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7.4 Magnitude Aftershock in Japan, Tsunami Warning Issued [10:42 a.m. ET]

7.4 Magnitude Aftershock in Japan, Tsunami Warning Issued for Japan but not US West coast [10:42 a.m. ET]

 http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=6046305

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Maps/10/140_40.php

When will the Recession End ? part 175 State of Virginia explores adoption of state currency in event of Federal Reserve collapse and Depression

Early warning signal?-What you don't read in the main stream press--What do US politicians know that we don't ?--Walter Derzko

2011 SESSION

Source: http://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?111+ful+HJ557

11102035D
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 557 Offered January 12, 2011 Prefiled January 5, 2011

Establishing a joint subcommittee to study whether the Commonwealth should adopt a currency to serve as an alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System.

 

Report. ----------Patron-- Marshall, R.G. ----------Referred to Committee on Rules ----------

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in In re Rahrer, 140 U.S. 545, 554 (1891), that “the police power” of a State “is a power originally and always belonging to the States, not surrendered by them to the general government, nor directly restrained by the Constitution of the United States, and essentially exclusive”; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States has ruled in Beer Company v. Massachusetts, 97 U.S. 25, 33 (1877), that the police power of the States “extend[s] to the protection of the lives, health, and property of the[ir] citizens, and to the preservation of good order”; and

WHEREAS, the protection of the lives, health, and property of Virginia’s citizens, and the preservation of good order in the Commonwealth, depend upon the maintenance of both an adequate system of governmental finance and a sound and robust private economy; and

WHEREAS, an adequate system of governmental finance and a sound and robust private economy cannot be maintained in the absence of a sound currency; and

WHEREAS, the present monetary and banking systems of the United States, centered around the Federal Reserve System, have come under ever-increasing strain during the last several years, and will be exposed to ever-increasing and predictably debilitating strain in the years to come; and

WHEREAS, many widely recognized experts predict the inevitable destruction of the Federal Reserve System’s currency through hyperinflation in the foreseeable future; and

WHEREAS, in the event of hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System, for which the Commonwealth is not prepared, the Commonwealth’s governmental finances and Virginia’s private economy will be thrown into chaos, with gravely detrimental effects upon the lives, health, and property of Virginia’s citizens, and with consequences fatal to the preservation of good order throughout the Commonwealth; and

WHEREAS, Virginia can avoid or at least mitigate many of the economic, social, and political shocks to be expected to arise from hyperinflation, depression, or other economic calamity related to the breakdown of the Federal Reserve System only through the timely adoption of an alternative sound currency that the Commonwealth’s government and citizens may employ without delay in the event of the destruction of the Federal Reserve System’s currency; and

WHEREAS, “legal tender” denotes a currency that must be accepted in payment of a debt denominated in United States “dollars” if the parties have not stipulated that some alternative currency is to be used as their medium of payment or are not otherwise required to use such alternative currency; and

WHEREAS, the Federal Reserve System’s currency has been designated “legal tender” under color of Title 31, United States Code, Section 5103; and

WHEREAS, under Title 12, United States Code, § 411 and Title 31, United States Code, § 5118(b) and (c), the Federal Reserve System’s currency is not redeemable in gold or silver coin or the equivalent in bullion; and

WHEREAS, that the Federal Reserve System’s currency is not redeemable in gold or silver coin or the equivalent in bullion is being identified by more and more experts as a, if not the, major reason for the ever-increasing instability of the Federal Reserve System; and

WHEREAS, all gold and silver coins of the United States are designated “legal tender” under the aegis of Title 31, United States Code, §§ 5103 and 5112(h), and must be so designated perforce of Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 and Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, pursuant to Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, each State must make gold and silver coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; and

WHEREAS, the Supreme Court of the United States in Lane County v. Oregon, 74 U.S. (7 Wallace) 71, 76-78 (1869), and Hagar v. Reclamation District No. 108, 111 U.S. 701, 706 (1884), has ruled that the States may adopt whatever currency they desire for the purposes of performing their sovereign governmental functions, even to the extent of adopting gold and silver coin for those purposes while refusing to employ a currency not redeemable in gold or silver coin that Congress has designated “legal tender”; and

WHEREAS, “the police power” being the primary sovereign governmental function of every State, under Lane County and Hagar every State may adopt its own currency, consisting of gold or silver, or both, whenever necessary and proper to facilitate exercises of that power in aid of the general welfare of the State and its citizens; and

WHEREAS, under the aegis of Title 31, United States Code, § 5118(d)(2), and perforce of Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 and Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of, and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to, the Constitution of the United States, Americans may employ whatever currency they choose to stipulate as the medium for payment of their private debts, including gold or silver, or both, to the exclusion of a currency not redeemable in gold or silver that Congress may have designated “legal tender”; and

