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Sunday, April 30, 2023
South Korea Expands Its Export Possibilities for SMRs | Neutron Bytes
South Korea Expands Its Export Possibilities for SMRs | Neutron Bytes: South Korea Expands Its Export Possibilities for SMRs with NuScale, TerraPower, X-Energy, and Holtec KHNP to Set Up Enriched Uranium Supply Chain with Centrus and Orano South Korea Calls on US to R…
Saturday, April 29, 2023
Friday, April 28, 2023
National Academies Of Sciences: The US Needs Nuclear. Will Democrats Listen? | Science 2.0
National Academies Of Sciences: The US Needs Nuclear. Will Democrats Listen? | Science 2.0: Prior to natural gas hydraulic fracturing making played out gas wells viable again, America was in a real climate emissions pickle.
A shuttered US nuclear plant seeks to be the first to reopen
A shuttered US nuclear plant seeks to be the first to reopen: Usually, if a nuclear power plant shuts down, it shuts down for good, but one plant in Michigan is looking to be the first plant in the US to ever reopen.
Indian venture capitalists chase Asian cash as U.S. money dries up - Nikkei Asia
Indian venture capitalists chase Asian cash as U.S. money dries up - Nikkei Asia: BENGALURU -- Indian venture capital firms are turning to the Middle East and Southeast Asia for funding as traditional U.S. backers retreat in respons
Thursday, April 27, 2023
(10) Documenting the Greatest Crime in History
(10) Documenting the Greatest Crime in History: Andrew Huff shows how SARS CoV-2 was the monster of American Dr. Frankensteins.
Facebook Censors Journalist Seymour Hersh’s Report on Nord Stream Pipeline Attack - Global ResearchGlobal Research - Centre for Research on Globalization
Facebook Censors Journalist Seymour Hersh’s Report on Nord Stream Pipeline Attack - Global ResearchGlobal Research - Centre for Research on Globalization: All Global Research articles can be read in 51 languages by activating the Translate Website button below the author’s name. To receive Global Research’s Daily Newsletter (selected articles), click here. Click the share button above to email/forward this article to your friends and colleagues. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter and subscribe to our Telegram Channel. Feel free to repost and share …
Südafrika will im Internationalen Gerichtshof bleiben, aber eine Immunitätsregel einführen – Anti-Spiegel
Südafrika will im Internationalen Gerichtshof bleiben, aber eine Immunitätsregel einführen – Anti-Spiegel
Chas Freeman via Salon
12:36 PM (0 minutes ago)
to salon
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2023/suedafrika-will-im-internationalen-gerichtshof-bleiben-aber-eine-immunitaetsregel-einfuehren/
South Africa wants to remain in the International Court of Justice, but introduce an immunity rule
Correction April 27, 2023
On Tuesday, it was reported that South Africa wanted to withdraw from the International Court of Justice because of the charges brought against Russian President Putin by the International Court of Justice. Now the message has been corrected.
From
27. April 2023
South Africa will host the next summit of the BRICS countries this year, which is why the country is discussing how to deal with the arrest warrant issued by the International Court of Justice against Russian President Putin. In South Africa, there is cross-party agreement that the country will not follow the arrest warrant if Putin arrives for the summit. However, it is currently being discussed how to regulate this formally and legally.
On Tuesday, it was reported that South Africa even wanted to leave the Rome Statute, the Treaty on the Establishment of the International Court of Justice, for this reason. This report has now been corrected, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS. I have translated the TASS message about this correction and its background.
Start of the translation:
South Africa declares that it remains in the International Criminal Court, but is considering changing the immunity clause
The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, had previously stated that South Africa was considering a national law that would grant acting heads of state immunity within the country from arrest warrants from the International Criminal Court.
South Africa remains a member of the International Criminal Court (ICC), but at the same time is considering a change in national legislation concerning the immunity of persons accused by the ICC. This was stated by the presidential administration of the Republic in a statement published on its official portal on Wednesday.
"South Africa remains a signatory to the Rome Statute (the founding document of the ICC, note. TASS) and will continue to adhere to the same and consistent application of international law," it was said. The current clarification follows an error in a comment made during a press conference of the ruling party African National Congress (ANC) on South Africa's position on the ICC. Unfortunately, the president [of the country Cyril Ramaposa] repeated during a press conference on the 25th. April mistakenly a similar position."
Ramaposa said at a press conference on Tuesday that the ruling party ANC had decided to withdraw the country from the ICC because the international organization had shown partisanship in a number of cases.
