Archive for the ‘United States’ Category
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 16, 2010 - by Venik
Olympic Bones
As I am sitting here watching the Olympics, I am reminded of a CNN (I think it was CNN) special a few years ago. Some angry-looking activists were discussing the alarming popularity of online videos depicting street fights, schoolyard brawls and such. The gist of the discussion was that most of us share the responsibility [...]
Posted on July 28, 2009 - by Venik
Loose Lips…
Newspapers in America and Russia are busy busting Joe Biden’s chops for taking lead from Sarah Palin and going Maverick on relations with the Kremlin. It is not that Biden said something that the Russians didn’t already know: Russia’s economy and population are both in decline and long-term prospects are not exactly rosy. Depending on [...]
Posted on July 15, 2009 - by Venik
Talking to Taliban
Coalition losses in Afghanistan continue mounting. Most casualties are sustained when troops are at their bases or on routine patrol missions. Recent reports suggest that the coalition is short on operational helicopters. Available fleets of attack helicopters and ground attack planes are stretched thin providing cover to supply convoys and ground patrols. The overall situation [...]
Posted on April 30, 2009 - by Venik
The Road to Afghanistan
The expedient defeat of NATO-sponsored Georgian army last August by the Russians left many hardliners in Washington and Brussels itching to respond. NATO’s decision to break formal contacts with Russia was a testament to NATO’s own political weakness. To add to the Alliance’s humiliation, the economic crisis forced the West to seek improved relations with [...]
Posted on April 20, 2009 - by Venik
Loudicrous
It seems Lou Dobbs decided to join the choir of starry-eyed optimists who believe that the recession is over that the American economy will begin to recover any month now. Lou, what is the point of parading Nobel Prize-winning economists on your show if all you do is interrupt them with your idiotic ideas? I [...]
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 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 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 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.
At [...]
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 satellites, [...]
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
Politics of Fear?
Lou Dobbs – a noted Republican xenophobe and CNN’s resident Mexico-basher – is accusing Obama of engaging in “politics of fear” by trying to push the economic stimulus package through Congress. Lou says that Bush used this sort of scare tactics and now Obama is following suit. Unfurling the 650-page legislation proposal into the camera [...]