WHEREAS, under the aegis of Title 31, United States Code, § 5118(d)(2), and perforce of Article I, Section 8, Clause 5 and Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of, and the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to, the Constitution of the United States, the citizens of Virginia may choose to employ as the medium for payment of their private debts whatever alternative currency, consisting of gold or silver, or both, that the Commonwealth may adopt in the exercise of “the police power”; and

WHEREAS, in light of the possible instability of the Federal Reserve System, proposals for states and their citizens to adopt an alternative currency consisting of gold or silver, or both, are receiving increasing attention throughout the United States, as evidenced by bills that have been or are being introduced in the legislatures of the States of Georgia, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, and South Carolina; and

WHEREAS, various systems of alternative currency employing gold or silver, or both, in the form of coin or its equivalent in bullion have already proved themselves in the free market, and could either be employed by the Commonwealth directly or be used as models for a new system created by the Commonwealth to meet Virginia’s unique needs; and

WHEREAS, the adoption of an alternative currency consisting of gold or silver, or both, would not destabilize the present monetary and banking systems, the Commonwealth’s governmental finances, or Virginia’s private economy, because it would not compel or commit the Commonwealth or her citizens to employ such alternative currency to the exclusion of the Federal Reserve System’s currency immediately, but would merely make the alternative currency available, and enable it to be used in competition with and preference to the Federal Reserve System’s currency, to the degree that the need for such use became apparent; and

WHEREAS, the United States Congress, the U.S. Department of the Treasury, and the Federal Reserve System have taken and are preparing to take no action to provide the United States with an alternative to the Federal Reserve System’s currency, in the likely event that the latter would be destroyed through hyperinflation; and

WHEREAS, because legislators in Virginia know or should know all of these facts; and because the General Assembly has the authority, the ability, and the duty to take timely action to deal with this situation without first seeking the approval of or assistance from Congress or any other state; and because the Constitution of Virginia provides, “That all power is vested in, and consequently derived from, the people, that magistrates are their trustees and servants, and at all times amenable to them”—for these reasons, the citizens of the Commonwealth will properly conclude that the members of the General Assembly will be primarily responsible if the Commonwealth is found to be without an alternative currency when the Federal Reserve System’s currency collapses in hyperinflation, or some other related economic calamity supervenes; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That a joint subcommittee be appointed to study whether the Commonwealth should adopt a currency to serve as an alternative to the currency distributed by the Federal Reserve System in the event of a major breakdown of the Federal Reserve System.

The joint subcommittee shall consist of eight legislative members who shall be appointed as follows: five members of the House of Delegates to be appointed by the Speaker of the House of Delegates in accordance with the principles of proportional representation contained in the Rules of the House of Delegates and three members of the Senate to be appointed by the Senate Committee on Rules. The joint subcommittee shall elect a chairman and vice-chairman from among its membership.

In conducting its study, the joint subcommittee shall call or hear from such witnesses and take such other evidence as it deems appropriate and shall consider recommendations for legislation, with respect to the need, means, and schedule for establishing such an alternative currency.

Administrative staff support shall be provided by the Office of the Clerk of the House of Delegates. Legal, research, policy analysis, and other services as requested by the joint subcommittee shall be provided by the Division of Legislative Services. Technical assistance shall be provided by the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Virginia and the Bureau of Financial Institutions of the State Corporation Commission. All other agencies of the Commonwealth shall provide assistance to the joint subcommittee for this study, upon request.

The joint subcommittee shall be limited to six meetings for the 2011 interim, and the direct costs of this study shall not exceed $12,000 without approval as set out in this resolution. Approval for unbudgeted nonmember-related expenses shall require the written authorization of the chairman of the joint subcommittee and the respective Clerk. If a companion joint resolution of the other chamber is agreed to, written authorization of both Clerks shall be required.

No recommendation of the joint subcommittee shall be adopted if a majority of the House members or a majority of the Senate members appointed to the joint subcommittee (i) vote against the recommendation and (ii) vote for the recommendation to fail notwithstanding the majority vote of the joint subcommittee.

The joint subcommittee shall complete its meetings by November 30, 2011, and the chairman shall submit to the Division of Legislative Automated Systems an executive summary of its findings and recommendations no later than the first day of the 2012 Regular Session of the General Assembly. The executive summary shall state that the joint subcommittee intends to submit to the General Assembly and the Governor a report of its findings and recommendations for publication as a House or Senate document and shall specify the date by which the report shall be submitted. The executive summary and the report shall be submitted as provided in the procedures of the Division of Legislative Automated Systems for the processing of legislative documents and reports, and shall be posted on the General Assembly’s website.

Implementation of this resolution is subject to subsequent approval and certification by the Joint Rules Committee. The Committee may approve or disapprove expenditures for this study, extend or delay the period for the conduct of the study, or authorize additional meetings during the 2011 interim.

U.S. Gov‘t Software Creates ’Fake People’ to Spread Message via Social Networking

The US government is offering private intelligence companies contracts to create software to manage "fake people" on social media sites and create the illusion of consensus on controversial issues.