The presidential administration has now announced that South Africa, in accordance with a resolution of the ANC Congress of December 2022, on which it was decided to reverse the earlier decision on the withdrawal from the ICC and to remain a member of the ICC. The resolution of the ANC Congress of December was adopted at the meeting of the National Executive Committee of the ANC from the 21st to the 24th. April 2023 confirmed," the statement states. The National Executive Committee of the ANC also considered a possible withdrawal from the ICC as an option that could arise as a last resort if there are no legal solutions that lead to an equal and consistent application of international law. The National Executive Committee of the ANC also decided to accelerate the establishment of an African Criminal Court, which would supplement the ICC as the last instance in cases affecting Africa.
"In addition, South Africa is considering a change in the law to translate the Rome Statute into national law," the statement states. This also includes a provision in Article 98 of the Statute providing for the waiver of immunity for persons in third countries accused by the ICC.
On the 24th In March, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Naledi Pandor, announced that South Africa was considering a national law that would grant immunity to acting heads of state within the country from arrest warrants from the ICC.
End of translation
Biden Can Raise the Debt Ceiling Without Congress | Washington Monthly
Biden Can Raise the Debt Ceiling Without Congress | Washington Monthly
From Winslow T. Wheeler
With the debt ceiling palaver heating up, I am resending an article circulated by Amb Freeman some months ago. It is a Washington Monthly article about a provision of the Constitution obviating the whole debate. It is interesting. Lawyers and Constitutional authorities may have informed views on this. If those views are not simply driven by their political bias and/or conventional bent, they would be interesting to hear.
The Rise of China (and the Fall of the U.S.?) - TomDispatch.com
The Rise of China (and the Fall of the U.S.?) - TomDispatch.com
Alfred McCoy, Whose Continent Is This Anyway?
April 27, 2023
[Note for TomDispatch Readers: Just a small reminder that signed, personalized copies of Alfred McCoy's remarkable history of global empires from the 16th century to late last night, To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change, are available to any of you willing to lend this site a hand. Just visit our donation page and, for a contribution of $125 ($150 if you live outside the U.S.), it's yours! As a number of readers of McCoy's book have told me, you won't regret it (and believe me, neither will we!). Tom]
On both sides, the talk only grows grimmer. Just the other day, speaking about China, Admiral John Aquilino, head of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, warned that "I'm responsible [for finding a way] to prevent this conflict today and -- if deterrence were to fail -- to be able to fight and win." Fight and win indeed! And if that doesn't seem clear enough to you, he's talking about a future war between the planet's two nuclear-armed great powers. His comments were mild compared to those of General Mike Minihan, head of the Air Mobility Command, who recently predicted war with China within -- yes! -- two years! ("My gut tells me [we] will fight in 2025.”) And don't think it's just the admirals and generals either. Army Secretary Christine Wormuth, while not exactly predicting such a conflict, Minihan-style, did recently say of China, "We obviously have to prepare, to be prepared to fight and win that war.”
That war! Meanwhile, after a -- yes, this is not a misprint -- congressional war game simulating a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, the head of the new House committee on China, Mike Gallagher (R-WI), insisted that Washington needed to arm that island "to the teeth." At the same time, the U.S. military is upgrading its forces in the region, its military positions in the Pacific, and its training exercises for just such a future conflict. At the same time, Chinese leader Xi Jinping has turned a cold shoulder to the Biden administration's attempts to restart high-level talks of any sort while, as the New York Times reported recently, his country has begun a significant buildup of its nuclear arsenal.
With all of that grimly in mind, why not take a step back from this increasingly overheated world of ours and let TomDispatch regular Alfred McCoy, author of To Govern the Globe: World Orders and Catastrophic Change, explore what lies behind such tensions: the rise and fall of great powers on a distinctly disturbed planet. Tom
Blinken vs. Yellen vs. Raimondo - POLITICO
Blinken vs. Yellen vs. Raimondo - POLITICO: U.S.-China ties are spiraling. The Cabinet’s stuck in a turf war.
Nukes, Ukraine and semiconductors top Biden-Yoon agenda - POLITICO
Nukes, Ukraine and semiconductors top Biden-Yoon agenda - POLITICO: The two leaders are signing an agreement that will send U.S. nuclear-armed subs to South Korea for the first time in decades.
EPA to Propose First Controls on CO2 Emissions From Power Plants – ‘Will be 1st time fed gov’t has limited CO2 from existing power plants’ – Watts Up With That?
