Text Message saves lives!

We all know them and hate them. The random text messages sent by your cellular carrier announcing random offers. They tend to come at inopportune times and set off your phone in the middle of the night. But in Russia, one such text message may have saved hundreds of lives. How long until AT&T is advertising them as "anti-terrosist services" and charging a fee for them?

A "Black Widow" suicide bomber planned a terrorist attack in central Moscow on New Year's Eve but was killed when an unexpected text message set off her bomb too early, according to Russian security sources...Security sources believe a message from her mobile phone operator wishing her a happy new year received just hours before the planned attack triggered her suicide belt, killing her at a safe house.

Moscow Mayor - Ban Snow from the City

There is an old story about the Communist Party mayor of Bridgeport, CT, Jasper McLevy. He once famously refused to pay anyone to plow snow off the roads, quipping, "God put it there, God can take it away."

Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov is taking it one step further by proposing using the Russian Air Force to stop any snow from falling onto the capital city. The idea is that the air force can seed clouds outside the city to force snowfall there instead.

“What if we force this snow to fall beyond Moscow? The Moscow region will have more water, bigger harvests, while we will have less snow,” he said at an award ceremony for Moscow’s best-kept yard.

He said that using the Air Force to prevent massive snowfall would be three times cheaper than using the regular system of trucks and snow-melting stations.

The city approved the proposal in record time.

A spokesman at the public utilities department could not explain how a “big and serious snowfall” would be identified or be deemed worthy of deploying the Air Force.

“The mayor has said it will only be a couple of times per winter,” he said, without further explanation. The department declined to provide information on how much the city budget allocates to cleaning and processing snow.

The idea has a certain panache. But one can't help wondering what unintended consequences this may lead to. Specifically, I wonder what the villagers in the suburbs of Moscow thing of being purposely covered by artificial blizzards.

Russia is NOT a pet

From Townhall.com.

Russia vs Ukraine on Gas

Much has been made about how energy markets have distorted world politics. But what happens when energy markets come up against a resurgent Russian Republic eager to return to Empire? We may soon learn as Ukraine and Russia are at loggerheads over gas shipments over a Russian pipeline that passes thru Ukraine to get gas to Europe for sale.

Ukraine -- long at odds with the Kremlin over its ambition to join NATO -- accused Moscow of deliberately cutting flows to Europe and said the bloc needed to send a signal to the Kremlin that it cannot bully its pro-Western neighbors.
"If Europe ... does not help us get out of this situation, then it can expect a more aggressive position from Russia on gas and other issues," Oleksander Shlapak, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide, told Reuters.
Russian gas export monopoly Gazprom blamed Ukraine for siphoning off or blocking deliveries of gas equivalent to one sixth of the total Russian supply to Europe, and said it was increasing exports to make up some of the shortfall.

Russian Stock Market Trading Halted Mid-Day

Russian official stopped trading on the two biggest Russian stock markets mid-day today as they dropped 17% in a massive sell-off. The main cause seems to be the falling price of oil. Russian's oil companies can't increase output so their profit levels are determined by the price of oil.

The other side of the Russian/Georgian conflict

A new commenter here at Mod-Blog challenged us to take a different view of the conflict between Russia and Georgia than was common wisdom, so it seemed worthwhile to post a pro-Russian editorial that lays out their case pretty well.

Last Friday, after the world’s leaders had arrived at the Beijing Olympics, Georgian troops launched an all-out assault on the region of South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto independence for more than 16 years. The majority of the region’s population are Russian citizens. Under the terms of the 1992 agreement to which Georgia is a party, they are afforded protection by a small number of Russian peacekeeping soldiers. The ground and air attack resulted in the killing of peacekeepers and the death of an estimated 1,600 civilians...

There can be little surprise, therefore, that Russia responded to this unprovoked assault on its citizens by launching a military incursion into South Ossetia. No country in the world would idly stand by as its citizens are killed and driven from their homes. Russia repeatedly warned Tbilisi that it would protect its citizens by force if necessary, and its actions are entirely consistent with international law, including article 51 of the UN charter on the right of self-defence.

Honestly, I don't find this convincing that Russia is being "proportionate" in its response, even assuming all of this is true. But it does a good job, I think, of laying out Russia's perspective on the action.

In case you missed it, Russia is at war...

...with Georgia, a FSU state, over the fate of a breakaway province. Between the Olympics and the American presidential campaign, not a lot of time is being dedicated to this development on TV, radio, or the internet. But it could be very important, historically.

A Second Cuban Missile Crisis?

Russia wouldn't be this stupid, would they?

Russia tries to turn back the clock on the Reformation

In this day and age, it is uncommon to hear about Christians persecuting other Christians. The Popes tend to talk about reconciliation rather than confrontation, ecumenical movements seek to minimize even honest doctrinal differences, and the major clash of religions discussed in most places is between Islam and Christianity.