The contract calls for the development of "Persona Management Software" which would help the user create and manage a variety of distinct fake profiles online. The job listing was discussed in recently leaked emails from the private security firm HBGary after an attack by internet activist last week.

http://www.seankerrigan.com/docs/PersonaManagementSoftware.pdf

Was airport security alerted one week before the Moscow Domodedovo airport bomb blast that killed 35 people? Domodedovo-gate?

Shortly after the tragic bomb that exploded in Moscow's Domodedovo airport that killed at least 35 people and injured over 130 at first count, (see video clip of blast) the Russian and world media started automatically  pointing the finger at a suicide bomber and citing previous terrorist attacks by Chechen rebels in Moscow.

But some people are speculating that the Russian government was in on the plot directly or indirectly...DOMODEDOVO-GATE?

One Russian web site has posted the admission of anonymous airport security personnel at Domodedovo  saying that they were alerted to watch out for "something" one week before the blast went off, even the exact location in the airport were the bomb exploded was provided.

UPDATE: The Telegrpah in the UK also ran a story on this

Although I have no way to confirm this story, it would be easy enough for Russian investigative reporters to go over the list of casualties to see how many airport staff were on the list of dead or injured or weather any preventive actions was taken by security personnel as the Russian quote below from the web site suggests.

 

- Ориентировка о том, что у нас кто-то что-то готовит появилась где-то за неделю до взрыва, – рассказал источник в службе безопасности аэропорта. Причем называлось даже место – то самое, рядом с таможенным контролем.

Охранники воздушной гавани рассказывают, что в последнее время никакой работы непосредственно над обеспечением безопасности не было.

- За последние месяцы штат охраны сократили на 50 процентов, – говорит наш собеседник. – Милиция только и делала, что обирала прилетающих из Средней Азии.

Как сообщают СМИ, президент России Медведев только из твиттера узнал, что творится в Домодедово и собрал экстренное совещание. (Без комментариев).

The understanding here is that someone above either had received an intelligence tip-off, or (alternatively) knew that the FSB (GRU, SVR, you name it...) were planning a provocation red flag operation that would provide an excuse for further crackdowns or marshal law.

Some people are starting to speculate that this bombing was a  copycat of the 1999 Moscow blasts, that brought Putin to power. The blame will be focused on the North Caucasus resistance, but there are signs  as we saw above that it may also have been arranged by the authorities.

I'm just wondering what new security and liberty restrictions will be introduced by the Kremlin because of this bombing episode? After all-most security experts agree that you can't protect everyone in an open space like a waiting area in a public space.

 
Is this a pretext for chipped ID cards in Russia? I did a little digging and guess what?

UPDATE:

For all those conspiracy theorists out there, 2012 just got a little more ominous. As required by legislation passed this last summer, Russia will adopt a universal ID card starting next year. The Universal Electronic Card (UEC) is intended to eventually replace all local, regional, and national forms of ID, providing a central database through which Russians can access everything from medical insurance to ATMs...and government will be able to track your every move..The Kremlin Big Brother.

I envision a new industry in Russia popping up soon --the false ID card business that provides anomymity of travel....run by the mafia and as a backroom government opperation.

UPDATE:

The Jamestown Foundation (Eurasia Daily Monitor -- Volume 8, Issue 17, Jan 25, 2011) supports my version of the "leak and tip off" story today with the following:

Terrorism Cycle Repeats Itself With Another Moscow Bombing

The well-known Russian blogger and Internet activist, Anton Nosik, suggested that the explosive material used in the attack may have been smuggled into the airport through the side entrance from a parking lot, which is habitually not guarded during the cold time of the year (http://dolboeb.livejournal.com/1970564.html). Distrust of official information in Russia is so great that it almost becomes a routine to challenge the official death toll following a massive loss of lives. Unofficially, some sources estimate that the number of people killed in the Domodedovo bombing is around 70 people (www.echo.msk.ru, January 24).

In the aftermath of the airport bombing, information was leaked to Russian news agencies about the Russian security services having had prior knowledge of a possible attack. Yet, an airport security source alleged that the number of the security servicemen there had been reduced by 50 percent while “the police just went about to extract bribes from those arriving from Central Asia” (www.lifenews.ru, January 24). However, Moscow police spokesman Yevgeny Biryukov denied that there was prior information about an attack threat (Interfax, January 24). This contradictory information appears to reflect conflicting agendas and a power struggle between the Russian security services, primarily the FSB and the Interior Ministry (MVD).

Following the March 2010 attack on the Moscow metro, the Russian government announced plans to introduce a terrorism alert system similar to alerts mechanism in some Western countries. However, the system was never implemented, even though discussions about the feasibility of such a system have restarted (www.gazeta.ru, January 24). The government may be reluctant to go this way, because an alert system would increase the government’s liability in the event of a successful terrorist attack during an alert.