EPA to Propose First Controls on CO2 Emissions From Power Plants – ‘Will be 1st time fed gov’t has limited CO2 from existing power plants’ – Watts Up With That?: EPA to Propose First Controls on CO2 Emissions From Power Plants – ‘Will be 1st time fed gov’t has limited CO2 from existing power plants’
Russia could take asymmetric measures if West pursues nuclear escalation — MFA - Military & Defense - TASS
Russia could take asymmetric measures if West pursues nuclear escalation — MFA - Military & Defense - TASS: Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that, at Minsk’s request, Russia would station its tactical nuclear weapons in the neighboring country, precisely the way the United States has long kept its own nuclear warheads on the territories of its allies
Zelensky’s top adviser blames US for Ukraine conflict — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union
Zelensky’s top adviser blames US for Ukraine conflict — RT Russia & Former Soviet Union: Admitting Kiev to NATO and endorsing its total victory might atone for the US “mistake” with the Budapest Memorandum, said Mikhail Podoliak
Wednesday, April 26, 2023
Fr. Bob's Reflection for the Third Sunday of Easter
FRANCISCAN FRIARS of the ATONEMENT™
THIS WEEK’S REFLECTION FROM FR. BOB WARREN, SA
Divider
THIRD SUNDAY OF EASTER – APRIL 26, 2023
VOLUME 9 ISSUE 17
The appeal of the Emmaus story is that it talks about where most of us live. There are no revelations, no great Saints, no exotic places or people. The Emmaus story is about ordinary everyday despair and Monday-morning drudgery. It is about bumping into a stranger, about sitting down at a table and about sharing a meal. It is about a couple of unknown followers of Jesus who are walking along a dusty road. Their conversation is full of despair, discouragement and disappointment. Life is a burden and does not live up to its promises.
Then they meet a stranger. He asks them about their conversation and they recite their woes. In many ways, their conversation could be ours: the everyday stuff, the kids, the economy, world crisis’ all around us, the war, the price of gas or groceries, school or a job and so on. These are the threads of the daily fabric of our lives. Then the two men go deeper, they say we were hoping for answers to their questions. The same thing we all hope for as we move through life…where is God? Does my life count? Does anything make sense?
Why am I so sick? Why this accident or death of a loved one? Why don’t I feel that God is with me? I could put up with anything if I could feel the presence of God; if I only knew that He cared and heard prayers. The Emmaus story picks up on the lives of all of us; we are all on the road of life. Some are just beginning their journey while some are in the middle and others near the end. Along the way there are times of joy and times of sadness. We win a few and lose a few. We enjoy the company of family and friends. We despair when bad people win and the good suffer and, like those disciples, we say we were hoping for a God of justice and compassion to make sense of it all.
Then suddenly into this mess comes God, the stranger with the holes in His hands who shares food and Himself. That is the point of the story-God is here. He penetrates our everyday life, but we do not always know it. Just as those two disciples, going into Emmaus finally recognized the risen Christ, not in some fabulous Technicolor explosion, but in the simple breaking of the bread – a Eucharist moment. They remind us that God is in our lives, although we do not see Him most of the time.
The Emmaus story invites us to see God’s love everywhere. Easter moments abound. Let me share with you a true story. A man told me about his son who was in his thirties who was confined to a nursing home. The son had been injured in a car accident several years before and was in a permanent comatose state. The man and his wife would visit at first every day, then twice a week and as the year passed just once a week. “Only because it is our duty as parents.” The man told me “we had stopped loving him.” He said, “Love was reciprocal relationships, giving and receiving and our son could not receive, our son could not give. We went to see him, but as the years dragged on, we stopped loving him.”
A whole wall of the young man’s room was glass so that he could be seen at all times from the nursing station. One Sunday as the parents arrived, they were surprised to see a stranger by his bed. The stranger was a Eucharistic Minister from the local Parish who came every Sunday. But the parents usually visited on a weekday. The Father said, “As we waited outside the room we saw the visitor talking to our son as if they were engaged in a conversation-as if my son could appreciate a conversation.”
Then the man took out the Bible and read. By this time, we were in the room and he read the gospel of the day, the road to Emmaus. I thought as he was reading on, “My son cannot hear or appreciate the reading.” Then he prayed a prayer as if my son could appreciate a prayer. Then he continued to give him Holy Communion as if my son could appreciate what he was receiving. Apparently, he did not know my son’s condition. Then as if God had hit me over the head, the Eucharistic Minister does know; but he sees my son differently. Not simply through medical or clinical eyes, but through the eyes of faith.
