I have had a wonderful laugh at this video that features an ignorant Will Smith that reacted very badly to a normal thing in Russia or Ukraine. The dreaded Russian Man Kiss and Hug…
Will Smiths reaction to a Ukraine reporter is priceless and you can just see the delayed reaction to a normal Russian reaction. Now I feel that the reporter should have known better and he was wrong in trying the greeting that he did…
I have written before about this kind of stuff and my last post on it was when I had an argument with an off duty cop in Russia and when we were done he hugged me. A 300+ pound gorilla hugged me and thanked me…
That is normal in Russia and happens all the time, as well as guys kissing on the cheeks. If Will Smith had stopped long enough to not react he would have been kissed on both cheeks and all would have been good…
I will never forget the first time a Russian man hugged me and kissed me on the cheek. My brain went into defensive mode and I was like, “Hey, you not my daddy!” Of course I kept it inside as this was not my country and I had to learn what right and wrong was first before I would react and cause an issue…
Yes – Americans have a much much farther personal space around them than Russians and Ukrainians do. Will Smith should have known this, just like the reporter should have known the issue from the other side also…
Yes I had a wonderful laugh at this and finally had to say something about it, because it just does not die in the Western media…
The New York Times says: Pakistan — At least 10 alleged militants were killed on Thursday when an American drone struck a compound in northwestern Pakistan, government officials said… (End of death report and we go into why it is good we do this! Hmm…)
Then I look around a little bit and find: The airstrike targeted a compound in the North Waziristan tribal area, and also damaged a nearby mosque and residences… (RIA in Russia said this!)
Then I found several Pakistan new sources and they are really upset: Local tribesmen said the missiles hit the village mosque where a number of people were offering their Fajr, or morning prayer. They said 10 bodies were pulled from the debris and that efforts were underway to retrieve many others. A Pakistani security official based in the area also said the drone targeted a mosque in Hasukhel and killed many local villagers… (Now that is the same story that NYT printed except NYT put the American twist for the brain-dead masses on it! I have also seen a few Main Stream recently pick this up from the news wire, but they are keeping this item on the back page!)
So the real story for those who care at all is:
Pakistan – At least 10 people, maybe more, killed in a illegal drone strike by the USA. Actually the second strike this week. The drone fired missiles at a residential area and a mosque during the prayer session. The US is claiming that it was possible that the 10 killed were militants, but the US does not have any proof and calls them “alleged militants…”
The North Wazirstan a tribal area went under attack today as drones from an invasion by the US, killed innocent people in what could only be described as an act of war, after Pakistan has asked numerous times for the US to cease and desist on killer her people in these barbaric acts…
Recover operations are under way as they excavate the residential section and the mosque in an attempt to save as many people as they can. According to a Pakistan Security Official another mosque was also targeted in Hasukhel and many civilians were killed in that illegal operation as well. Doctors at the Mir Ali hospital said six wounded had been brought in. Among those wounded, one died and four others were in critical condition…
It is being asked by the Pakistani people as to why and what makes it fair that we are killed as we sleep, work, play and pray in our everyday lives? What did we do to the USA people?