According to Russian opposition leader, Boris Nemtsov, Vladimir Putin previously used large-scale terrorist attacks to solidify his grip on power in Russia. Putin came to power following the bombing of apartment buildings in Moscow and other Russian cities in 1999 and the ensuing war in Chechnya. The hostage seizure at the Dubrovka Theater in Moscow in 2002 justified censorship of Russian TV, and the terrorist attack on the school in Beslan, North Ossetia in 2004 was used as a pretext for abolishing elections for regional governors (www.gazeta.ru, January 24).

--Valery Dzutse

 

Several possibilities about the bomb purpetrators  exist:   this alleged "Arab-looking man from North Caucasus", who was named as the suicide bomber,

1) could be either acting as a genuine  arm of Chechyn resistance, UPDATE: But 2 days after the attack no one has claimed responsibility-which is unusual or

2)  could be acting on the directions of Umarov , requested by FSB, and kept in the dark,  believing  that he is committing the act for Allah.

3) it also can be someone sent by Kadyrov, who has his set of issues with Kremlin, and who needs to reaffirm his status as the only possible solution to keep Chechnya in check.

4) a forth theory is being floated in the net. Could this be a direct attack on Valery Kogan - Oligarch Boss of Domodedovo Airport and Putin himself, from political rivals?  see Valery Kogan - Oligarch Boss of Domodedovo Airport Born in Ukraine - Haaretz - 25Jan2011  (ties to Putin?)

5)  a fifth theory speculates that this was Israeli retaliation for Russian support of Palestine

Hopefully honest Russians will be investigating this matter and we won't see a typical Soviet style 

UPDATE: "Quite respectable people that call themselves political leaders and some journalists seem to be working to incite ethnic discord in Russia, thus, knowingly or unknowingly, conniving at radical and extremist groups and even terrorists and their plans," Kadyrov said.--Interfax news agency, Moscow, in Russian 19:49 24 Jan 11

UPDATE: From Yahoo News

"Medvedev described security at the airport as being in "a state of anarchy" and said management there must bear key responsibility for security failures that contributed to Monday's blast. He also said government officials would be held accountable for any security lapses.

Airport management objected, saying the inspection of people coming into the international arrivals area, where the bombing took place, is the responsibility of transport police.

The finger-pointing could undermine confidence in Russia's securityahead of Medvedev's high-profile appearance this week trying to attract investors at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. The attack also called into question Russia's ability to safely host major international events like the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and the 2018 World Cup."

 Walter  Derzko

Twitterbot wars?

Alarmist spammer unleashes Twitterbot to stifle climate debate 

An Australian software developer grew tired of debating climate realists on Twitter so he created spambot to wear down his opponents. The bot responds to anyone who expresses skepticism about man-made global warming by posting one of hundreds of canned replies in an attempt to frustrate skeptics.

Nigel Leck, an Australian software developer, grew tired of debating climate realists on Twitter so he created a spambot to "wear down" his opponents. The bot, @AI_AGW, scans Twitter every five minutes looking for key phrases commonly used by those who challenge the global warming orthodoxy.  It then posts one of hundreds of canned responses hoping to frustrate skeptics. CFACT's Twitter account @CFACT (follow us!) often receives many of these unsolicited messages each day. Since the bot became active on May 26, 2010, it has sent out over 40,000 tweets, or an average of more than 240 updates per day!

Technology Review gushed that Leck's bot "answers Twitter users who aren't even aware of their own ignorance."  Leck claims that his little bit of trollware is commonly mistaken as a genuine Twitter user leading the unsuspecting to sometimes debate it for days. Eventually it wears people down.

Leck's bot is an innovative, yet appalling new tactic in the ongoing campaign by global warming proponents to stifle debate and end discussion of climate science and policy. Spamming Twitter users is a tactic that is likely to backfire, as have so many of the ploys alarmists have tried in the past. There is nothing internet users find so annoying as trolls using spam to shut down online discussions. 

Over the last year we have witnessed the large-scale collapse of public trust in global warming science and policy. The warmist's Climategate emails, relentless propagandizing, refusals to debate, carbon profiteering and lecturing by celebrities who lead lavish lifestyles while preaching austerity for the rest of us, have offended people's intelligence and sense of fair play. Using a spambot to harass climate realists will do nothing to ingratiate the warming argument with anyone with an open mind.

Should climate realists put up a bot of their own? Should we let the two bots debate each other and leave it to the machines? CFACT knows better. When you interact with our @CFACT account on Twitter, you are talking with a live human being. Science demands an open, honest give and take. So does public policy making in a free republic. Harassment and spam is not the answer. Mr. Leck, tear down this bot!

http://www.cfact.org/a/1836/Alarmist-spammer-unleashes-Twitterbot-to-stifle

Wild Card? USA endorses Israeli pre-emptive bombing of Iran

"Huffington Post" reports thar US Republicans in the House of Representatives have introduced a measure that would green-light an Israeli bombing campaign against Iran. The resolution, H.Res. 1553 (see full text here), provides explicit support for military strikes against Iran, stating that Congress supports Israel's use of "all means necessary" against Iran "including the use of military force". US military leaders have warned that strikes could be catastrophic to US national security interests and could engulf the
Middle East in a "calamitous" regional war.

