Satellite Conspiracy

The satellite was destroyed on Wednesday, February 20 using a modified SM-3 missile fired by a U.S. Navy warship off the coast of Hawaii. The operation to shoot down the orbiting spacecraft was clearly designed to send a message to both Russia and China, America’s two major competitors in the race for military dominance in space. Interestingly, the SM-3 missile used to shoot down the satellite forms the terminal phase of the anti-ballistic missile system currently being developed by the Bush administration.



According to the Pentagon, the out-of-control satellite had to be brought down because the toxic fuel it was carrying, hydrazine, had frozen and so could not be used to guide the satellite into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up. According to the Pentagon, the toxic fuel posed a significant risk to human health, given the impossibility of predicting where or when the satellite was going to come down. There was also some speculation on whether the satellite contained other potentially hazardous materials, such as a nuclear power source. The Pentagon certainly kept quiet about that.



Both Russia and China, along with many experts around the world, have dismissed the Pentagon’s hazardous fuel argument, saying there are many instances of satellites falling to Earth harmlessly before and it is unprecedented for such action to be taken against a rogue satellite. In 2002, for example, parts of a science satellite rained down over the Persian Gulf. The most spectacular case, however, of a satellite falling to Earth took place when Skylab, a 78-ton abandoned space laboratory belonging to NASA, fell from orbit in 1979. It came down in a fiery mass of debris strewn over the Indian Ocean and Australia. No one was harmed in that incident, but the event was a media sensation at the time.



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China and Russia have expressed their concern over the shooting down of the US satellite. There have been instances in the past of satellites falling safely. They are concerned that the satellite could have contained no technologies or even space weapons that the US is trying to keep a secret from Russia. This instance has definitely hurt our relationship with both China and Russia, and it may be a while until we actually find out what was on that satellite.

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Ukraine, free from Radars

Russia will no longer use Soviet-made radars in Ukraine due to its attempts to become NATO’s member. Russia’s lower House of Parliament voted to stop using the radars but extended deal that calls on the neighboring state to maintain Russia's intercontinental ballistic missiles.

The move reflects strong military industrial ties between the countries, the AP reported. Deputy Defense Minister Nikolai Pankov aid that Ukraine’s strong will to join NATO had made the military to reconsider the agreement.

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With Ukraine's constant push to become part of NATO, it is almost as if Russia just now recognized their "rights" as a country. This removing of satellites and radars that have monitoring Ukraine for many years now shows some progress for both countries. Russia has decided to trust Ukraine enough to remove their equipment, and Ukraine has gained enough attention to be recognized. For the most part I am unsure if the radars were doing much good seeing how they were left over from the Soviet Union. With inaccurate readings it was best they were removed before the "untrue" readings sparked unnecessary conflict between the countries. This proved as a major step for both countries, and will hopefully become a peaceful relation for both countries.

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Can you communicate with the nether world?

Sesnational news from the spirit-world came just the day 2 planes crashed in Russia. While Federal Security Service staff was clearing away the wreckage in the places of the accident in Rostov and Tula regions, the scientists of Saint Petersburg already knew that was an act of terrorism. They got interested strange sounds heard in the ultra short waves that are free from radio signal. When the scientists scrolled down the record, they were astounded. It said: That was a terrorist”.

That was a sensation. The words were replayed on “Saint Petersburg Radio” air. Non-believers finally realized that the other world really exists.

A University of Radio technique professor Artem Mikheev got interested in this question. He found “Russian Instrumental Transcommunication” – an organization aimed to cooperate with the nether world.

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Russian Prime Minister Jailed

Former Russian minister Yevgeny Adamov has been sentenced to five and a half years in prison for abusing his office and embezzling more than $30m. On Tuesday, the former atomic energy minister was found guilty of setting up a criminal gang, illegally seizing property and acting against the state.

Adamov, who denied the charges, was arrested in Switzerland in 2005 after a US request, but extradited to Russia. The US accuses him of embezzling $9m it donated to improve nuclear safety. The US had also requested his extradition.

A Russian prosecutor had asked the court to sentence Adamov, who served as minister from 1998 to 2001, to nine years in jail.

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This could be one of the major reasons Russia's finances have become erratic. Now that they have identified where the missing money has gone, hopefully they can get themselves back on track. If Russia was smart they would start looking more closely into where and how the governments money is spent. This would help their economy and would help stabilize all of the redistributing of budgets.

To look at the real picture though, there is always the temptation for self-gain when one is in politics. With a system like Russia, where most of the ministers and such are allowed to be a step above the law, the temptation only grows. With the loose style the politicians are allowed to rule in, it is not extremely surprising to see someone gaining some pocket change.

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Khodorkovsky ends hunger strike

Jailed Russian tycoon Mikhail Khodorkovsky said on Monday he had ended a hunger strike he began last month in protest at the treatment of a jailed colleague who is gravely ill with HIV/AIDS

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The food given in prison is terrible, nobody no matter what you did deserves to eat the food they serve, this man stood for what he believed a maybe his protest will be a success.

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And the debt continues...

MOSCOW (Thomson Financial) - Russian gas monopoly Gazprom and Ukraine have failed to reach a deal on resolving a dispute over debts owed by Kiev for Russian natural gas, but talks will continue, news agencies reported.

'The meeting is finished. Talks will continue,' Gapzrom spokesman Sergei Kupriyanov was quoted as saying by Interfax and RIA Novosti news agencies after talks between Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko and Gazprom chief Alexei Miller.

On February 12, President Vladimir Putin and his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yushchenko announced a deal in principle to avert a threatened gas cut-off over Kiev's debts, but the agreement has yet to be finalised.


