Archive for the ‘Politics’ Category
Posted on April 16, 2009 - by Venik
Glimmers of hope
Recently there has a lot of talk of Obama’s “glimmers of hope” in the US economy. This tentative optimism hinges precariously on the small stock market gains in the past few days. Companies across the country are cutting production and inventories and the expectation is that eventually this will spur some consumer demand. This is [...]
Posted on April 11, 2009 - by Venik
Choose Your Justice
The New York Times recently ran a story about Telenor losing a $1.7 billion lawsuit in Russia. To summarize: Telenor – a Norwegian telecom firm – and Alfa Group – one of Russia’s largest private investment banks got into a squabble over VimpelCom (Beeline) – their joint telecom business in Ukraine. Alfa wanted to acquire [...]
Posted on April 4, 2009 - by Venik
Misunderestimated Enemy
Obama’s election campaign put the war in Afghanistan on a pedestal as the single most important national security goal of the post-Bush era. Currently, the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan numbers about 55,000 troops from forty one countries, including about 23,000 American soldiers.The NATO force in Afghanistan has virtually no heavy armor – just a [...]
Posted on April 3, 2009 - by Venik
Georgian Navy auctions sunken ships
Georgian media reports that the country’s Navy auctioned off three of its ships sank by the Russians during the brief war between the two countries in August of last year. The bidding on the lot of three sunken patrol boats still cluttering Poti naval base started at $10. The winner at $61,000 was Gem Aidemir, [...]
Posted on March 26, 2009 - by Venik
Round Two
CNBC’s Jim Cramer believes that the economic recession might have reached the bottom and that we already are beginning to see signs of improvement. Indeed, the slightly-lower-than-expected quarterly decline reported by Best Buy infused financial analysts with much optimism. But even superficial analysis of Best Buy’s performance during the past quarter reveals the true reason [...]
Posted on March 21, 2009 - by Venik
The Jerks
The AIG bonus scandal is gaining momentum. According to the latest information, the total payout was $218 million and not $165 million, as was previously believed. Bonuses of at least $1 million each were paid to some 73 AIG executives, while four of them received bonuses in excess of $4 million. Of course, this is [...]
Posted on March 15, 2009 - by Venik
Russian Military Reform
Putin and his cabinet have embarked on the most dangerous journey of their political careers: the 2009-2012 military reform. And by “dangerous” I don’t mean just unpopular but life-threatening. The decision to cut nearly 200,000 senior officers, special forces, and intelligence operatives will have serious consequences for Russia’s internal stability. Essentially, over a relatively short [...]
Posted on February 20, 2009 - by Venik
Obama’s Idol
When in the course of human events, a legend becomes greater than the man, prick of the hollow needle of history helps let out stale air of misconceptions. The Great Emancipator might not have thought Negroes were actual men, but Honest Abe indeed was honest and consistent in his believes and statements to that end. [...]
Posted on February 18, 2009 - by Venik
Space lawyers
The recent collision between an in-service US-made Iridium 33 communications satellite launched by Russia in 1997 and a defunct Russian Strela-2M-class Kosmos-2251 communications satellite launched in 1993 created a stir among the small but hungry community of space lawyers in the US. There are about 8,000 man-made objects orbiting Earth. These include about 560 operational [...]
Posted on February 17, 2009 - by Venik
When subs collide
As we now know, a British and a French nuclear-powered, nuclear-armed submarines collided in the Atlantic earlier this month. Amazingly, the first newspaper to report the incident and to prompt the official admission of the accident was The Sun tabloid. The Royal Navy said that the subs “came into contact at very low speeds”, calling [...]
Posted on February 16, 2009 - by Venik
Tornado in Georgia
For the first time in recorded history a tornado touched down in Georgia’s western coastal region of Megrelia. There were no casualties, but some 120 homes and electric power lines were heavily damaged. Due to its proximity to the Black Sea, Megrelia is known for occasional heavy winds in the winter months. However, this was [...]
Posted on February 9, 2009 - by Venik
Russia Stepping on Obama’s Afghan Plans
For nearly eight years Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan has been a key element in the US tactics and strategy in Afghanistan. The airport supported a high volume of flights by USAF aircraft, primarily by heavy-lift transports and aerial tankers but also by F/A-18, F-15E, and A-10 ground attack aircraft, as well as by other [...]
Posted on January 31, 2009 - by Venik
Blago’s Predicament
Just finished watching Larry’s interview with Blagoyevich. What can I say… Before his arrest in early December I never heard of Blago. Well, maybe I did come across his name a few times while reading the news, but the name just didn’t stick. I had no idea who the governor of Illinois is, or if [...]
Posted on January 29, 2009 - by Venik
Russia to reopen airbase in Abkhazia
According to reports in the Russian media, the Bomborski airbase in Abkhazia is soon to be reopened for use by the Russian Air Force. The plan calls for two squadrons of Su-27 fighter-bombers and Su-25 ground attack aircraft, plus some additional An-26 or An-72 transports to be permanently based in Abkhazia. The Bomborski airbase is [...]
