Infinite Unknown

Full must watch address to the public: for English closed captioning hit the CC button.

YouTube Added: 23.11.2011

- Russia Retaliates Against US: Puts Radar Station On Combat Alert, Prepares To Take Out European Missile Defense Systems (ZeroHedge, Nov. 23, 2011):

Earlier today, we presented the latest developments in the escalating possibility of an imminent air (and potentially land) campaign targeting Syria by the “western world”, a move that would infuriate not only Iran, but also Russia and China, both of which have made it clear they would not sit idly by and let such an “aggression” stand. Now it is Russia’s turn to retaliate. Cutting straight to the chase – in a nationally televized appearance by Russian president Dmitry Medvedev: in response to what the Russian believes is an active incursion and a potential act of eventual aggression on behalf of NATO countries in Eastern Europe (and hence the US), he he said the following (7 minutes in): “First, I am instructing the Defense Ministry to immediately put the missile attack early warning radar station in Kaliningrad on combat alert. Second, protective cover of Russia’s strategic nuclear weapons, will be reinforced as a priority measure under the programme to develop out air and space defenses. Third, the new strategic ballistic missiles commissioned by the Strategic Missile Forces and the Navy will be equipped with advanced missile defense penetration systems and new highly-effective warheads. Fourth, I have instructed the Armed Forces to draw up measures for disabling missile defense system data and guidance systems if need be… Fifth, if the above measures prove insufficient, the Russian Federation will deploy modern offensive weapon systems in the west and south of the country, ensuring our ability to take out any part of the US missile defense system, in Europe. One step in this process will be to deploy Iskander missiles in Kaliningrad Region. Other measures to counter the European missile defense system will be drawn up and implemented as necessary. Furthermore, if the situation continues to develop not in Russia’s favor we reserve the right to discontinue further disarmament and arms control measures. Besides, given the intrinsic link between strategic offensive and defensive arms, conditions for our withdrawal from the New START Treaty could also arise.” That said, he concludes that Russia is still open to dialog. However, if Obama merely intends to bomb any nation at will, we are very much concerned that everything Medvedev has just threatened will be enacted. And exponentially more so when Putin comes back in charge. One thing is certain – Russia is not North Korea, and taking this speech for more empty jawboning is probably not the wisest option.

Tags: Barack Obama, Dmitry Medvedev, EU, Europe, Global News, Government, Military, Missile Defense Systems, Missile shield, NATO, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S.

The Russians immediately understood that the missile defense shield was aimed at them and was never about protecting Europe from Iran as it has been portrayed by MSM.

Update (Medvedev’s full must watch address to the public):

- Russia Retaliates Against US: Puts Radar Station On Combat Alert, Prepares To Take Out European Missile Defense Systems

Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian president embraced the fiery rhetoric of the Cold War threatening to target and if necessary destroy America’s planned European missile defence shield once it is built.

A Russian Topol-12M mobile nuclear missile

- Dmitry Medvedev threatens US over planned missile defence shield (Telegraph, Nov. 23, 2011):

In what may be the most serious blow to US-Russia relations since President Barack Obama came to power, Mr Medvedev raised the prospect of Russia launching missile attacks on European Union member states such as Poland, Romania and Spain as well as Nato member Turkey.

“I have given the armed forces the task of drawing up plans to destroy the information and command and control systems of the (US/Nato) anti-missile shield,” he said.

“Our Nato partners are not for now showing any readiness to take our concerns about the architecture of the European missile shield into account, something which convinces us that their plans are aimed at Russia.” Upping the ante further, he said Russia’s anxiety was so great that it would reserve the right to tear up existing nuclear arms control treaties and halt talks about new treaties.

The White House immediately rebuffed Mr Medvedev, making it clear Washington would not be altering its plans in any way.

“We will not in any way limit or change our deployment plans in Europe,” said Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman. “In multiple channels, we have explained to Russian officials that the missile defence systems planned for deployment in Europe do not and cannot threaten Russia’s strategic deterrent.”

The shield that Russia objects to so strongly is designed to shoot down missiles from rogue states such as Iran but is years away from being operational. Turkey, Poland, Romania and Spain have all agreed to join what is a diluted version of a controversial plan first proposed by former President George W. Bush.

Continue reading »

Tags: Barack Obama, Dmitry Medvedev, Global News, Government, Military, Missile Defense Systems, Missile shield, Missiles, Obama administration, Politics, Russia, U.S.

Dmitry Medvedev

The German version of the RIA Novosti article sounds a ‘little’ different:

- Medwedew: Kriegsrhetorik gegen Iran kann zu Katastrophe führen (RIA Novosti, Nov. 8, 2011):

Russlands Präsident Dmitri Medwedew hat Israel und weitere Staaten vor militaristischer Rhetorik im Streit um das iranische Atomprogramm gewarnt. „All das kann in einen Großkrieg enden, was für den Nahen Osten eine Katastrophe wäre“, sagte Medwedew am Dienstag in Berlin.