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The attempt to resolve the Ukrainian debt has failed. Yet again Russia is having to deal with money that is in debt to them. Here in the US we are generally the ones in debt, but apparently everyone owes Russia money. Russia must be at least fairly stable economically if they don't have to resolve these debts immediately. Whether or not these debts will be resolved in the near future has yet to be seen, but as of current Ukraine still owes money to Russia.

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Medvedev Ahead in the Polls...Surprise?

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin's anointed successor, Dmitry Medvedev, has the support of 70.4 percent of the voters and will easily win the presidential election next weekend, a poll on Thursday showed.

Strongly backed by both the Kremlin and state-controlled media Medvedev, who is first deputy prime minister, leads his nearest challenger by a healthy margin, pollster VTsIOM said.

Nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky is Medvedev's nearest rival with 10.7 percent support, followed by Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov at 10.3 percent, VTsIOM said.

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The election is fast approaching in Russia and as early indications showed Dmitry Medvedev is a shoe in. Seventy percent in polls is a large margin over the next closest competitor with only ten percent. The high percentage of support is an example of the power that Putin has over the country by suggesting who the next leader be. For example if President Bush were to come out and say that he supported McCain for the next president, would McCain suddenly be in the lead with 70%? That would most likely not be the case. Because of Putin's pull we must ask ourselves is it because of a high legitimacy of the government or is it out of pure fear?

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Algeria plans to return 15 fighter jets to Russia

Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought from Russia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday, citing an official from...

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The world today is obsessed with creating technology cheaper, but at good quality when he disscover that russia is producing things that are not as good quality, it makes me wonder if is it just laziness or is it that our level of standards are decreasing.

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Presidents of Georgia and Russia to meet

One of the main topics of the meeting that will take place between Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow today will be the restoration of Georgia's territorial integrity, Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Bakradze announced today. Saakashvili has already flown out to Moscow. Bakradze is also looking forward to constructive meetings regarding the two countries' bilateral relations, while harboring some "cautious optimism" on a number of matters. The Foreign Minister hopes that the meeting of the two leaders will give some concrete positive results.

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• These two countries have been through alot in the past, it is good to see that russia is trying to help stregthen Georgia's territorial integrity, instead of engaging into a conflict.

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Russian Arms Deals

Algeria wants to return 15 fighter jets it bought fromRussia because of their poor quality, the Kommersant daily reported on Monday,citing an official from Russia's state United Aerospace Corporation.

The official said Russia was proposing to take back the
MiG-29 jets, which were delivered to Algeria in 2006 and 2007, but only if Algeria bought more modern and expensive planes such as the MiG-29M2 or the MiG-35.

Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika was to meet his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin for talks on "military cooperation" in the Kremlin on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told AFP, without giving further details.

In return for Russia agreeing to cancel Algeria's Soviet-era debts, Algerian authorities bought Russian arms worth 6.3 billion dollars, including 3.5 billion dollars in fighter jets, during a visit by Putin to Algeria in 2006.

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After Russia erased the debt of Algeria, there was an agreement that Algeria would buy arms from Russia. If Russia is trying to make quick arms money, it would probably be easier for them to sell up to date equitment. These jets they tried to pass of on Algeria were made and used in the 1980's, most of the planes have been used and they are falling apart. Russia needs to find a new route of money making, because thier planes are being returned. So now they have lost money, and they are trying to keep the algerian buisness by selling them only slightly better planes.

The planes Russia is selling are not even remotely comparable to the technology available today. I predict that Algeria and many other countries may switch to buying French weapons that are better in quality. This would force the Russia economy to focus on more up to date products.

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Unrest due to EU mission to Kosovo

Russia said on Wednesday, Feb. 20, that sending an EU mission to Kovoso would be a breach of international law, and called the plan symbolic of the West's double standard in recognizing Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

The European Union has already agreed to send a mission to Kosovo, consisting of some 2,000 police officers, justice and customs officials to aid and train authorities there and help stabilize the region following Kosovo's declaration of independence.

Russia on Wednesday said Kosovo's proclamation of independence was a "gross violation" of international law and said the EU mission had no legal basis since the decision was made without approval from the U.N. Security Council.

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Russia is again upset at the actions of the EU over the issue with Kosovo. Due to actions of the EU Russia may become hostile to some of its members or use its power in the UN in the future for its good rather than the good of the world. It will be interesting to see what happens over this violation of international law, and whether or not the EU will face consequences for their actions.

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Russia Criticises Iran

"We don't approve of Iran's permanent demonstration of its intentions to develop its rocket sector and continue to enrich uranium," Mr Lavrov said. Mr Lavrov said Iran should refrain from raising international tensions.

Iran has been trying to develop the nuclear fuel capabilities and earlier this month fired a rocket into space. "It's impossible to ignore the fact that problems with Iran's nuclear programme have arisen in recent years," Mr Lavrov was quoted by Russia's Interfax news agency as saying.

"While they haven't been resolved it would be better to refrain from actions that raise tensions and create the impression Iran is ignoring the international community," he said. Mr Lavrov was speaking as he travelled back from an EU-Russia meeting in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

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So Russia disagrees with Iran trying to "show off" their nuclear rockets. I find this entire situation extremely humorous. I don't know what Russia was thinking when THEY sold Iran Uranium. Of course I guess you could say they thought they were using it for peaceful purposes. However, either Russia is extremely blind, or they are trying to cover up for their mistakes.

This could be a way of mending some relations with the West, by appearing to care about Iran's nuclear problems. I seriously doubt it though. There is no way that Russia will get away with saying they knew nothing about Iran's missile program. This recent stance on the issue will not clear their name from creating the problem.

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