One thing that Russia has is dandelions and Russians love their dandelions and now we find out that these particular dandelions make good tires… 🙂
Bridgestone Americas is one of several collaborators taking part in the Russian Dandelion project being led by PENRA – the Program for Excellence in Natural Rubber Alternatives – based at the Ohio State University’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. The company’s specific role in the project is to scrutinize the performance of the rubber produced by using natural rubber extracted from Russian Dandelion. (Link)
That cup of coffee is wonderful this morning, the temperature reached +12 this morning and tonight they promise +8. That is Celsius for those that are metric-less in knowledge. That comes out to be 53+ this morning and it will be around +46 tonight in Fahrenheit degrees…
So a cup of real coffee was in order today as I tried some of the Turkish coffee that we brought home on our last trip to Turkey. Sveta is in the mood to go to Turkey again and I think that is a good idea. So maybe when fall comes we will take a trip back to Turkey land…
I had some thinking’s going on in my little head and one of the first was about this Facebook IPO! Now this has got to be the biggest bunch of bull since the Dot-Com Bubble crash and it looks as though people are no smarter than they were then and as always, after a few get rich the rest get poorer. Reminds me of the old Pyramid Scams and I see these scams going on in Russia as I write this. I am noticing that the Facebook scam is starting to slide downhill and hopefully like a snowball it will grow and become an avalanche that will take Facebook down with it. Face it Facebook, You suck…
I received a snail mail from America. It was sent by an very old time friend of mine who lives in the heartland. It took three months to get here from America. Actually I was surprised that it got here at all being that the American postal service is flat busted and the Russian postal service is pathetic at best. But it is still a cool way to send things and now I have some neat USA stamps for my collection. When I send back a letter he will get some cool Russian stamps in return and that my friend is what it is all about. We have lost that cool part of snail mail. The stamps from all over the world…
I will mention one more thing about my friend. He is serious about coming to Russia and is working on his passport right now. I hope he gets it and maybe I can get him to give me details about what he had to do to get it. I look forward to him, maybe coming to Russia and will try to help in all ways possible…
Now I found this a truthful tidbit of information in Russian news and North Korea has said it, “North Korea said that it will press on with its nuclear program as a response to what it described as hostility from the United States…”
Wow what a profound statement of truth and if America would get its head out of its own ass and realize that she is responsible for most of the turmoil in the world right now about Nukes, then maybe the world can get on with the business of survival and not warmongering. My god, any country in the world has to have a nuke just to get the Western world to not bomb the hell out of it for its resources. If I ran a country in this world, and I had to deal with scum countries that try to control your land, Then I would do what I had to, to keep them out of my country. Then if you had a track record like America over trust, you would definitely be looking over your shoulder while the president of the USA was shaking your hand and smiling at you. Because as soon as he left, you would have drones in your sky hunting your ass…
So while North Korea is telling some truths, my thinking’s shifted to the rallies here in Russia. I will tell you that Russian people are sick of a tiny minority of them being paid to cause issues, stirring up trouble. Now the minority groups are ganging together to just keep the numbers up. Now we have the gay rights groups and all the foreign groups hanging with the almost dead in the water opposition group. They sit around and tell poems and sing songs and milk cows in the downtown Moscow. Maybe they need to go and hug some trees that they have given up on to save and quit bothering the normal people in Russia. I am sure that the trees would appreciate their love much more and then the downtown Moscow would not be a hobo camp. The hobo camp moves around like a slow moving stream around Moscow and they get 10 to 20 arrested at a time and then they are let out in a few hours. Why even the Western press has lost interest in their stooges in Moscow and have other things to write about now…
I sure would like my tax money to go to better things than paying Russians with American money to yell about Putin. Maybe Russia needs to pay people in America to yell nasty things about Obama and lets see how America responds when they realize that Russia is paying the dredges of society to rally around a hate campaign in America…
Last but far from least thinking today is about me being grouchy! You would be also if you had to deal with a huge almost third degree burn on your belly. It is starting to heal and is a huge area. I say about another month + and it will be okay tolerable. If you remember I burned myself very very badly in the village and the original burn is the least of the worries and pain. It is the healing of a terrible burn that sucks and is like going to drive me crazy. That is okay though, because we have to pay for our stupidity and I am paying for my stupidity. No infection and healing nicely, what more could I want? 🙂
I have been using a pain killer called NICE that I have used before and it does work but I try to take it only once ever few days. I despise taking pills for pain and just suffer and make Sveta’s life miserable, maybe that is why she likes work so much lately…
Oh one last thing that caught my eye…
The Japanese yen strengthened against the dollar on Wednesday after the Bank of Japan failed to unveil any new easing measures. At the same time, the euro slipped ahead of a gathering of European Union leaders later in the day.
Does a headline like that make you realize how stupid the world is? It does me! I know that Japan has by far the highest debt to GDP ratio of any major economy…
Now that means either one thing or another. The dollar is worth nothing or we play games and I see it as the answer is all of the above. Worth nothing and games all together. The yen is always strengthening against the dollar and Japan is always interfering in that strengthening. Otherwise the yen would be worth more than a dollar before long. Seriously, I have watched and if over the last few years, Japan had not interfered and intentionally affected the yen, then I bet you would have 2 $ for 1 yen right now. Instead we have – 1Â USD = 79.53 JPY as of today and when the yen strengthens the world shudders…
Sveta and travel and we watch what the ratio of that countries money is to the dollar: Russia is happy with 30 to 1, Georgia is 1.6 to 1, Ukraine is 8 to 1, India 55 to 1 and so on and so on and so on. The point is that everyone has their ratio that is happiness for them and as with Russia, they do not care to be one to one in ratio, they want to be 30 to 1 and that is that…
So when the countries currency changes to0 much against the dollar, then panic sets in and money exchanges hands to keep the currencies in line or within a window as Russia puts it…
When one looks at the average television photo of America they see one of two buildings; the Capitol Building (with the large dome), or the White House. When one sees Russian news on TV, the footage typically shows Red Square and the Kremlin. In both American photos there are no Churches. In Red Square alone there are more than 3. Counting all the churches and parishes in the Kremlin there are over 20.