“He treats my son the way he should be treated, as a Child of God.” Then I saw the connection, this Eucharistic Minister was the stranger on the road to Emmaus revealing the presence of God in that hospital room. A God who loves us deliriously, a God who is in our lives and cares about us. However, sometimes it is a matter of practice to be able to discern Him.
I guess that is one good reason why we come to church. To recover our sense of vision, to celebrate the God we have bumped into all week without knowing it. To handle the word and the bread and see this very congregation with the realization that such common everyday stuff harbors the very presence of God.
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Yours in Christ,
Father Bob Warren, S.A. - Signature
Fr. Robert Warren, S.A.
Spiritual Director
Die Legende von der schwachen russischen Wirtschaft – Anti-Spiegel
Die Legende von der schwachen russischen Wirtschaft – Anti-Spiegel
The legend of the weak Russian economy
At the level of Germany
The Russian economy is far stronger than Western propaganda would like to believe. It is said that Russia's economy is at the level of Italy, but Russia will soon overtake the German economy.
From
25. April 2023 06:00 am
Western media like to claim that Russia's economy is insignificant and Russia has about the economic power of Italy. However, I already asked the question in an article in 2019 whether Russia will soon overtake Germany as the fifth largest economy. How does that fit together?
In order to understand this, we have to look at how the economic power of states is measured.
How the GDP is measured
The difficulty in calculating the gross domestic product (GDP) is that it can be measured according to very different methods, ironically speaking according to the motto "Believe only the statistics that you have falsified yourself". The question is always what you actually want to measure or check. Therefore, we have to look at a little dry theory.
First, there is the nominal and the real GDP. Nominal GDP is about the value of all goods and services in market prices. This means that rising (market) prices, i.e. inflation, increase GDP. Thus, even with declining production, nominal GDP can increase if only inflation is high enough.
To rule out this effect, there is real GDP. Inflation is excluded by setting base prices, so you get a clear insight into the development of production and services.
But now, too, the difficulty is obvious here if you want to compare different countries with different currencies. Finally, the countries set different base prices and also in different currencies, whose exchange rates change over the course of the calculation period.
To compensate for this effect, there is the measurement of GDP by purchasing power parity (PPP or English PPP). The point is that the same product can be more expensive or cheaper in different countries and that the same applies to wages. In Switzerland, wages are higher than in Germany, but anyone who has been there can see that everything is much more expensive there. The Swiss only have an advantage of their higher wages if they go abroad for shopping or on holiday, in everyday life at home the higher prices largely cancel out the higher wages.
GDP can therefore be measured in very different ways and very different results can also come out. Right or wrong is not a method. For example, if you want to measure the development in a country over the years, you are well served with the real GDP.
However, if you want to compare different countries, GDP according to PPP is the method of choice. Because just because a cup of coffee in Switzerland costs twice as much as in Germany, it is still the same cup of coffee. So if you want to compare the GDP, i.e. the sum of the goods and services produced (simplified, the number of cups of coffee sold), in different countries, and not the price differences, you have to take the GDP in PPPs in hand.
Where does the Russian economy stand?
Nominal GDP is, as seen, a completely unsuitable indicator to compare the economic power of countries. Nevertheless, Western media like to use the data according to nominal GDP in their reports, because the states of the West look best at this measurement method.
According to IMF estimates, Russia is only in eleventh place in the world with $2,62,649 according to nominal GDP 2023, while Italy is in eighth place with $2,169,745. Accordingly, the statement that Russia does not even have the economic power of Italy is true, but only according to the calculation according to the unsuitable nominal GDP.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(nominal)
It is different if we take GDP according to PPP as a basis, which is actually suitable for comparing the economic power of countries. The Western media conceal these figures because they do not fit into the desired picture, because also according to IMF estimates, Russia is sixth in the world according to GDP after PPP 2023 with 4,988,829 dollars and is Germany, which is in fifth place according to GDP after PPP with 5,545,656 dollars, thus close on the heels. According to the data of the World Bank, Russia has almost caught up with Germany.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)
The effect of the sanctions
We are currently experiencing a sensation from an economic policy point of view. For the first time in over 30 years, the Russian inflation rate is below that of Germany. Moreover, the German inflation rate is 7.4 percent more than twice as high as the Russian one, which is currently at 3.5 percent.
After the shock of the tough Russia sanctions, the ruble collapsed in the short term in March 2022 and the Russian inflation rate exploded to just under 17 percent, but when it became clear that the sanctions had little effect, the ruble quickly rose again and was at times the strongest currency in the world in 2022. As a result, the inflation rate in Russia has also fallen again and now, after the price shock of 2022 a year ago and thus fell from the statistics, the Russian inflation rate is lower than ever before in the last 35 years.