Großkrieg! (Groß = Big; Krieg = War)

- Medvedev urges calm over Iran, warns of ‘catastrophe’ (RIA Novosti, Nov. 8, 2011):

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday said increasing anti-Iranian rhetoric could lead to a catastrophe in the Middle East.

A new International Atomic Energy Agency report on Iran’s nuclear program will be released on Wednesday. Its details, some of which have been leaked, have prompted speculation over a possible military strike on Iran by Israel.

Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Ehud Barak, Global News, Government, IAEA, Iran, Middle East, Military, Politics, Russia, Shimon Peres

- Russia’s former finance chief attacks Kremlin over fake democracy (Telegraph, Sep. 27, 2011):

Russia’s ex-finance minister dealt a fresh blow to the Kremlin on Tuesday, disclosing that it had asked him to lead a fake political party but that he had refused to take part in the deception.

Firing a parting shot at the Kremlin a day after he was unceremoniously forced out of his job for public dissent, Alexei Kudrin became the latest prominent insider to blow the whistle on Russia’s democracy as Vladimir Putin prepares to controversially assume the presidency for a third time next year. Mikhail Prokhorov, Russia’s third richest man, recently denounced the entire political system as a cynically state-managed sham, while former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has repeatedly warned that the country is heading for a revolution unless it undertakes serious reform.

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Tags: Alexei Kudrin, Dmitry Medvedev, Global News, Government, Mikhail Prokhorov, Politics, Russia, Society, Vladimir Putin

- Russia orders Stalin-era leather coats for Putin guards (AFP, June 10, 2011):

MOSCOW — Russia’s federal guard service, in charge of protecting President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, may soon sport black leather overcoats harking back to the era of Stalin’s purges. The elite service known by its Russian acronym FSO has launched a tender to purchase 60 leather trenchcoats on the official site for government purchases, instantly drawing tongue-in-cheek criticism from Russian bloggers.

Long leather trenchcoats are infamously associated with uniforms of Soviet NKVD secret police, worn by its low-ranking officers at the height of Stalin’s pre-war purges in the late 1930s.

The coats ordered by the FSO appear to be nearly identical to the NKVD coats, according to the tender documentation and images uploaded on the website zakupki.gov.ru last week.

The jet-black “light leather overcoat” as the item is described is meant for “high-ranking FSO officers” and features a belt and various insignia, including the image of the Russian two-headed eagle on every button.

Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Government, Joseph Stalin, NKVD, Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Flashback:

- Rep. Ron Paul: War On Libya Totally Unconstitutional

- Russian Space Oddity: Ground Control to Colonel Gaddafi (TIME, Jun 14, 2011):

When the U.S. and France asked Russia last month to help mediate the war in Libya, they were probably not expecting a self-proclaimed emissary of alien life to show up in Tripoli for a meeting with Muammar Gaddafi. But on Sunday evening, as NATO air strikes continued on the Libyan capital, the besieged Colonel took the time to entertain a Russian politician named Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, best known for his claims that extraterrestrials took him on a mystical tour of the galaxy in their spaceship in 1997. Far from convincing Gaddafi to step down, the visit seemed geared toward giving him a confidence boost – and an unlikely lesson in the game of kings.

For the past 15 years, Ilyumzhinov has also presided over the world chess federation, known as FIDE, which makes him the first head of an international body to meet with Gaddafi since the U.N.-backed bombing campaign against him began in March. In a video shown on Libyan television on Sunday night, Ilyumzhinov praises Gaddafi’s resilience. “It’s a great honor for me to be here to see that you are very well, healthy, because many people… gave wrong information,” he said in stilted English. (See what mediating in Libya could cost Medvedev.)

The two men then played a rather awkward game of chess. Allowed the first move, Gaddafi made a clumsy opening, nervously moving his pawn from F3 to F4, and Ilyumzhinov took the piece and moved it back for him. The game ended in a draw and a handshake for the cameras, after which Ilyumzhinov told reporters that Gaddafi had promised never to leave Libya, regardless of the West’s support for the rebels battling to overthrow him. The two-hour chat, Ilyumzhinov said, was held not in an underground bunker, where many western experts had presumed Gaddafi to be hiding, but in “one of the administrative buildings in the Libyan capital.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Chess, Dmitry Medvedev, FIDE, Global News, Government, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, Libya, Muammar Gaddafi, Politics, Russia

Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya are all being destroyed with depleted uranium.

It’s genocide …

Inhaled or ingested DU particles are highly toxic, and DU has been classified as an illegal weapon of mass destruction by the United Nations.

“More than ten times the amount of radiation released during atmospheric testing [of nuclear bombs] has been released from DU weaponry since 1991,” said Leuren Moret, a U.S. nuclear scientist.

“The genetic future of the Iraqi people, for the most part, is destroyed. The environment now is completely radioactive.”

“Because DU has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, the Middle East will, for all practical purposes, be radioactive forever.”