According to data from 2008, more than half of District residents identify as Christian: 28% of residents are Baptists, 13% are Roman Catholic, and 31% are members of other Christian denominations. Residents who practice other faiths make up 6% of the population and 18% do not adhere to a religion. So a total of 96% of people in Washington DC claim to be religious; that is 577655 people, 2534 Churches, In Moscow the total is 91.294%. There are 1943741 believers, and 198000 Churches. In Washington DC there are finding the number of synagogues was difficult but appears to be 677. In Moscow there is little data on the number of synagogues but 638 is often cited. Among the Christians in Moscow are not only Russian Orthodox, who admittedly dominate in numbers, but also Baptists, Lutherans, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons, and more.
Why is this important? Many if not most Americans still think that Russia is an atheist power bent on world domination. Russia has not started a war since the war to retain Chechnya. In the meantime the United States has started no less than 5 and is looking awfully close to starting wars in Iran and Syria as well. Hardly Christian behavior unless one feels the crusades, which largely involved raping and pillaging often including nuns, Christian. Indeed Christian America has attained Trotsky’s concept of permanent revolution.
It is of extreme importance that when America insists Russia is an unfree state run by an evil dictator named Pyutin (How Americans can mispronounce Putin is beyond me ;Pooh Tin simple as that) that they consider they have the same colors, red white and blue, the same national bird, the eagle, the same number of Christians and Jews more less in their capitals, and many other similarities. Christians should be against all wars but especially initiating them and blind hatred for the Russian Federation, and other former Soviet Nations due to the crimes of the Soviet oppressors is simply bigotry. America prides itself on how religious, and especially Christian it is; it is high time that it recognize its Russian neighbor is no less so.
George Green
George Edward Green III has been a journalist since 1997, and written for several Technology, Financial, and Libertarian Publications. He lives near a large monastery in West Ukraine not far from Lvov. He authors at site: and has many articles that are of interest. His Twitter is https://twitter.com/#!/kharaku
As you know I love to post articles about these wonderful Russian Tall Ships that Russia seems to have a lot of. So today lets talk about one called Sedov, it is starting its first around the world trip…
The Sedov is a 4-masted steel barque and the first sailing ship with an modern auxiliary engine, to help it navigate. The Sedov originally known as Magdalene Vinnen II was from Germany and as with many of the Tall Ships Russia has, it was acquired as reparation after WWII was over in 1945…
I am not sure how many ships like this Russia got, but it seems that it was more than a few and Russia has valued them highly over the years…
The Sedov’s route will be nearly the same as the route of the first Russian world trip on a sailing vessel, which took place in 1803-1806. That legendary expedition was headed by Ivan Krusenstern. Sedov’s trip will last 14 months. It will cover more than 42,000 miles in the Arctic, the Pacific and the Indian Oceans, and visit more than 30 foreign ports…
Things always come out in the end. I wrote an article about Putin sending a message to Obama, when he declined the G8 meeting at Camp David and now the NATO meeting in Chicago. His refusal took the surprise move by America off the shelf and all that happens is that NATO loving Russian hating cretins, babble for joy as we work our way toward WWIII in the future…
Now it makes sense and while the Russian haters are dancing in the street for joy at what NATO Secretary-General Fogh Rasmussen says, “The European missile shield is up and running!” (Link)
Now you know why Medvedev was sent…
The Western Empire will not let the “Cold War” die a peaceful death and are trying everything in their power to revive the “Cold War…”
The G8 Summit was a total disaster and farce as was the NATO meeting. Riots and and cops where the real name of the game. What did come out of all this though is that it looks like after the G8 Summit and NATO meeting, that Russia and China are very close on positions in and on the world issues! It is also amazing to see the difference in presses, between Russia and America. Russia actually gives equal time to opposition and government. (In fact many times it is slanted to the opposition!) It is so pro-government in American media, that it is almost scary…
I know from what I am seeing by my eyes personally, is that Russia is definitely leaning toward relations with China…
But then why not? It is win win for Russia and China both…
Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!