The prospects
Let's take the IMF's forecasts again. According to the IMF, Russia's economy is expected to grow by 0.7 percent in 2023 and 1.3 percent in 2024. How does this fit with the statements of the Western politicians who promised in March 2022 that the Russian economy would collapse under the Western sanctions? Or to the statements of Western "experts" who now declare that the sanctions would just weaken Russia in the long term? In any case, the IMF figures speak a different language.
While the IMF has had to raise its forecasts for Russia for a year with every new estimate, because the Russian economy is doing better than expected, it is exactly the other way around with the Western states. For Germany, the IMF has to lower its forecasts every time, currently the IMF sees a decline in economic output of 0.1 percent for Germany in 2023. For 2024, the IMF then forecasts growth of 1.1 percent again, at least so far.
Although the Russia sanctions hardly affect Russia, but have a massive impact on the states of the West, European politicians have no better idea than to demand further sanctions. I have a simple question: Do European politicians want to consciously destroy European economies, or are they actually so ignorant in economic matters that they do not know what they are doing?
No matter what answer corresponds to the truth, the damage that is being done to European states and the prosperity of the people in Europe by their governments will be permanent, because the increased energy prices in Europe after the end of cheap Russian gas will lead to a migration of many industries. And you don't have to have studied economics to understand that this means unemployment and impoverishment.
So we can make bets on when Russia will overtake Germany economically.
(7) Big Pharma's Destruction of American Journalism
(7) Big Pharma's Destruction of American Journalism: What the recent changes at Fox News say about the country.
UK confirms depleted uranium munitions already in Ukraine — RT World News
UK confirms depleted uranium munitions already in Ukraine — RT World News: The British government has already started shipments of depleted uranium rounds to Ukraine, a top minister has said
Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) / Twitter
Hua Chunying 华春莹 (@SpokespersonCHN) / Twitter
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Hua Chunying has also been addressing this on her Twitter account (https://twitter.com/SpokespersonCHN). Here are the main points so far:
China will send the Special Representative of the Chinese Government on Eurasian Affairs to Ukraine and other countries to have in-depth communication with all parties on political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.
China has provided multiple batches of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine and will keep providing help to the best of its ability.
With rational thinking and voices now on the rise, it is important to seize the opportunity and build up favorable conditions for the political settlement of the crisis.
It is hoped that all parties would seriously reflect on the Ukraine crisis and jointly explore ways to bring lasting peace and stability to Europe through dialogue.
China did not create the Ukraine crisis, nor is it a party to the crisis. As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and a responsible major country, China would not sit idly by, nor would it add oil to the fire, still less exploit the situation for self gains.
Everything China does is aboveboard. Dialogue and negotiation are the only viable way forward.
On the Ukraine crisis, China always stands on the side of peace. Its core stance is to facilitate talks for peace.
China is consistent and clear-cut in its readiness to develop bilateral relations with Ukraine. Two sides need to carry forward the tradition of mutual respect and sincerity, and take the China-Ukraine strategic partnership forward.
President Xi Jinping just spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the phone.
Tuesday, April 25, 2023
Tucker Carlson: The Elite Pedigree of a Brilliant Cosplaying “Populist”
Tucker Carlson: The Elite Pedigree of a Brilliant Cosplaying “Populist”: Alan Macleod reveals populist firebrand Tucker Carlson's to the CIA and multiple trips to Nicaragua as a "freedom-fighter" with the Contras.
California snowpack data debunked: 2023 was no record year. And neither was 1952 – Daily News
California snowpack data debunked: 2023 was no record year. And neither was 1952 – Daily News: 1983 was the long-denied record holder, clinching first as the largest snowpack at 231% of normal, a first-of-its kind analysis by the Bay Area News Group found.
Not a Green Bone in Their White Bodies - TomDispatch.com
Not a Green Bone in Their White Bodies - TomDispatch.com
Stan Cox, Spreading Hate and Bullets
April 25, 2023
Imagine a world in which one in every 20 of us, approximately 6% of the population, owns not just a gun but a military-style assault rifle. We're talking about a weapon like the one that killed 19 schoolchildren and two teachers in Uvalde, Texas, less than a year ago, or that just recently slaughtered five people and wounded eight at a bank in Louisville, Kentucky. Mind you, close to 30% of American adults evidently own at least one gun of some sort (48% of White men). When it's a matter of arming civilians, no other country comes close, not even Yemen, a land in a devastating civil war.
