Monday, February 11, 2013
Mike Nova: The 85-year-old former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger i...
Mike Nova: The 85-year-old former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger i...: Gays Rejoice! Pope Benedict XVI Is Resigning via Queerty by Lester Brathwaite on 2/11/13 I have convoked you to this Consistory,...
Sunday, February 10, 2013
2.10.13 - Mike Nova's starred items
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/9/13
http://east-and-west-org.blogspot.com/2013/02/2913.html
RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД: 2.9.13
east-and-west-org.blogspot.com
RUSSIA and THE WEST - РОССИЯ и ЗАПАД: 2.9.13
east-and-west-org.blogspot.com
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/9/13
Timeline Photos
Is Putin afraid of the Caucasus?
Russian lawmakers have given preliminary approval to a law to allow governors to be appointed in the country’s 83 regions, reversing last year’s move to restore direct elections. As Daniil Kotsyubinsky reports, this issue is unimportant in itself, but it exposes the regime’s soft underbelly, unrest in the Caucasus.
http://opendemocracy.net/od-russia/daniil-kotsyubinsky/is-putin-afraid-of-caucasus
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/9/13
Timeline Photos
Would democratic change in Russia transform its foreign policy?
The incompatibility of an anachronistic and arbitrary regime with the modern world is leading many to consider that democratic change is possible — likely even — in Russia. But those expecting that a new ‘democratic’ government would somehow take a softer line on foreign policy should think again, says Ivan Krastev.
http://opendemocracy.net/od-russia/ivan-krastev/would-democratic-change-in-russia-transform-its-foreign-policy
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/10/13
Gleb Pavlovsky's Photos
Пушкин открыл пальбу, убили..а мы всё отстреливаемся
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/10/13
Алексей Митрошин's Photos
... :-)
via Russia and The West's Facebook Wall by Russia and The West on 2/10/13
Timeline Photos
На прошлой неделе в Москве выпал снег, потом его убрали, а он опять выпал! Потом все растаяло, а вчера ночью все вдруг замерзло и Москва превратилась в огромный каток. В общем, обычная русская зима, непредсказуемая, снежная и очень красивая. Люблю такую погоду. Сегодня прогуляемся по Москве и посмотрим на снег, лед и тех, кто это все убирает - http://zyalt.livejournal.com/719239.html
Saturday, February 9, 2013
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on the nomination of John Brennan to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
Senate Committee Select Intelligence
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on the nomination of John Brennan to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced Deputy National Security Adviser for .. Read More
The Senate Select Committee on Intelligence held a hearing on the nomination of John Brennan to become director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Senator Mark Warner (D-VA) introduced Deputy National Security Adviser for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Brennan, who had served in the CIA for 25 years. Mr. Brennan defended anti-terrorist attacks by unmanned drones and said lethal strikes were only used as a last resort. He also said that he was not certain the use of water-boarding in interrogations had produced valuable information. Other topics addressed included security leaks and counter-terrorism efforts against al-Qaeda
Committee Chair Feinstein stopped the hearing for a few minutes to clear the room after several outbursts from protesters delayed the hearing. Members of the public wishing to return to the hearing had to be screened by Capitol Police.
Committee Chair Feinstein stopped the hearing for a few minutes to clear the room after several outbursts from protesters delayed the hearing. Members of the public wishing to return to the hearing had to be screened by Capitol Police.
Грани.Ру начинают спецпроект "Против гомофобии" | Russia's Crackdown Against 'Homosexual Propaganda': The perception of homosexuality in Russia is that it's both a perversion of nature and a fashion import from the corrupt West
От любви до ненависти Грани.Ру начинают спецпроект "Против гомофобии". Известны...
От любви до ненависти
Грани.Ру начинают спецпроект "Против гомофобии". Известные писатели, музыканты, журналисты говорят о своем отношении к "антигейскому" закону, к вторжению власти в частную жизнь, к очередной атаке мракобесия. Первыми выступают …
От любви до ненависти
Грани.Ру начинают спецпроект "Против гомофобии". Известные писатели, музыканты, журналисты говорят о своем отношении к "антигейскому" закону, к вторжению власти в частную жизнь, к очередной атаке мракобесия. Первыми выступают …
От любви до ненависти
Russia's Crackdown Against 'Homosexual Propaganda' - Daily Beast
via Russia - Google News on 2/8/13
Russia's Crackdown Against 'Homosexual Propaganda'
Daily Beast The perception of homosexuality in Russia is that it's both a perversion of nature and a fashion import from the corrupt West: something into which a man can slip if he's had a bit too much vodka—by all accounts a common occurrence in Russia—and as a ... and more » |
Russia's Crackdown Against 'Homosexual Propaganda'
Go read The New Republic's Julia Ioffe on Russia's baffling new ban on "homosexual propaganda among minors." Money quote:
The perception of homosexuality in Russia is that it's both a perversion of nature and a fashion import from the corrupt West: something into which a man can slip if he's had a bit too much vodka—by all accounts a common occurrence in Russia—and as a posture one adopts to be cool. Thus, the "propaganda" ban. Homosexuality is seen as an aggressive ad campaign that, traditionalists fear, will persuade impressionable young minds that being gay not only isn't abnormal and abhorrent, but stylish and hip. The idea that homosexuality is a natural and innate phenomenon, needless to say, has not gained traction here outside of small circles among the educated. Even there, it's rare.