PS: I find it interesting that American main media makes a bigger ta-do out of Russian rallies than they do about the ones at home. The image above looks a lot like a Russian rally except it is in Chicago. The main stream media reported that the rallies were peaceful for the most part in Chicago and how wonderful the police are. The blogs reported the truth and showed the picture that the main media does not want to be shown…
The County Attorney says, 9-year-old Anton Fomin was killed a fire out in Davey. They say they’re still investigating the child’s death and the cause of the fire but neighbors say they heard a loud explosion.
Investigators won’t say much other than the explosion possibly came from a propane tank.
“At this time the information we have is very limited and the investigation is on-going. We know there was a family member inside the home at the time of the fire. Pending autopsy results, we’ll have further information at a later time,” said LSO, Chad Bryant.
Fomin’s brother and grandfather were there this morning to speak with deputies. Again, the cause of the fire and any other information have not been released. (Link)
But the Russian news has this…
Anton Fomin, a 9-year old boy from Russia, adopted by US parents, has died in a fire.
This came in a statement by the Russian Ombudsman for Children under the Russian President, Pavel Astakhokv.
He asked Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to assume personal control over the ongoing investigation and find out if the foster parents are to blame for the boy’s death.
According to US officials, the fire broke out late at night, when the boy was possibly locked in the basement and could not get out into the open on his own. (RIA)
I found it interesting that there is no mention of the fact that the boy is Russian and the fact that he was locked up in the basement in any of the American news items I found, but in the news on this side of the world there is a whole lot more information and it seems that Russia is having some issue with what happened…
I will keep an eye on this one it has caught my interest…
Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia!
Update: A day after firefighters find the body of a 9-year-old boy in a charred home, now those who knew the boy are asking questions.
Those who knew Anton Fomin and lived near him say they are shocked and saddened by the death of the 9-year-old.
One viewer who sent us an email says she fondly remembers Fomin. She said, “Anton was a sweet lovable little boy.”
Because the case involves a death, the State Fire Marshal’s Office and the Lancaster County Sheriff have referred us to the Lancaster County Attorney.
We are waiting an update from County Attorney Joe Kelly as to the cause of the fire and the cause of Fomin’s death. Officials told us this is standard operating procedure when a death occurs.
Investigators continue to look into the cause of the fire which destroyed the home.
Taylor lives next door to the home where Fomin’s body was found.
“I just knew they had some kids and he was a truck driver but we never really got a chance to meet them. It’s tragic that happening to any family.”
And those who knew the boy say they want answers. That same viewer who emailed us said,” I hope your reporters keep digging into this tragedy.”
Hmm! Still nothing that is conclusive. As I said I will keep after this and as I find information I will print it….
Update:
U.S. EMBASSY MOSCOW, RUSSIA Media note
May 22, 2012
Statement on the Death of Russian-born Child Anton Fomin in Nebraska Fire
U.S. Embassy Moscow was deeply saddened by the death of Russian-born child Anton Fomin. According to media reports, nine-year-old Anton died on May 17 in a fire at his foster parents’ home in Davey, Nebraska. We understand the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire. The death of any child is a tragedy, and our condolences go out to Anton’s family and community.
Contrary to unsubstantiated reports, however, Anton immigrated to the United States with his biological parents, not through intercountry adoption. While the Department of State has no official role in this case, we will provide Russian officials with all available information and help them liaise with the Nebraska authorities.