So, who could be surprised that, by mid-April of this year, there had already been at least 160 mass killings (in which four or more people die or are injured) at places ranging from that bank to a birthday party, from a private Christian elementary school to a university campus, from a farm to a Metro station in Washington? And that's just to begin an endless and fast-growing list. In this country, you can no longer take a chance on being a Black teenager who ends up at the wrong door looking for his younger brothers or a 20-year-old White woman (who dreams of being a Marine biologist) in a car that accidentally turns into the wrong driveway.
Now, if that isn't bad enough, imagine an ever-more-armed country in which the right wing -- those TomDispatch regular Stan Cox refers to today as ecofascists -- have begun turning the green crisis on this planet into an excuse to kill anyone they dislike. It's a scary prospect in a nation that simply can't seem to imagine putting meaningful limits on our weaponry from hell. Tom
Monday, April 24, 2023
Teil 2: Wie eng ist die Verteidigungsunion zwischen Russland und China? – Anti-Spiegel
Teil 2: Wie eng ist die Verteidigungsunion zwischen Russland und China? – Anti-Spiegel
https://www.anti-spiegel.ru/2023/teil-2-wie-eng-ist-die-verteidigungsunion-zwischen-russland-und-china/
Translation April 24, 2023
Part 2: How close is the defense union between Russia and China?
I was not even aware of it, but the US Pacific fleet, which constantly provokes off China's coast and in the Strait of Taiwan, is now hopelessly inferior to the fleets of China and Russia in the region. I will discuss this in a separate article soon, because this explains some developments of the recent past, for example the founding of AUKUS by the USA. The fact that EU chief diplomat Borrell spoke out in favor of sending warships from EU countries against China over the weekend also appears in a new light before this information.
Here I translate the second part of the reports from the weekly news review of Russian television about the unofficial Russian-Chinese defense union. These reports were about the visit of the Chinese Minister of Defense to Moscow and the Russian and Chinese naval maneuvers of recent weeks, which officially had nothing to do with each other, but coincidentally complemented each other perfectly.
Start of the translation:
The US Navy cannot escape the missiles of Russia and China
You can hear really alarming sounds on Western TV channels. The visit of the Chinese Minister of Defense to Moscow is almost even more disturbing than that of the Chinese head of state Xi Jinping in March, because he already has a certain system. "China has become Russia's biggest supporter since the beginning of the Ukraine conflict," says Western media.
At a meeting with President Putin, Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who, by the way, only recently took office and immediately travelled to Moscow afterwards, stressed that the alliance between Moscow and Beijing was not directed against anyone. It is primarily there for the fact that there is more than one pole of influence in the world, and first and foremost, of course, for the security of our countries.
"They came to Russia after the visit of our great friend, my friend, the President of the People's Republic of China, Comrade Xi Jinping. I would like to emphasize once again that the visit was very productive, of course we also addressed cooperation at the military level. We regularly exchange information and hold joint maneuvers in different locations: in the Far East, in Europe, at sea, on land and in the air," stressed Vladimir Putin.
"It is a great pleasure for me to be in Russia. Cooperation between our countries in the military field is developing very well. It makes a great contribution to global security," says Li Shangfu.
Russia and China are building close relations in the defense sector, which requires the development of various aspects. One of the most important aspects is joint training. On the second day of his visit, Li Shanfu had every reason to visit the Academy of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces. Among the graduates of this academy are many Chinese officers who occupy high positions in their armed forces. In the near future, the Chinese representation here will be the largest of all states.
The wagon column enters the courtyard and the minister is received by the head of the academy. Inside, the history of the academy, which was founded under Nicholas I, is presented. Li Shanfu visits the museum and the classrooms. The minister brought a large delegation: some looked with interest at the icons of the heavenly patron saints, others took photos with the bust of the Russian tsar.
"In the walls of the military academy, many Chinese military personnel have studied and will continue to study. We are very grateful to our Russian friends for that. They know that the world is currently in chaos. That's why security and defense are very important to us," said the Minister of Defense.
The Chinese military are trained here in a special faculty. Twenty new students from the People's Republic of China will be accepted in the autumn.
"We already have a good understanding of each other's tactics and strategy. But there are other nuances, such as offensive and defensive operations, exchange of information, communication in the hinterland. These things require a high degree of cooperation. In my opinion, this is a deeper story. We are deepening cooperation, especially on a technological level, which is more effective than simply making new alliances," said Professor Alexei Maslov, director of the Institute for Asia and Africa at the Moscow Lomonosov State University.