Nearly a third of House Republicans have signed onto the resolution, which has been publicly discussed and circulated by its lead sponsor, Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-TX), for months.

The introduction of the measure coincides with a pattern of renewed calls for military strikes that have escalated since President Obama signed "crippling" Congressional Iran sanctions into law.Neoconservatives who were instrumental in orchestrating the Iraq War, such as Bill Kristol, and Reuel Marc Gerecht, have led the stepped up calls for military action. Hawkish former Bush Administration official John Bolton recently laid out the game plan to prod Israel into attacking Iran, arguing that outsiders can "create broad
support" for a strike by framing it as an issue of Israel's right to self defense.  Supporters for military strikes, Bolton says, should "defend the specific tactic of pre-emptive attacks" against Iran. He urges that Congress can "make it clear" that it supports such strikes and that "having visible congressional support in place at the outset will reassure the Israeli government, which is legitimately concerned about Mr.
Obama's likely negative reaction to such an attack."

In spite of enthusiasm from the neocons, top US military leaders have warned of the many dangers of military strikes against Iran.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates has argued, "Another war in the Middle East is the last thing we need. In fact, I believe it would be disastrous on a number of levels."

Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs has expressed his own serious reservations about an attack, stating, "Iran getting a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing. Attacking them would also create the same kind of outcome. In an area that's so unstable right now, we just don't need more of that."

General David Petraeus has warned that a strike on Iran would be utilized by the Iranian government to unite it's otherwise divided populace.

Simulations have been conducted over the past year to assess the outcome of a preemptive military strike against Iran. One such simulation, by the Brookings Institution's Saban Center, found that strikes would draw the US into the conflict that would engulf the region into war, and would enable Iran to use the attacks as an opportunity to unite the Iranian people and dismantle its opposition. The simulation also found that the strikes could not destroy Iran's nuclear program but merely set it back a few years. An Oxford Research Group report released recently reinforced those findings and also warned that an
Israeli attack would be disastrous and would be unlikely to stop Iran's nuclear program. Instead, the report concluded attacks could convince Iran to withdraw from the international Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and to aggressively seek to develop nuclear weapons.

Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs detonated by microwaves

New solution to IEDs: Microwaves that detonate them before the enemy does

Source:  http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/new-solution-ieds-microwaves-detonate-them-enemy-does

Improvised Explosive Devices or IEDs are the main killer of U.S. Canadian and allied troops in Afghanistan, and the U.S. military has been trying many different methods to deal with them -- man-made lightning, bomb-handling robots, radio frequency jammers, and more; now, researchers are working on microwaves that do not just damage the weapon's circuitry, but are powerful enough actually to detonate a bomb before the enemy does

A new way to detonate IEDs before they cause harm, as in this controlled detonation // Source: flickr.com

Improvised explosive devices (IEDs) are the weapon of choice of insurgents, and the U.S. military keeps searching for ways to deal with this weapon: man-made lightning, bomb-handling robots, radio frequency jammers and electronics-frying high electromagnetic pulses.

Now, the U.S. military has gone one step further, developing explosive-killing microwaves that do not just damage the weapon’s circuitry, but are powerful enough actually to detonate a bomb before the enemy does.

Olivia Koski writes that pregnant women are often advised not to stand in front of micorwave ovens, even if the dangers to unborn fetuses are far from proven.  Likewise, there is still a lot of debate in the scientific community about whether the cell phone radiation is harmful or not.  In both cases, the radiation is non-ionizing, which means it does not damage DNA — as harmful UV rays from the sun do.  This is the nature of low energy microwave radiation — for most purposes, it is completely harmless and extremely useful.

But large dose of microwaves can make harmless radiation into a weapon.  Koski notes that at high enough powers, electronics-scrambling microwaves are not just a threat to radio, television, cell phones, GPS, and radar.  Like their high power directed energy cousins, lasers (the first laser was actually a maser), they can destroy anything given enough energy.  The edge they have over bomb-blasting lasers —like Boeing’s Laser Avenger — is that they can penetrate below the surface, where many of the IEDs reside.

There is not much information out there about this new technology, and the researchers working on it are not talking.  “Sorry, but due to the nature of the subject I cannot comment on this at all,” Dr. Michael Geisselmann, with Texas Tech University’s Center for Pulsed Power and Power Electronics, told Koski.

It does not even seem to have a name, or at least not one released to the public.  David Hamlbing reports in Popular Mechanics that the existence of it has been confirmed by the Office of Naval Research.