I also have discovered that it was positive? (according to Western media) that his dad (Russian) died years ago and his mother who is Russian was not able to care for him. He was in the household of a church family and as of right now he was left alone in the house. Russia seems to have jumped the gun on one thing about adoption, but it also seems that he was definitely not with his correct family when he died. Confusion to Russia was the fact he was not with his real parents or parent at the time of death…
Why was he left alone in the basement? and where was everyone else? he was 9 years old…
Like I said from the beginning the stories did not match up and I am seeing an issue get bigger and bigger here. I hope we find out the truth…
I want the answer to was he locked in or not…
Kyle Keeton
Update: Just a few hours ago this was printed:
The United States government tried to head off a diplomatic row with Russia on Tuesday after Russian officials demanded an investigation into the death of a Russian child in an adoptive American family. American news media reported last week that Anton Fomin, a nine-year old Russian child adopted into a Nebraska family, died in a house fire while his parents were gone. On Monday, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, demanded an investigation, saying that American investigators had established that the child had been locked in the basement. “Either the boy was punished or he was neglected and got into the basement accidentally,” Mr. Astakhov said, according to RIA Novosti news service. “Why the boy was locked in the basement and why he could not get out, we will ask the U.S. attorneys about this.” The United States Embassy in Moscow expressed its condolences to the child’s family on Tuesday, and corrected what it called “unsubstantiated reports” that he was brought to the United States through an adoption program. “Anton immigrated to the United States with his biological parents, not through intercountry adoption,” the statement said. Russian authorities have repeatedly criticized lax checks on adoptive American parents after a spate of high profile deaths involving negligent and abusive families. Last December, Mr. Astakhov threatened to demand a moratorium on adoptions by Americans after a Pennsylvania court released a pair of adoptive parents with time served after they were convicted of involuntary manslaughter in the death of a child. (Western News source: New York Times)
This is getting interesting and we at Windows to Russia are going to follow this for as long as it takes. Something is rotten and I know it. Lets find out which side is rotten…
I thought that the comments that I am seeing by the hundreds are government sponsored and now with a diplomatic row heading up over this! Hmm…
Kyle
Update: US Embassy urges Russia to avoid scandal over orphan’s death: Russian Today…
The US Embassy in Moscow is trying to prevent a new adoption scandal, following the death of a nine-year-old Russian orphan in Nebraska.
ÂAnton Fomin was killed in a fire at the house of his adoptive parents on May 17, prompting renewed calls for a clampdown on the number of US adoptions.
The Russian ombudsman for children’s rights urged Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to take the case under his personal control and find out if the adoptive parents are to blame for the accident.
The US Embassy has deplored Fomin’s death, stressing that contrary to unsubstantiated reports, the child immigrated to the US with his biological parents, not through inter-country adoption.
“The death of the child is a tragedy, and our condolences go out to Anton’s family and community,” the embassy said in a statement on Tuesday. “The Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office is investigating the cause of the fire.”
Officials promised to share “all available information” on the accident with Russian officials, helping them “liaise with the Nebraska authorities.”
Russian authorities have long been unsatisfied with the ever-growing amount of US adoptions of Russian children – due to the huge number of scandals that have broken involving the mistreatment of Russian children by their adoptive parents.
In May 2010, Russia froze all adoptions by foreigners after an adoptive mother from the US put an unaccompanied seven-year-old boy on a one-way flight to Moscow, saying she could no longer handle the stress of raising him.
In another scandalous case, a seven-year-old Russian boy was allegedly beaten to death by his adoptive parents in the US. American doctors found more than 80 injuries on his body.
Russia is one of the largest sources of foreign adoptions for US families. About 400 Russian children are currently living in adoptive families in the US.
Kyle Keeton
Updated: May 24th, 2012…
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 9-year-old boy originally from Russia who was killed in a Nebraska house fire has been laid to rest, but prosecutors and the Russian government are seeking more information about his death.
Nearly 200 people gathered at a Lincoln church Wednesday to mourn the death of Anton Fomin, who was alone when his legal guardians’ house caught fire May 17 in the town of Davey, Neb.
His death prompted a Russian government official to call for more information about the case, while the U.S. Embassy in Moscow emphasized that the boy immigrated to the United States with his biological parents before he was placed with a different family.
However, the boy hadn’t lived with his parents since 2005, according to court records. His father died of cancer in August 2008, and friends said he asked for his son to live with a family from church because of his wife’s mental health issues.
Church officials who knew Anton, his parents and the boy’s legal guardians said Russian officials were unfairly comparing the child’s death to other high-profile U.S. cases that have involved abuse of adopted Russian children.
Anton’s legal guardian, Slavik Sinchuk, told The Associated Press in an interview Wednesday that earlier media reports about the boy being locked in a basement were untrue.
Pavel Astakhov, Russia’s ombudsman for children’s rights, sent a statement to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Monday seeking more information about the case.
“It is necessary to determine whether the adoptive parents were at fault in the death of the child,” he said. “Adoptive parents should be required to bear greater responsibility for the life and health of their children.”
Fire investigators referred questions to prosecutors. Chief Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Pat Condon said Wednesday that his office won’t have much information to release until the investigation is complete, which could take 30 days because toxicology tests are being performed to determine how the boy died.
It’s also not clear what caused the fire.
Officials with the Russian consulate have asked prosecutors in Lancaster County for information on the case. Condon said the county attorney’s office will provide it after the probe is done.