The joint maneuver shows that the two armies can work together successfully. China and Russia are now carrying out separate maneuvers in their respective areas of responsibility. For the 14th In April, an unannounced inspection of the Pacific fleet was announced. The entire Russian armed forces in the Far East are on high alert.
The atomic submarine "Tomsk" dives in the haze on the horizon. The underwater missile cruiser is a real aircraft carrier hunter with cruise missiles on board. We approach him with a tug, which is accompanied by a special unit. The crew of the nuclear submarine "Tomsk" performs their duties at any time of the day and in any weather. The submarine crew, according to the legend of the maneuver, exercises a simulated blow against an enemy aircraft carrier group.
The target was discovered at a distance of more than 200 kilometers. The rocket launches themselves were practiced many times by the crew. The "Tomsk" is an entire city of metal with dozens of rooms on the decks that the submarine crew knows exactly. On the submarine there are four decks and many corridors, real labyrinths that are more than one kilometer long: In four hours, a guard can cover up to five kilometers if the soldiers go from post to post. Almost immediately after the shooting, the submarine set sail. It joined a group of other submarines.
The forces of the Pacific fleet are supported during the unannounced inspection by long-haul aircraft. The Tu-95MS long-range bombers patrolled the waters of the Bering and Okhotsk Seas. Directly during the flight, there was a refueling by an IL-78 tanker aircraft. Tu-22M3 long-range bombers are also active in the Sea of the Japanese Sea.
Power and strength: It is a true armada of ships that are in a single combat formation. Submarines, rocket boats, corvettes and frigates. The shooting takes place from the frigate Marshal Schapzhnikov. Kinzahl missiles fly to their targets.
Ka-27M helicopters with hydroacoustic tracking devices help to track down enemy submarines. The targets are forwarded to a group that tracks down an enemy submarine. At the head of this group is the corvette "Gromky". After the enemy submarine has been tracked down, the small anti-ship ships attack it with reactive water bombs. With its armament, the corvette can destroy both sea targets and air and ground targets, such as the enemy's fortifications.
The crews have practiced the use of passive jammers. The clouds literally hide the ship from the means of destruction by directing the guidance systems at them. During this time, the fast and maneuverable ship can dodge an attack. At the end of the maneuvers, the helicopters return to the ships. Landing on a corvette is a really challenging task that can only be mastered by real professionals.
"Bal" rocket launchers were stationed on Kamchatka and the Kuril. The coastal missile complexes "Bastion", which are in action on the islands of the Kuril's ridge of Matua and Paramushir, were also put on alert. At Cape Klerka, marines practiced the relocation with large landing ships to the landing sites.
"It is the first time that an exercise of this kind has taken place, in which an unannounced inspection was a surprise not only for the inspectors, but also for the command headquarters. Our naval infantry and coastal missile systems have used the combat experience they gained in the military operation during this inspection," said naval commander-in-chief Nikolai Yevmenov.
The second phase of the maneuver took place in the southern Sea of Okhotsk. The result is a curious constellation in this part of the Pacific Ocean, which primarily does not bode well for the US Federation. In this region there are valuable US naval bases in Japan and South Korea. From there, the Americans provoke China. The US destroyer Milius crossed the controversial road of Taiwan this week. The US Navy spoke of a "routine" passage. The passage was not hindered, since both the Milius and the entire 7. US fleet, which is mainly concentrated on Japanese bases in the ports of Sasebo and Yokosuka, are now sealed off. On the side of Taiwan is the Chinese Navy, on the side of the Kuril the Russian Pacific Fleet.
"If you look at the map, there is a huge arc for half of the Western Hemisphere fromchukotka to Vietnam - this arc runs through the territory of the Russian Federation and China. And this is a bow of security created by the Pacific fleet and the Chinese fleet, of course the two fleets stand here back to back," noted military observer and reserve colonel Viktor Litowkin.
The Chinese ships have now come even closer. China carries out maneuvers in the Yellow Sea, very close to the American bases. China has already overtaken the USA in the number of ships in 2020. This week it was announced that the Pentagon is spending the record $200 billion on submarines to restore parity with Russia and, according to Newsweek, to draw China into the arms race: "The increase in US submarines could force the Chinese to spend money on the same technology and exhaust their resources."
At the same time, the USA is pumping weapons to Taiwan, and Japanese and South Korean ships are set sail, allegedly in response to Pyongyang's aggressive action.