But in Russia, it appears the prosecution of Christians by Christians is going strong, as Vladamir Putin's government looks to use the power of religion to strengthen the power of the state.

There was a time after the fall of Communism when small Protestant congregations blossomed here in southwestern Russia, when a church was almost as easy to set up as a general store. Today, this industrial region has become emblematic of the suppression of religious freedom under President Vladimir V. Putin.

Just as the government has tightened control over political life, so, too, has it intruded in matters of faith. The Kremlin’s surrogates in many areas have turned the Russian Orthodox Church into a de facto official religion, warding off other Christian denominations that seem to offer the most significant competition for worshipers. They have all but banned proselytizing by Protestants and discouraged Protestant worship through a variety of harassing measures, according to dozens of interviews with government officials and religious leaders across Russia.

How many times will Russia repeat the totalitarian cycle? America looks to "export freedom" to the Middle East, we need to remember that even in Europe freedom is not an irresistible march toward victory.

"Real Virtuality" Goggles

Ever wanted to see what the world would look like in ASCII art or with a digital filter? Artists from Russia have developed goggles that will allow just that.

Russia Claims the North Pole... Everyone Else Rejects the Claim

The recent Russian attempt to claim the top of the world for their own has been baffling to me. It seems like nonsensical attempt to claim land that the international community has already declared... well... international. And when Russia already has millions of unexplored square miles in Siberia, why claim more generally unliveable square miles in another icy wasteland?

However other articles (including one no longer online - grrrrr!) clarify the story. This quest for more land, while extremely unpopular with the rest of the world, is HUGELY popular within Russia. It is a way for the government to stoke public opinion and seem powerful and effective... without having to actually DO anything. They can claim this new land and extend the "Russian Empire" in the eyes of Russians, without risking war or the international balance in the eyes of the rest of the world. One might call it a shrewd political stunt.

Here's hoping it remains purely a stunt, and does not eventually blossom into a new expansionist Russia.

Russia Counters

Russia has countered our proposal for a missile defense system by saying that we should put our missile defense in Turkey, Iraq, or on sea platforms. So, let me get this straight... putting our missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic is a threat to Russia's balance of power, but putting them in Turkey or Iraq which appear to be *closer* to Russia is okay? I read somewhere that one of the Russian leaders in this is former KGB and wants to return to the Soviet Union style Russia. Is this Russia admitting that they want Poland and the Czech Republic back?

The link above is a NY Times article which seemed to have a good summary and a small number of ads. For those that prefer, here is a USA Today article (Unfortunately, it appears to have a pop-up, but the FireFox pop-up blocker blocks it).

For those wondering where Azerbaijan is, you can see it on the map just north of Iran.

Another cool thing, apparently the NY Times allows you to double click words on their site to get a definition (such as finding out about Azerbaijan). Very cool.

Iran Laughs; Russia Threatens Europe

Iran is laughing at us for saying that the new missile defense shield to be placed in Europe is to protect Europe from them because their missiles won't reach that far. Part of me is surprised that they would readily admit this given that it shows weakness. The part of me that isn't surprised thinks that perhaps this is just to further provoke Russia which is now claiming that it may have to attack Europe to keep the balance of power. I can't imagine that Russia would seriously do this, but then again we have been at odds with Russia in the past few years. Perhaps a pro-Soviet Union elected leadership could cause trouble.

Also, while Poland and the Czech Republic are our friends now, what happens if they turn on us? Will we be in the position we've been in the past with fighting against our own technology? We seem to have a habit as a country of giving support to a country and then fighting them some years later.

New Russian Missile Bypasses U.S. Missile Shield

Russia has announced a successful test of a prototype missile that would bypass the proposed U.S. missile shield in Europe. I find the missile shield debate interesting. I think the logic that "We signed the agreement with the USSR and the USSR doesn't exist anymore" is not completely solid. On the other hand, we shouldn't be held to an agreement with a country just because the capital is the same. The idea of the shield is to protect against threats such as Iran and North Korea. If Russia's missile defeats this shield, we're then depending on Russia not to sell Iran or North Korea (or anyone else for that matter) this missile technology. We've seen in the past, that Russia is willing to sell military technology to nations unfriendly to the U.S.

Ironically, this quote came up on my Google Home Page:

My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes.

- Ronald Reagan

Travelling By Land All Over the World

Russia is planning on building a tunnel from Russia to Alaska to allow the transport of both goods and power. Though it wouldn't be cost effective, you could theoretically travel from South America to North America to Asia, Africa, and Europe by train once this was built. (Yes, you'd still need to fly or take a boat to reach Antarctica, Australia, and other islands). They're saying investment could be paid back in 20 years.