Http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/news/navy-reveals-secret-device-to-destroy-ieds?click=pp

Such a device would no doubt require a truckload (or two) of its own electronic equipment, considering that the Active Denial System, which is a non-lethal microwave device, needs a heavy vehicle to haul it around.  “But with improvised bombs killing troops and civilians in Afghanistan in record numbers, the need for a bomb-cooker is greater than ever,” Koski writes.

Http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/new-solution-ieds-microwaves-detonate-them-enemy-does

When will the recession end? Recovery start ? Part 94 Is Russia going broke again?

Trend> Sign of Russian Bankruptcy?  Or just plain old Embezzlement? 

Military unit conscripts in Russian region not paid since January & military can't even pay phone bills.

Trends are made up of weak signals and emerging insights.  Connecting these dots, and you may get a major driver or trend.

The military is Russia's key strategic resource, to which they will divert money from other social spheres to keep it running.  This weak signal/insight that they can't afford to pay the phone bills and  troops (both conscripts and officers) is a sign of a growing trend > pending soverign collapse. The last time we saw these similar circumstances was the the late 1980's, before the Russian soverign debt crisis in the old Soviet Union and before its ultimate collapse--Walter Derzko

Military unit conscripts in Russian region not paid since January - paper Anonymous.  BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union.  London: Jul 11, 2010. Novaya Gazeta website, Moscow, in Russian 7 Jul 10/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

Text of report by Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta's website, often critical of the government, on 7 July

[Article by military commentator Vyacheslav Ismailov: "The Army and Poverty"]

For six months the servicemen of our Russian military unit have been living, serving, and working without receiving money

A letter has arrived at Novaya Gazeta addressed to me (the [return] address on the envelope is Vologda Oblast, Babayevskiy Rayon, postal department Zapolye, military unit 87256).  The letter is from a group of army conscripts.

The soldiers complain that at the end of June they are to be discharged from the Army, but they have not received their monetary allowance since January.  Moreover, the letter says: "We appealed to the courts and won our case, but no measures were taken."

The gist of the matter is: For six months the servicemen of our Russian military unit have been living, serving, and working without receiving money

I call the General Staff Organizational and Mobilizational Directorate - it is responsible for army conscription, and is even discussing in the Federal Assembly the question of extending the draft until August and increasing the call-up age to 30 years.  That is to say, the situation with the draft is such that we do not have enough kids aged between 18 and 27, and if guys aged 30 join the Army, that will be just perfect.

[...]

I phone the Defence Ministry press service.  The person on duty invites me to redial to the Main Directorate of Educational Work.  I phone there.  They tell me: "We do not handle this."

[...]

I phone Zapolye postal department, which is in Vologda Oblast's Babayevskiy Rayon.  The local employee keeps no secrets from me: "We do have a military unit no.87256, but you will not be able to phone there, the unit has been completely cut off for nonpayment of telephone services.  And the soldiers have indeed not been paid for six months."

The mail worker (the world is not without good people) gives me the mobile telephone number of one of the servicemen.  The latter confirms: Conscripts were indeed discharged at the end of June, without having received a kopeck for the past six months, and officers are receiving only part of their monetary allowance.

All the officers whom I contacted one after the other confirmed: Discharged conscripted servicemen have simply not been paid their monetary allowance, and officers are receiving at best only half their monetary allowance.  They went to court.  They won their case, but nothing has changed.

Officers scraped together from their own empty pockets money for travel and food for the discharged soldiers.

I do not give the names of the officers with whom I spoke so as not to get them into trouble.  As though things were not bad enough already...

Credit: Novaya Gazeta website, Moscow, in Russian 7 Jul 10

When will the recession end? Recovery start ? Part 92 Russia and Moscow goes on full war alert ? WHY?

When the global economy couldn't be pulled out of the Great Depression after a decade of backsliding in the 1930's, the world turned its attention to war and the military industrial economy/ war machine to drive the economy and productivity. Sewing plants were turned into uniform production. Auto plants started to manufacture tanks. 

Is this the start of some new regional conflict or something more sinister and global? Why is Moscow going on full war alert  or as they call it- "permanent-readiness". As a protest and countermove to planned American ABM in Poland or for some other reason?

[N.B. one analyst friend in Europe claims: "They are intended for internal use  within the Russian Federation and its sphere of influence, should the states within the sphere call for help."--Walter Derzko]

Walter Derzko

All Russian air defence regiments are "permanent-readiness" units - says Russian general  Maj-Gen Sergey Popov, head of the Russian Air Forces' Air Defence Troops, has said that all the regiments subordinated to him have been transformed into "permanent-readiness" units.  Popov was speaking on Sergey Buntman's "Military Council" programme on Ekho Moskvy radio on 3 July.

"Absolutely all regiments have been made permanent-readiness category" units, meaning that they are on "alert duty" and can begin "the implementation of a combat task within an hour" of receiving their orders, he said.