"The USA, which always fights with other people's hands, is of course pushing Japan into a conflict with the Russian Federation. Japan regularly carries out maneuvers with the naval forces of the USA and South Korea. This week, maneuvers took place in the same region, each involving three destroyers from South Korea, Japan and the USA. They practiced the defense against rocket attacks with shorter and medium range," said the military journalist and captain First Ranges Vasily Fatigarov.
The relationship of the naval forces in the region is not at all in favor of the USA. The 7. Fleet, led by the aircraft carrier "Ronald Reagan", has three nuclear-powered submarines, three cruisers and eight destroyers. If you count all ships, there are a total of about fifty ships and boats. Russia and China have the aircraft carrier Liaoning, the cruiser Varyag, 25 destroyers, 22 frigates and 16 nuclear-powered submarines, including the latest K-573 Novosibirsk.
"The joint association of the Russian and Chinese Pacific fleets surpasses everything there is there as a whole - Japan, the USA, Korea and other countries that support them. In this situation, of course, we have the upper hand. In addition, we must be aware that there is also a coastal association that has a defense system, especially in China. They have developed hypersonic missiles that can hit any aircraft carrier group in the USA at hypersonic speed, and there is no escape from them," says military expert and head of the Center for the Study of Military and Political Conflicts Andrej Klintsevitsch.
Even if this has not been officially announced anywhere, the synchronicity of the actions of Moscow and Beijing is remarkable. On the one hand, the Chinese maneuvers are unprecedented in their power, because they are a response to the aggressive actions of the West - for example, to the visit of the Taiwanese head of state to the USA, which represented another provocation. On the other hand, there are Russian naval maneuvers. And all this happens at the same time as the visit of Chinese Defense Secretary Li Shangfu, the general who has been under US sanctions for five years. The general's arrival in Moscow seems to be a clear signal for Washington. The Chinese minister arrived at the defense control center at the Frunsenskaja dam on the third day of his visit.
Russia and China now carry out joint maneuvers much more often. In the second half of 2021 alone, the Chinese People's Liberation Army and the Russian army met at least three times for joint maneuvers. Last year, China and Russia conducted naval exercises in the East China Sea, joint sea patrols in the Pacific Ocean and air patrols over the Sea of Japan, the East China Sea and the western Pacific.
End of translation
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(1) Tucker Carlson: It is hard to believe this is happening - YouTube
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Zelensky Signs Law Banning Russian Place Names in Ukraine - The New York Times
Zelensky Signs Law Banning Russian Place Names in Ukraine - The New York Times
FM: John Whitbeck
I am, frankly, mystified by President Zelensky's ongoing and intensifying counter-hearts and-minds campaign, a campaign which has been barely mentioned in mainstream Western media but whose latest installment is reported matter-of-factly and approvingly in the NEW YORK TIMES article transmitted below.
Some will recall that virtually the first act of the new American-selected-and-installed Ukrainian government after the anti-Russian coup in 2014 was to strip the Russian language of its status as one of the two official languages of Ukraine, a gratuitously Russophobic act which, unsurprisingly, immediately triggered the separatist rebellion in the majority-Russophone Donbass.
Presumably, President Zelensky believes that fueling an intense level of hatred of everyone and everything Russian will prove useful in keeping the population of western Ukraine onside for continuing the war over control of eastern and southern Ukraine "for as long as it takes".
However, if he genuinely expects to "liberate" any of the five eastern and southern oblasts annexed by Russia and to control and govern them afterwards, one would think that he would be seeking to make those living there who are linguistically and culturally Russian feel welcome and respected, not unwelcome and detested.
In this context, it is worth noting that, in addition to Ukraine's banning of the political parties historically most popular in the contested oblasts and its banning of the patriarchate of the Russian Orthodox Church and arrests of the church's leaders, a close advisor of President Zelensky recently stated that Ukraine is planning to hold "treason" trials for those in the contested oblasts who have "collaborated" with the Russian administrations there once Ukraine has "liberated" them from Russian control.
In light of President Zelensky's counter-hearts-and-minds campaign, a highly significant percentage of the Russophone populations of the contested oblasts must feel petrified at the prospect of being "liberated".
NOTE: It is not clear from the TIMES report whether, in accordance with the new law, current Ukrainian citizens who wish to remain Ukrainian citizens but who cannot demonstrate a "knowledge of Ukrainian language and history" deemed adequate and politically acceptable by the Ukrainian authorities will be stripped of their Ukrainian citizenship and rendered stateless.
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