No 'reset' in sight amid US-Russia chill: "The Kremlin is now turning Russia towards a strategic confrontation with the US," said Lilia Shevtsova... "This isn't a reset but a full-on systems failure," Vlast weekly cited a highly placed official... "The US is very disappointed -- Obama is personally disappointed," Russia in Global Affairs editor Fyodor Lukyanov told AFP... "For Putin now, foreign policy is an instrument for internal politics," Shevtsova told AFP
via Russia - Google News on 2/4/13
 RT |
No 'reset' in sight amid US-Russia chill
GlobalPost There are few hopes in Russia for another "reset" in relations as US President Barack Obama enters his second term, with bilateral disputes growing every month and mutual distrust increasing, analysts say. Russia has welcomed the appointment of old ... WMD may be key to US-Russia 'reset'RT Visits may improve US-Russia relationsChina Daily all 4 news articles » |
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There are few hopes in Russia for another "reset" in relations as US President Barack Obama enters his second term, with bilateral disputes growing every month and mutual distrust increasing, analysts say.
Russia has welcomed the appointment of old hand John Kerry as US secretary of state while Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov held an apparently cordial meeting with Vice President Joe Biden on the sidelines of a security conference at the weekend.
But analysts caution that mistrust runs too deep and disputes are too numerous for Washington and Moscow to make any headway in bringing about the transformation in relations that Obama hoped for when he first came to power in 2009.
"The Kremlin is now turning Russia towards a strategic confrontation with the US," said Lilia Shevtsova, an analyst with the Carnegie Moscow Centre.
In its latest salvo in late January, Russia announced plans for bans on all US meat imports and the termination of a long-standing bilateral drug control agreement.
The US in turn pulled out of a joint working group on civil society. It also said it was "deeply concerned" by Russian draft legislation that would place a national ban on "homosexual propaganda among minors".
The trigger for the standoff was the passing by the United States of a rights bill targeting Russian officials with sanctions over the prison death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky.
Russia responded with a ban on US adoptions, widely regarded as the toughest piece of anti-US legislation during President Vladimir Putin's 13 years in power.
-- 'A full on systems failure' --
The buzz of the "reset" that Obama launched in 2009 with Putin's predecessor, Dmitry Medvedev after nearly a decade of distant ties now seems far off.
"This isn't a reset but a full-on systems failure," Vlast weekly cited a highly placed official in the Russian government as saying.
At the first high-level contact on Saturday between the countries since Obama's second-term inauguration, Biden was conciliatory as he met Lavrov at the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference.
Biden told Lavrov he would like to take the countries' relations "back on track", a source in the Russian delegation told Kommersant business daily.
Alexei Pushkov, international relations committee chief at the parliament's lower house, told Vedomosti business daily that a US representative suggested "Let's separate the topic of developing democracy from the broader agenda."
But Obama's own travel schedule is indicative of the state of Russia-US relations -- he appears to have dropped plans for a bilateral visit and will only come when Russia hosts the G20 summit in September.
"It looks like Obama won't come to Russia until the G20 in September since there are a lot of arguments and no topic for a breakthrough is in sight," Pushkov wrote on Twitter on Friday.
The former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton recently raised hackles in Moscow by accusing Russia of trying to "re-Sovietise" the region, a claim that Putin dismissed as "rubbish".
-- 'Obama is disappointed' --
"The US is very disappointed -- Obama is personally disappointed," Russia in Global Affairs editor Fyodor Lukyanov told AFP.
"Obama won't come to Moscow because a visit has to give a concrete result and there won't be one. Now there is nothing that could justify this visit."
Russian officials have resorted to rousing anti-American rhetoric against anti-Putin protesters allegedly funded by the US Department of State.
It banned USAID from Russia and ordered non-governmental organisations with international funding to call themselves "foreign agents".
"For Putin now, foreign policy is an instrument for internal politics," Shevtsova told AFP.
Yet while playing the anti-American card at home, Russia has in fact cooperated with the US in international crises such as Iran and North Korea.
But the key sticking point in diplomacy is the conflict in Syria, which has turned into another thorn in the side of bilateral ties.
Washington has denounced Russia's opposition to UN Security Council efforts to reach a global consensus on the need for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit.
Russia still holds strong cards in dealing with the United States but on a dwindling number of international issues, experts say.
"Relations are limited to specific diplomatic cases: on Syria, on Afghanistan and Iran. As a whole, the field of relations is narrowing," said Lukyanov.
am/sjw/mfp/pvh
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130205/no-reset-in-sight-amid-us-russia-chill
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