Full text from  Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 0810 3 Jul 10/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

Maj-Gen Sergey Popov, head of the Russian Air Forces' Air Defence Troops, has said that all the regiments subordinated to him have been transformed into "permanent-readiness" units.  Popov was speaking on Sergey Buntman's "Military Council" programme on Ekho Moskvy radio on 3 July.

"Absolutely all regiments have been made permanent-readiness category" units, meaning that they are on "alert duty" and can begin "the implementation of a combat task within an hour" of receiving their orders, he said.

Popov also said that all the "first-ring" air defence regiments deployed around Moscow have been put on "alert duty" as part of the transition to new-look armed forces.

He said: "We have thus improved the efficiency from the point of view of [the speed of] reaction to enemy action.  We can shift as quickly as possible to being ready to open fire.  Planned replacement of systems with new ones is under way.  S-400 is being supplied actively.  Another regiment will get hardware in the near future, in a month or two.  This process has become very routine.  We shall be ready to receive hardware and deploy it for duty."

Discussing training he said: "This year, on the orders from the commander-in-chief and the head of the Main Staff of the Air Force, I drew up a directive and we obliged all regiments to fire on at least four targets entering their zone simultaneously, within no more than 60 seconds of each other."

He said that "all the units" did well during the spring training, with an "average efficiency of 82 per cent".  Armavir MVU, Strizh, Kaban and Reys target missiles were used.

In addition, he said that Yaroslavl Air Defence College students shot down four Kaban target missiles in April.

In training, air defence troops simulate attacks similar to the bombings of Yugoslavia and Iraq, he said.

Credit: Ekho Moskvy radio, Moscow, in Russian 0810 3 Jul 10

West should not be fooled by Russia's positve posturing of collaboration; "Leaked" foreign policy document compromises Russian minister

"Leaked" foreign policy document compromises Russian minister - website

 

 

Anonymous.  BBC Monitoring Former Soviet Union.  London: May 21, 2010. Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal website, Moscow, in Russian 20 May 10/BBC Monitoring/(c) BBC

 

Text of report by anti-Kremlin Russian current affairs websiteYezhednevnyy Zhurnal on 20 May

 

 

[Commentary by Aleksandr Golts: "Realism For Official Use"

(Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal Online)]

Realism for official use

Our colleagues from Russkiy Newsweek, who last week published a certain MFA [Ministry of Foreign Affairs] document for official use, which had supposedly been approved by the president back in February, initiated a heated discussion among foreign political commentators.  Some -like the authors of the journal article itself, believe that the text entitled,

"Programme of Effective Application of Foreign Political Factors on a Systematic Basis For Purposes of Long-Term Development of the Russian Federation," testifies to a radical shift in domestic foreign policy. Supposedly, following Medvedev's advice to "stop puffing our cheeks," MFA officials have concentrated on how to help modernization.  It is not enough that they have defined specific economic projects that should be promoted with each of the world countries.  It turns out that they have also come to a conclusion that is entirely revolutionary in terms of its boldness.  You will not believe it, but it turns out that, in the matter of modernization of Russia, we cannot do without the West.  And therefore, we are in for a decisive international warming.

No!  - Dmitriy Sidorov decisively objects to them on the pages of Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal.  The entire document is a clever setup, organized by Sergey Lavrov's competitor -the head of Putin's pocket MFA, Yuriy Ushakov.  All the words about improvement of relations, Sidorov believes, are merely a ploy.  Meanwhile, Sergey Lavrov himself spoke out rather vaguely about the publication: "I have several times noted the aforementioned journal and the aforementioned author as a master of sensations.  If those who make up these sensations carefully read the Russian Federation President's Message to the Federal Assembly, which posed the corresponding tasks of increasing effectiveness of utilizing foreign political factors for solving the problems of the country's development, there would be less sensation.  This is absolutely planned work at the direct instruction of the president."  It would seem that he expressed some reproach, but at the same time did not refute the authenticity.

And so, we have before us a frank document, not intended for publication, about the tasks of our country's foreign policy.  The most amazing thing is that, having familiarized myself with it, I certainly did not find that over which my colleagues are arguing.  And specifically, any hints of the desirability to improve relations withthe West. 

 

Rather, quite the opposite. "The world financial-economic crisis is a reflection of the crisis of the formulated Western-centric system of US-dominated global management, as well as the stage of globalization that corresponds to it," Sergey Lavrov tells the president in the accompanying letter, and not without some degree of gloating.  Just as the United States was our geopolitical rival, so it remains: "The priority direction of US policy is still to neutralize actions undertaken by the energy resource-exporter countries that are not controlled by the West on strengthening their positions and coordinating work on the energy markets."  Although Obama is trying to reject the policy of domination, it is unlikely that he will be successful in this: "The inertia of militarization of foreign policy, like that of the economic and technological development of the country, is too deep in America for the political forces that profess the traditional US foreign policy philosophy and the corporate interests that back them not to try to turn back time."