Anton’s youth pastor at House of Prayer Church in Lincoln, Oleg Stepanyuk, and Sinchuk said the boy was asleep before the fire started. Stepanyuk, who often served as an English translator for the boy, said Anton had grown to love the family that had become his legal guardians.
“He was loved. He loved being there,” Stepanyuk told the AP. “He was feeding chickens and dogs there, and really, the last three years he lived there were some of the happiest of his life.”
Sinchuk said he and his wife left home to visit Sinchuk’s father in Lincoln and let Anton stay asleep in his basement bedroom because they didn’t want to disturb the boy.
They returned 30 to 45 minutes later and found the house burning, Sinchuk said, adding that he didn’t know how the fire started. He said neighbors reported hearing an explosion shortly before the blaze.
Church pastor Bogdan Stebanyek said Anton’s father, while dying of cancer, asked that the boy be placed in the care of another family because Anton’s mother had mental health issues.
Stebanyek, speaking in Russian with help from an English translator, said the church tried to connect the boy with a member family that had children his age. Anton went to a family that had four other children. Another family took in Anton’s older brother, Mikhail, now 20 and enrolled in a community college.
Stebanyek said Anton left the family that took him after one year. The man of the house was a truck driver and often was away from home, and the woman struggled to care for all the children.
The woman’s sister — Sinchuk’s wife — offered to take Anton.
Russia has long demanded that the U.S. tighten controls over Americans who adopt its children, in the wake of high-profile cases that infuriated top Russian officials.
Last week, an American woman who adopted a Russian boy and later sent him back on a one-way flight to Moscow was ordered to pay a sum of $150,000 and an additional $1,000 per month in child support until he becomes an adult.
In November 2011, Russian officials reacted with outrage to what they considered a lax sentence for a Pennsylvania couple originally charged with murder for the death of their 7-year-old son adopted from Russia. Michael and Nanette Craver were sentenced to 16 months to four years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
Russian officials have claimed that at least 17 adopted Russian children have died in domestic violence in American families.
Associated Press writer Lynn Berry in Moscow contributed to this report.
The truth is coming out like a slow trickle of water and it looks like most of what Russia has said from the beginning is true…
I will also say I have slaughtered with deceitful and hateful comments for printing this story and I am amazed at the amount of pressure that is being used to try to get people like me to change the story. This is a big cover up and I want to know what happened…
On the eastern, ascendant flank of Eurasian continent, the Chinese vertigo economy is overheated and too-well integrated in the petrodollar system. Beijing, presently, cannot contemplate or afford to allocate any resources in a search for an alternative. (The Sino economy is low-wage- and labor intensive- centered. Chinese revenues are heavily dependent on exports and Chinese reserves are predominantly a mix of the USD and US Treasury bonds.) To sustain itself as a single socio-political and formidably performing economic entity, the People’s Republic requires more energy and less external dependency.
Domestically, the demographic-migratory pressures are huge, regional demands are high, and expectations are brewing. Considering its best external energy dependency equalizer (and inner cohesion solidifier), China seems to be turning to its military upgrade rather than towards the resolute alternative energy/Green Tech investments – as it has no time, plan and resources to do both at once. Inattentive of a broader picture, Beijing (probably falsely) believes that lasting containment, especially in the South China Sea, is unbearable, and that – at the same time – fossil-fuels are available (e.g., in Africa and the Gulf), and even cheaper with the help of warships.
In effect, the forthcoming Chinese military buildup will only strengthen the existing and open up new bilateral security deals of neighboring countries, primarily with the US – as nowadays in Asia, none wants to be a passive downloader. Ultimately, it may create a politico-military isolation (and financial burden) for China that would just consequently justify and (politically and financially) cheapen the bolder American military presence in Asia-Pacific, especially in the South China Sea. It perfectly adds up to the intensified demonization of China in parts of influential Western media.
Hence, the Chinese grab for fossil fuels or its military competition for naval control is not a challenge but rather a boost for the US Asia-Pacific – even an overall – posture. (Managing the contraction of its overseas projection and commitments – some would call it managing the decline of an empire – the US does not fail to note that nowadays half of the world’s merchant tonnage passes though the South China Sea.
