuba on it’s huge success on the 50th Anniversary of the revolution.

Dmitry Medvedev, President of the Russian Federation, congratulated the President of the State Council and the Council of Ministers of Cuba, Raul Castro, and the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba, Fidel Castro, on the occasion of the national holiday marking the fiftieth anniversary of the liberation of Cuba.

The Russian head of state said, among other things: “Today the tried and tested relationship of mutual understanding and cooperation between Russia and Cuba is newly reinvigorated. The deep tradition of friendship between our two peoples is one of the fundamental bases for the broadening of bilateral action and the co-ordination of our efforts on the international stage.”

In his message to Fidel Castro, Dmitry Medvedev said, “The Cuban revolution, your life’s work, opened a new path to freedom for the Cuban people. It entered the history books as a legendary example of the struggle for the high ideals of social justice. I am convinced that the new momentum in Russian-Cuban cooperation will henceforth work both to benefit the populations of Russia and Cuba, and also in the interests of ensuring a stable and multilateral world order.”

One can only wonder:

How many Cubans feel “liberated”?  Is that why so many of them have tried to get to the USA?

Why is Cuba still Communist, but Russia isn’t?  How is it that Russia congratulates Cuba for being something it no longer is, at least theoretically?

Is Russia planning to install more missiles in Cuba?  Venezuela?

If Cuba was on a “path to freedom”, why were there tens of thousands of political prisoners, most of whom died in prison?

Do Leftist Americans really think that the “high ideals of social justice”, as exemplified by Cuba, are all that admirable?  Are they all brainwashed by Michael Moore?  Does it make them nervous to use the same terminology for supposedly good goals as totalitarian dictatorships?

My favorite line here:  “a stable and multilateral world order.”   That’s code for “we plan to keep our power over our populations” and “we plan to take America down as many notches as possible.”

Smile, soon-to-be President Obama:  these guys are even slicker with language than you are, and can put more hidden meanings in a sentence than all your speechwriters combined.  You’re just purely going to love sitting across the table from them.

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Nov 24 2008

We send milk; Russia sends guns

Category: energy,national security,Russia,venezuela — harmonicminer @ 8:56 pm

Russian Navy Increases Activity in Foreign Waters

Russian Navy spokesman Dygalo also issued a statement saying ships from the Northern fleet will arrive Tuesday in Venezuela and will conduct joint maneuvers with that country on December 1. The statement says the exercise would involve operational planning, helping distressed vessels, and supplying ships underway.

In Moscow, independent Russian military analyst Alexander Konovalov told VOA that Russia’s increased naval presence in the Gulf of Aden is a practical response to intolerable piracy. But he characterized the naval maneuvers with Venezuela as an empty political gesture aimed at the United States in response to NATO ships that delivered humanitarian supplies to Georgia during that country’s conflict with Russia in August.

Konovalov says, “you Americans send a ship to the Georgian port of Batumi with powdered milk and hygiene supplies, we send you the Peter the Great, a heavy nuclear-powered cruiser, to the Caribbean Sea.”

It’s OK Congressman Frank, we really don’t have to worry about those nice Russians and Venezuelan President Chavez. They just want to be friends. With each other, that is.  Not us.

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Nov 22 2008

Note to Barney Frank: Russia is not cutting its military by 25%

Category: military,Russia — harmonicminer @ 3:59 pm

Russia’s new strategic submarine to start sea trials by yearend

Russia’s first Borey class strategic nuclear submarine will start sea trials by the end of 2008, the Sevmash shipyard said on Thursday.

The fourth-generation Yury Dolgoruky was built at the Sevmash plant in northern Russia and was taken out of dry dock in April 2007. It will be equipped with Bulava ballistic missiles upgraded from Topol-M (SS-27) missiles.

Continue reading “Note to Barney Frank: Russia is not cutting its military by 25%”

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Nov 21 2008

I guess they closed their own borders and starved themselves

Category: Russia — harmonicminer @ 9:54 am

Pravda is now claiming that the Ukrainians are distorting history regarding Stalin’s policy of starving the Ukraine in the 1930s.

Dmitry Medvedev sent a message to his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko in which he harshly criticized his approach to famine in Ukraine in 1932-1933. Medvedev also refused to participate in the commemoration of the 75th anniversary of Holodomor. The Ukrainian administration believes that the Soviet Union deliberately provoked famine in the country to exterminate the Ukrainian nation.

This is maybe about 1/2 notch higher on the morality scale than denying the Holocaust.  I’m sure Russia is going to be really helpful in assisting President-elect Obama to achieve the transformation of US foreign policy.

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Oct 14 2008

Russian 19yr old hockey player “inexplicably” dies of heart attack

Category: Russia — harmonicminer @ 7:25 am

Rangers prospect dies during game – NHL – Yahoo! Sports

New York Rangers prospect Alexei Cherepanov died during a game in his native Russia on Monday night. He was 19.

Continue reading “Russian 19yr old hockey player “inexplicably” dies of heart attack”

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Oct 02 2008

Space, the USA, the future, the shuttle, and Russia

Category: Congress,Russia,shuttle,space,technology — harmonicminer @ 9:13 am

You may have seen this very interesting article on the future of space exploration featuring an interview with the head of NASA.

However, the NASA head lamented the end of the space shuttle program in 2010, concerned that in the interim period at least the United States will be reliant on other nations to reach the heavens.

“There will be a gap. I don’t like it but there it is. For the US to lose even for a period of time independent access to space, I don’t think it’s a good thing.”

In the time between the shuttle retires and the new generation of US spacecraft — Orion — gets off the ground, US astronauts will have to rely on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to reach the International Space Station.

“I think that is a dangerous position to be in,” said Griffin. “If anything at all in that five-year period goes wrong with the Russian Soyuz … that is a great concern.”

As much as it costs, NASA is a tiny part of the federal annual budget. It is really stupid for us to have worked ourselves into any form of dependence on Russia, given its rising bellicosity, its use of Venezuela as a wedge into the Americas, its rearming, and its obvious bad intentions.   We will have cause to wish that past Congress critters had been a bit wiser, a bit less parsimonious in NASA funding, and a whole lot more far-seeing.

Apollo was canceled because Congress wanted to spend the money on social program, essentially. The Shuttle was a bizarre compromise between the military and NASA. And Congress has continued to starve NASA of funding for research and development of new space transportation systems, while finding money for ever expanding entitlement programs costing HUGELY more.  Just the PORK in every annual budget for the last 30 years would have seen us already on MARS and exploring the asteroids for resources.

The name for spending money on social short-term political benefit, instead of on R&D, is “eating your seed corn”.  You can’t plant it after you eat it.

Maybe that’s part of the reason the price of corn has gone up.

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Sep 30 2008

MESS, the new economic foreign policy

Category: Congress,economy,Russia — harmonicminer @ 2:50 pm

Russia’s economic prospects were looking up when the price of oil was in continuous ascent. But it’s stock exchange has lost enormous amounts in the last year or so. Which suggests a new strategy: instead of MAD (mutually assured destruction), the old Cold War stalemate, we should try MESS (mutual economic strategic starvation). We have more food than they do. Let’s destroy their economy by merely crippling ours. Maybe that’s the reason for the inexplicable congressional inertia for the last few years regarding Fannie and Freddie. It’s all part of the conspiracy to beggar Russia.

Russian stock indexes sank Tuesday despite the federal market regulator ordering a two-hour trading halt in anticipation of massive fallout from the rejection of a bank bailout in the U.S. Congress.

It sort of gives a new meaning to starving your enemy into submission.

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