Our foreign policy strategists are demonstrating no less positiveness and desire for compromises in their approach to specific international problems: "To oppose the broad internationalization of the Arctic problems," "to achieve US rejection of unilateral actions in deployment of elements of global missile defence in Europe," etc., etc.

 

The document's entire positive aspect consists specifically of the conclusion that the world economic crisis, as it turns out, is advantageous to Russia: "Favourable foreign conditions are already being created for solving the problems of modernization and technological breakthrough.  Specifically, the global crisis has to a certain degree leveled the starting positions of states at the stage of post-crisis development, depriving the group of leading developed countries of a significant part of the advantages that they had accumulated."  The matter lies not even in the fact that such a realistic conclusion is being drawn by diplomats of a state whose economic decline was much deeper than in the aforementioned "leading developed countries," and most likely, there is no discussion of any leveling of starting conditions. 

 

And it is not even that the real hopes for foreign investments are directly associated with the West's emergence from crisis, but with the fact that it will be hit by a "second wave."  (recession or depression)-Walter Derzko 

 

 

In essence, we are told in open text: They are in trouble, so let us make use of this.  Such a positive agenda must undoubtedly inspire our partners. 

 

 (see Implications Below-mutually assured global financial collapse?--Walter Derzko

For the sake of fairness, I will note that such realism extends not only to the Western states.  Specifically, the document recommends "devoting particular attention to monitoring the increasing role of China in international affairs, including under the vantage point of consequences of Beijing's activity for our global and regional interests."  At the same time, it becomes clear that Moscow has an excellent instrument of influence on Podnebesnaya ["Celestial Kingdom"]: In the Security Council, "the Chinese often need our support more than we do theirs."  The discussion, as one might guess, is about the fact that the PRC [People's Republic of China] would not like to be alone in exercising the right of veto in voting on the sanctions against Iran.  That is, on the matter that is most important for the US (by participation in which the Americans will judge Moscow's degree of sincerity), Russia will act on the basis of the positions... of China.

When the matter comes to the CIS countries, diplomats do not stand on ceremony at all.  Here is the mutually advantageous project they intend to promote in the fraternal Ukraine, for example: "To support efforts of Russian oil companies, who are striving to use the Odessa-Brody oil pipeline in the reverse direction, which would limit Ukraine's access to Caspian oil."  That is, the main task is to bind our partner hand and foot.  This looks particularly amusing in light of the current endless talk about mutually advantageous cooperation with Kiev.

And the MFA pragmatism reaches its final apogee when the discussion turns to peacekeeping.  The document calls for "strengthening and providing outside multi-component aid to peacekeeping activity under the auspices of the UN, so as to obtain preferences in the future in establishing economic ties with states that have emerged from conflict."  Certain naive people believe that peacekeepers must be principally neutral.  But what kind of neutrality is possible here, if the most important thing for Russia is economic preferences?  If we are guided by such logic, then we should support whatever side promises us the most.

The same is true of countries that are found in international isolation: "To strive for specific economic return, including preferential conditions (most favoured status for goods, investments, preferential transit, etc.) from the Russian Federation's consistent support of a number of countries (specifically, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Iran, Cuba, Syria, Serbia) as they emerge from international isolation."  I will not say why Serbia and Armenia found themselves on the same board as Iran and Cuba on this list, but I know for sure that these are hopes built on sand.  As experience shows, having emerged from isolation, states begin to orient themselves towards those who are advantageous, and not towards those who previously gave them consistent support.

I think that those who organized the leak of this document really seriously compromised Sergey Lavrov.  Because it is rather difficult to engage in foreign policy in the 21st Century guided by the dogma of Realpolitik of the 19th Century.  Leaders of any state will think 10 times before deciding to participate in such important projects for Russia.  Why facilitate the modernization of a country that professes openly imperialistic approaches

Surely, it would be better if our MFA officials puffed their cheeks and expounded on the endless topic of getting up off of our knees.  Then, at least, there would be the illusion that they are consciously fooling around and playing up to the public.  But now, it becomes clear that this realism for official use really is their ideology.

Credit: Yezhednevnyy Zhurnal website, Moscow, in Russian 20 May 10

 

Implications: Mutually assured global financial  collapse ?

 

Senior Reagan Administration offficials have boasted that invetsment banks manipulated trading in oil and gas prices to bankrupt the former Soviet Union, who could not survive financially on lower energy prices. Someone  (China ? Russia? or  even maybe  even the US government) started selling off billions of dollars in treasury bills, that led to the US financial crisis, the $787 Billion in bailouts( for 2010 the US congress has set aside $14Trillion dollars for bailouts)  and the global econmic collapse two years ago  last fall. Russia dumped Fannie May and Freedie Mac stocks to percipitate the collapse. Both Russia and the USA see each other in a weakened position and may instigate an artificial collapse--a doule dip depression and inflict  a final economic death blow--Waltrr  Derzko