Therefore, the US will exploit any regional territorial dispute and other frictions to its own security benefit, including the costs sharing of its military presence by the local partners, as to maintain pivotal on the maritime edge of Asia that arches from the Persian Gulf to the Indian Ocean, Malacca and South China Sea up to the northwest-central Pacific.) A real challenge is always to optimize the (moral political and financial) costs in meeting the national strategic objectives. In this case, it would be a resolute turn of China towards green technology, coupled with the firm buildup of the Asian multilateralism. Without a grand rapprochement to the champions of multilateralism in Asia, which are Indonesia, India and Japan, there is no environment for China to seriously evolve and emerge as a formidable, lasting and trusted global leader warships.
Opting for either strategic choice will reverberate in the dynamic Asia-Pacific theatre. However, the messages are diametrical: An assertive military – alienates, new technology – attracts neighbors. Finally, armies conquer (and spend) while technology builds (and accumulates)! At this point, any eventual accelerated armament in the Asia-Pacific theatre would only strengthen the hydrocarbon status quo. With its present configuration, it is hard to imagine that anybody can outplay the US in the petro-security, petro-financial and petro-military global playground in the following few decades. Given the planetary petro-financial-tech-military causal constellations, this type of confrontation is so well mastered by and would further only benefit the US and the closest of its allies.
Within the OECD/IEA grouping, or closely; the G-8 (the states with resources, infrastructure, tradition of and know-how to advance the fundamental technological breakthroughs), it is only Japan that may seriously consider a Green/Renewable-tech U-turn. Tokyo’s external energy dependencies are stark and long-lasting. After the recent nuclear trauma, Japan will need a few years to (psychologically and economically) absorb the shock – but it will learn a lesson. For such a huge formidable economy and considerable demography, situated on a small land-mass which is repeatedly brutalized by devastating natural catastrophes (and dependent on yet another disruptive external influence – Arab oil), it might be that a decisive shift towards green energy is the only way to survive, revive, and eventually to emancipate.
An important part of the US-Japan security treaty is the US energy supply lines security guaranty given to (the post-WWII demilitarized) Tokyo. After the recent earthquake-tsunami-radiation armageddon, as well as witnessing the current Chinese military/naval noise, Japan will inevitably rethink and revisit its energy policy, as well as the composition of its primary energy mix.
Tokyo is well aware that the Asian geostrategic myopias are strong and lasting, as many Asian states are either locked up in their narrow regionalisms or/and entrenched in their economic egoisms. Finally, Japan is the only Asian country that has clearly learned from its own modern history, all about the limits of hard power projection and the strong repulsive forces that come in aftermath from the neighbors. Their own pre-modern and modern history does not offer a similar experience to other two Asian heavyweights, China and India. That indicates the Far East as a probable zone of the Green-tech excellence and a place of attraction for many Asians in the decade to come.
Anis H. Bajrektarevic, Geopolitics of Energy Editorial Member
Windows to Russia has been online with out being knocked down for over two weeks now. I am not saying that they have not tried, but it looks like it takes much more resources than they like to expend, to take me offline now. Yesterday we got slammed and we were attacked heavily by the TSA/DHS again for the hundredth time! They tried for 6 hours to knock us offline and then gave up. They had 6 different stations at 6 different government installations in America and they kept a constant barrage going…
XOXXOOXO – TSA/DHS – I love you too…
It is easy to see where we host now and as we speak I am getting set up an even better back up host. This has become a matter of principal and I will not give up. I will not mention my hosting as you should be smart enough to be able to figure out that for yourself. It is definitely offshore and offline from America and how sweet it is…
The constant e-mails that threaten me have stopped as the jurisdiction is no longer available to them to easily try to use scare tactics anymore. Other words Windows to Russia has gone offline on the corrupted and disgusting Internet system that is being played as a facade by the USA…
My last e-mail that I returned to a Lawyer in Rd Island in the name of a government entity! Has died in its tracks as soon as they found out that Windows to Russia was no longer under the USA jurisdiction that is GoDaddy for domains. They tried to gag order me on an article that in US’s eyes was not conductive of appropriateness in government statutes…
You just do not know what always goes on behind closed doors – do you?
Well Windows to Russia is stabilizing and starting to experience growth again. It took a hard hit and lost a huge amount of audience due to many restrictions by many countries such as Ukraine, USA, Canada, Britain, France and twenty others. Now it has been opened back up and is being seen all over the world again…
Tidbit of information: Your website may be hosted offshore, but unless your domain is moved offshore, you are not safe…
Our host has a saying: “Big Brother is Watching You!” and that is the truth…
Thanks to all the readers, Sveta and I appreciate you…