Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category
Posted on July 27, 2010 - by Venik
The Biggest Secret
While the US Army is revving up its investigation of Bradley Manning, those of us with a gift for diagonal reading are sure to be very busy for the next couple of weeks. However, I think it is safe to say that the Afghan war’s two biggest “secrets” have been sufficiently exposed. And they are [...]
Posted on July 20, 2010 - by Venik
The Water Boys
The best way to keep a secret is not to concede its existence. Indeed, it would be difficult for your neighbor to poison your dog, if he doesn’t know you have one. Should, nevertheless, the facts escape, your next best defense is wordiness. You shall contribute to the spectacle at every opportunity in the hope [...]
Posted on May 30, 2010 - by Venik
Deepwater Sombrero
According to the latest news reports every attempt to plug the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico has failed. At some point last week it became obvious that BP has been copying the failed attempts to stop the 1979 Ixtoc spill. It is interesting to note, that the two drilling rigs – the Ixtoc [...]
Posted on April 20, 2010 - by Venik
Why Russia and Poland Will Never be Friends
You probably heard the story by now: a plane full of Polish russophobes flew into a tree in Russia. Too bad Dante is dead: a lot of good material for a Commedia sequel. There is a veritable flurry of news reports and editorials predicting an epic thaw in relations between Russia and Poland. A brief [...]
Posted on February 22, 2010 - by Venik
Timoshenko’s Battleplan
Not a week ago Ukraine’s Prime Minister seemed determined to argue her case in court. She outlined a comprehensive legal strategy that seemed certain to tie down her archnemesis in court for months, bankrupt the government, and push the country closer to anarchy. But yesterday Timoshenko withdrew her complaint from the Supreme Administrative Court and [...]
Posted on February 18, 2010 - by Venik
Mistral for Russia
France’s decision to sell four Mistral-class helicopter carriers to Russia was met with heavy criticism in the US, Georgia and the Baltic States. Interestingly enough, Russia’s decision to buy the four vessels for more than $2 billion was met with a lot of criticism within Russia as well. This is really the first time in [...]
Posted on February 17, 2010 - by Venik
Safety of Luge
The tragic death of Nodar Kumaritashvili on the luge track in Vancouver is the cause of online discussion about safety of this sport. Many criticize track designers and organizers of the Games for the track’s perceived lax safety standards. Others wonder if safety is even possible in a sport where one rides a tiny sled [...]
Posted on February 16, 2010 - by Venik
Ukrainian Elections
“Liberast” is the term coined in Russia in the 1990s that is finding its way into the English language. As you might have already guessed, this term combines the words “liberal” and “pederast”. I don’t think you will have any trouble figuring out the intended meaning of this portmanteau. Western liberasts often use Ukraine as [...]
Posted on February 9, 2010 - by Venik
Sukhoi T-50 Production and Procurement Details
The PAKFA (Russian abbreviation for the Prospective Frontal Aviation Complex) fighter project is currently scheduled to enter production at the end of 2014. The single-seat model is expected to enter service with the Russian AF in 2015. The dual-seat model for the Indian AF is expected to enter service two years after that. The two-seater [...]
Posted on February 6, 2010 - by Venik
Sukhoi Stealth Fighter’s First Flight
As many of you already know, last week the Sukhoi T-50 stealth fighter prototype – Russia’s long-awaited answer to Lockheed-Martin’s F-22 – completed it’s maiden 47-minute flight from the manufacturer’s test airfield in the Russian Far East. The single-seat aircraft features low-observable geometry, two widely-separated engines with 3-D thrust-vectoring nozzles, internal weapons bays, all-movable angled [...]
Posted on January 21, 2010 - by Venik
Oracle vs. MySQL
Sun Microsystems – the creator of Solaris operating system and manufacturer of my favorite computers – is being acquired by Oracle – the maker of the world’s leading commercial database software that works best on Sun servers. This seems like a good deal for both Oracle and Sun. Unfortunately, this merger will be very bad [...]
Posted on October 7, 2009 - by Venik
Your Savings and the Decline of the Dollar
About a year ago I wrote about the plans Russia and other oil-producing nations have for breaking the tie between the price of oil and the value of the dollar. For years Russia and OPEC countries have been tiptoeing around this issue until the recent massive collapse of the US banking industry forced their plans [...]
Posted on October 1, 2009 - by Venik
War in Georgia: Reviewing EU Findings
As some of you may have heard, the international fact-finding mission (IIFFMCG) organized by the EU to investigate the 2008 war between Georgia and Russia has finally released its final report. As was expected, most of the blame for starting the war went to Georgia. Russia’s “fault”, according to the investigators, for the most part [...]
Posted on September 16, 2009 - by Venik
UN Finds Israeli War Crimes
The report by the UN fact finding mission on the Gaza conflict released on September 15 brings to light numerous war crimes committed by Tzahal against Palestinian civilians. A few quotes from the UN report: The mission concluded that actions amounting to war crimes and possibly, in some respects, crimes against humanity, were committed by [...]