Archive for September, 2008
Posted on September 29, 2008 - by Venik
Why Bailout Will Not Work
People who believe that America’s economic problems will be cured by the “cash-for-trash” bailout bill right now stuck in the Congress are in for a huge disappointment. There is little doubt that the size of this bailout will grow well beyond the initial $700 billion and in the end all this money will help very [...]
Posted on September 22, 2008 - by Venik
The Joint Strike Fighter Dilemma
As Australia is considering buying a hundred Lockheed-Martin/Boeing F-35A fighter-bombers for USD 83 million a piece, reports have emerged that the much-advertised stealth aircraft was comprehensively defeated by Sukhoi Su-35 in August 2008 during classified computer-simulated war games in Hawaii conducted by the USAF with participation from other NATO members. While Pentagon and Lockheed-Martin officials [...]
Posted on September 20, 2008 - by Venik
The Day Capitalism Died
On December 26, 1991, the Supreme Soviet – USSR’s highest governmental body – recognized the collapse of the Soviet Union and dissolved itself. Some in the West viewed this day as the official date of their “victory” in the Cold War. By the same token, some Russians view September 18, 2008 as their, if not [...]
Posted on September 18, 2008 - by Venik
Condi Rice is Becoming Isolated, Irrelevant
In her recent highly-publicized (by her aides) speech, Dr. Rice continued developing her thesis of Russia’s supposed political isolation. If one takes seriously Rice’s assertion that “Russia’s invasion of Georgia has achieved – and will achieve – no strategic objective”, a logical question arises: then what is the Department of State getting so worked up [...]
Posted on September 18, 2008 - by Venik
The War in Georgia: Who Said What
The difficulties Russia encounters dealing with Saakashvili’s propaganda machine are caused primarily by the West’s desire to believe the Georgian side of the story. Why does the West want to believe Saakashvili? Probably because the alternative to believing Georgian propaganda is to admit that for the past five years the West has been propping up [...]
Posted on September 17, 2008 - by Venik
The West Distances Itself from Saakashvili
The visit of Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (from here forward known as Hoop for the sake of brevity) and twenty six NATO representatives to Georgia was largely uneventful. As before, NATO gave Saakashvili no plans, schedules, or guarantees. Georgian president’s appeals to accelerate NATO membership program for his country fell largely on deaf ears. However, [...]
Posted on September 16, 2008 - by Venik
Poll: Is Sarah Palin ready to be the President?
In 1982, Palin enrolled at Hawaii Pacific College. After one semester she transfered to North Idaho College in 1983 and then to the University of Idaho the same year. Palin attended Matanuska-Susitna College in Alaska for one term and then returned to the University of Idaho, from where she finally graduated in 1987 with a [...]
Posted on September 15, 2008 - by Venik
Photos: Events in Georgia
Here’s a small collection of photos from a variety of sources detailing the recent events in Georgia. Some interesting photos of the Russian Su-25 damaged by a Georgian man-portable SAM. Also photos of the Russian “Mirage” corvette that sank a Georgian missile boat with one of its P-120 Malakhit anti-ship missile – the first ever [...]
Posted on September 14, 2008 - by Venik
Georgian Opposition on the Rise
During the Valdai Club meeting, Medvedev revealed to the gathered journalists and academics that Saakashvili is a drug addict. This actually makes perfect sense and explains Georgian president’s notorious mood swings, his tie-chewing habits, and his occasional extremely pale, sweaty appearance. I wonder if Saakashvili shared any of the good stuff with Miliband… Following the [...]
Posted on September 14, 2008 - by Venik
Operational Analysis of the War in Georgia
The excellent operational analysis below was originally posted on Militaryphotos.net forum on August 25 by “dux_bellorum” – the forum’s member from Sweden. The analysis was written by an unnamed source from the US. I read this article on the day it was posted and found it very interesting, although I am fairly certain that quite [...]
Posted on September 14, 2008 - by Venik
Aeroflot Boeing 737 crash kills 88
A Boeing 737 airliner – Flight 821 operated by CJSC Aeroflot-Nord, a subsidiary of Russia’s leading airline operator Aeroflot – crashed in bad weather on approach to the airport in Perm, near the Ural mountains. The aircraft was en-route to Perm from Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport. All 82 passengers and 6 crew member aboard were killed [...]
Posted on September 13, 2008 - by Venik
International Monitors in Georgia
According to AP, some Western (American) diplomats are accusing Russia of stalling negotiations over sending international observers to Georgia. “For three weeks now, we have been fighting on how to deploy these extra 80 monitors without delay,” the Western official said. “Everyone but Russia has said they should be able to get into all of [...]
Posted on September 13, 2008 - by Venik
Russian Separatists and Ivan the Terrible
Just ran into a funny article in The New York Times. Obviously, the article’s author did not try at all to be funny, which made it even funnier. In her Russia’s Recognition of Georgian Areas Raises Hopes of Its Own Separatists, Ellen Barry suggests, as you can see from the article’s title, that by recognizing [...]
Posted on September 12, 2008 - by Venik
Good Things about Palin
If back in 2000 you told me that getting Junior into the White House would help Russia’s economic and political recovery, I would have asked you to stop smoking crack. Bush and Cheney were aggressively anti-Russian in their election campaign. They criticized Clinton for being soft on Russia in view of Moscow’s military campaign in [...]