… and a crusade:

- Seymour Hersh: Many Within Joint Special Operations Command ‘Are All Members Of, Or At Least Supporters Of, Knights Of Malta’, ‘Many Of Them Are Members of Opus Dei’ … ‘It’s A Crusade, Literally’

- Pulitzer Prize Winner Seymour Hersh And The Men Who Want Him Committed

Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attends a signing of bilateral documents in Brdo, Slovenia, Tuesday, March 22, 2011.

MOSCOW – Russia’s two leaders are openly disagreeing over the U.N. resolution authorizing international military action against Libya, with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin comparing it to the medieval crusades and President Dmitry Medvedev warning him to watch his use of words.

Their statements represented a rare open clash on foreign policy.

Putin, who served two terms as president and still dominates Russia’s politics, said the U.N. Security Council resolution was “flawed and inferior.”

“It allows everything and is reminiscent of a medieval call for a crusade,” Putin said Monday. “In fact, it allows intervention in a sovereign state.”

Hours later, Medvedev rebuked the prime minister: “We have to be absolutely accurate in our assessments. Under no circumstances is it acceptable to use expressions that essentially lead to a clash of civilizations such as crusades and so on.”

Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Global News, Government, Libya, Military, Politics, Russia, U.N., Vladimir Putin

Hmmh.

Vladimir Putin has had a lavish £600 million Italianate palace built for himself near a Black Sea resort with the proceeds of “corruption, bribery and theft”, a Russian businessman has alleged.

Set in 74 hectares of prime land near the Black Sea coast, the palace is reported to be almost eight million square feet  Photo: AFP/GETTY

The claim, made in a letter to Dmitry Medvedev, Russia’s president, was boosted on Monday after the Novaya Gazeta newspaper obtained what it said was an authenticated copy of the original contract for the palace signed in 2005 by Vladimir Kozhin, the Russian presidential property manager. Mr Putin, now prime minister, was president at the time.

Set in 74 hectares of prime land near the Black Sea coast with its own vineyard, the palace is reported to be almost eight million square feet and has its own helipad. Other features include an indoor cinema, a summer amphitheatre, a casino, swimming pools, a gym and a clock tower. Sergei Kolesnikov, the businessman who claims the palace is Mr Putin’s, has likened the structure to a palace built for Russia’s Tsars outside St Petersburg. He said that the Russian prime minister had personally approved the design and materials.

Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Society, Vladimir Putin

See also:

- Russia Declares State Of Emergy Emergency As Forest Fires Rage

– Russia: Worst drought in a decade, high temperatures damaged 32 percent of land under cultivation, grain prices may double

WINNIPEG Manitoba (Reuters) – Chicago wheat markets jumped 8 percent to near two-year highs on Thursday, twice triggering trading curbs to restore order before easing back after Russia said it would temporarily halt grain exports.

Russia’s worst drought on record has devastated crops in parts of the country and sent international grain prices soaring as markets placed bets that without shipments from one of the world’s leading exporters, global supplies would be restricted.

Wheat has risen seven of the past eight days at the Chicago Board of Trade and buying by funds and traders spilled across the grain markets. Corn and soybeans were 2 and 0.5 percent higher, respectively.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin signed an order banning grain and flour exports from August 15 to December 31, with a spokesman saying this would apply to contracts that had been already signed. Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Drought, Environment, Food, Food Prices, Global News, Government, Grain, Grain prices, Russia, Vladimir Putin

Residents look over the remains of their burnt-out home in Ostafyevo, 15km from Moscow, yesterday (AFP)

A state of emergency was declared in seven Russian regions yesterday, as authorities struggled to cope with forest fires which have been burning for a week.

A total of 34 people have died and thousands have been left homeless by the blazes, which have been prompted by one of the most severe heatwaves to hit European Russia in recorded history.

President Dmitry Medvedev referred to the fires as a “huge tragedy” yesterday, and said the state would do everything it could to help those affected.

“More than 2,000 of our citizens have been left without roofs over their heads,” he said. “Many families have been left with absolutely nothing at all.”

The army has been called in to help tackle the fires, which are expected to continue raging as temperatures show no sign of dropping. The state of emergency means that people will be banned from entering areas deemed at high risk for new fires. Many of the blazes have been sparked by discarded cigarette ends or barbecues. Mr Medvedev appealed to Russians to be extra vigilant.

“Much depends on our behaviour,” he said. “It’s difficult to be in the city – it’s hot and sweaty, and everyone wants to go to the countryside. But we need to be very attentive and careful here. Remember that a single match thrown carelessly can lead to irreparable disaster.”

In some regions of European Russia, whole villages have been burned to the ground by the fires. Late last week, Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister, travelled to Verkhnyaya Vereya, where 337 of the village’s 341 houses have been destroyed. He spent time reassuring distraught residents, and promising that houses would be fully rebuilt before winter sets in. In some areas there have been complaints that local officials were too slow to respond to the fires, and many residents of Verkhnyaya Vereya told Mr Putin that their calls to emergency services went unanswered. Continue reading »

Tags: Dmitry Medvedev, Global News, Government, Politics, Russia, Vladimir Putin