Year: 2013

Russia said that they will talk with Georgia again after Saakashvili is no longer around and in power! That is what is crossing my mind in thinking’s this morning as I sit down to write this post. So it is sip coffee time and write what I think about life…

Well as I said above, that time has come and even though Saakashvili is still hanging on to his Presidential Palace with his finger nails, he has no power and is all alone in that wonderful Palace on the cliffs over looking old Tbilisi…

The news is full of “Georgia this and Georgia that” now in Russia. Now Russia will import Georgian Wines again and the Georgian Prime Minister is coming to Moscow and and and and and…

The western press is not paying attention and for a good reason, the western governments have told them to ignore Georgia for now. Saakashvili is a flopping fish on the beach and the newly elected government is pro Russian, not pro America…

I thought of a good thing for Saakashvili to do! He can go to America and run for President in the next elections. That would a be a perfect thing to allow him to expand his ideas of democracy in America and he would definitely help to expand the American police state into a thing of beauty, all over the USA…

No really! The next step for America is to have a good Foreign Puppet Dictator with fake democracy implements, from the king of democracy America, to take over the helm of the sinking ship and turn America into the country of the neoconservative war machine dreams…

I mean who cares if you are a sinking ship? As long as you can still make those canons roar with death, go down with the guns blazing! Saakashvili is the man for the job…

So now Russia is embracing Georgia again and Georgia will finally be able to enjoy the fruits of the labors of her people as now a market will open up for her goods. You must understand that for years now Georgia has been devastated because the western world, that so whole hardily provoked the “War of 2008!” between Georgia and Russia. Never fulfilled all the promises of glory that were hung as carrots in front of Saakashvili eyes…

Lets hope that Saakashvili will be kept under wraps and Georgia can get back on track. Lets hope that Georgia can work things out with Russia and work out a end to the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Lets hope that the Georgian people can once again embrace the families that live all over Russia and the same for Russians with families all over Georgia…

Really after visiting Georgia and other CIS countries, this American realized that they are all good wonderful people, who are the same people in their hearts…

It is just really sad that they allow the west to play political games and insert said “democracy dictator” per color revolution. It is time that these old CIS (Soviet) countries learn to bind together and grow into a proper powerhouse of a world leading government entity…

It is damn for sure that many of them (Soviet countries) have all degraded into a cesspool separate from each other and that my friend is exactly what the west wanted and intended…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

When Sveta and I go out to eat and we pick a cafe, instead of McDonald’s (Which is most of the time!). This picture is a perfect example of what would feed two people and it would be considered a very normal meal…

Two soups, one bread, one pie with cabbage, two room temperature drinks, a salad and two meat cutlets and potato plates. The potatoes would be easily substituted with grechka as a side dish with the meat. You stand in line, cafeteria style and as you see you carry everything on a tray…

This is what we find 90% of the time as we travel around Russia and eat out. The food is plain and just plain delicious. Cost of a meal like this will run on average about 200-250 rubles ($6.50-$8.50) at a normal small village cafe…

You never go away hungry and getting to meet the locals is always the best way to go. The owners of these cafes that we eat at love it when an American appreciates their food and believe you me, I appreciate good food… 🙂

The only difference in the meal would be that many times we get hot tea instead of a drink. The drink above is a light smoky flavored drink that I really like and they have another drink that is fruit berry based. Either one is perfect to drink and of course coffee is always available at most places. Water is not available unless you buy it by the bottle. Russians do not supply ice water with the meals or ice with anything for that matter…

Just thought that you would like to see what you would eat in a Russian cafe as you travel Russia. Now do not confuse this with eating at a fancy restaurant in Moscow. They are not the same thing and definitely not the same cost…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Russia’s Investigation Committee chief Alexander Bastrykin invited U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to come to Moscow in order to discuss the investigation of the crimes committed against 13 adopted Russian children in the United States…

In his letter to Holder, Bastrykin noted that Russian investigators are investigating criminal cases concerning the violence against Russian children adopted in the United States…

The Russian Investigation Committee is investigating criminal cases involving 13 Russian children adopted in the United States:

Sergei Nakonechny (Luke Alexander Evans),
Nikita Khoryakov (Zakari Louis Higier),
Dima Yakovlev (Harrison Chase Dmitry),
Ksenia Antonova (Ksenia Mae Blanford),
Yelena, Sergei, Leonid and Kristina Zhivodrov (O’Brien Yelena Maibusch, O’Brien Sergey Maibusch, O’Brien Leonid Maibusch, and O’Brien Kristina Maibusch),
Danila Krichun (Daniel Alexander Sweeney),
ILya Kargyntsev (Dykstra Isaac Jonathan),
Anna Pochetnaya (Logan Anna Higginbotham),
Ivan Skorobogatov (Craver Nathaniel Michael), and
Maxim Babayev (Kaleb Maxim Traylor)…

I have been hearing about these kids on the Russia news and as of right now America is refusing to help these children and or look into what is happening with them, due to poor regulations and lack of desires of the officials to solve the issues…

I am here to tell you that Russia will not go away on the adoption issue and as it was never a political issue as the west has been telling everyone, Russia will pursue these children and their abuse in the USA…

This is a much more common issue than you realize. I have been involved with a dozen or so cases and have passed information on to authorities here in Russia, to try to get help for kids in America that are being abused…

I know that many people are very good parents, but we seem to have a screw loose somewhere and these kids are getting the shaft…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Attached to Moscow is a city of 200,000 people (Korolev) and it is that city that Sveta and I live in. Today it is snowing so hard that visibility is around two or three meters at times and luckily it swirls away in a breeze and you can see far enough to tell if the road is safe to cross. As you try to get around in feet of deep soft snow…

Now this would be okay, except this snow is on top of lots and lots of snow all winter and I was measuring the pack on some sidewalks and it is a meter thick in places solid packed ice. Ice that is formed by trampling feet as they try to get to and fro as people go to work and the stores…

It is strange to be able to reach things in the trees along the sidewalks that in the summer are so far above your head that you would have to try to climb the tree, to reach them. Now I was able to retrieve several balloons the other day, ones that I took a picture of and Boza was excited to play with them… (Source)

I thought it would be a good day to explain where I live again, as I have had a whole bunch of e-mails asking about where Sveta, Boza and I live in Russia… (Source)

The map to the left has a heart in red for the location of the city that Sveta and I live in… <———

Korolev, Korolyov or Королёв as it is known is a wonderful city and is very sufficient , as you really never need to leave it to find anything that you want. The city is named after Sergei Pavlovich Korolev who is widely regarded as the founder of the Soviet Space Agency… (Source)

Korolev is the home of the third place that I have lived in Russia and it really is the best so far to date. In fact I do not see a need for us to ever move from Korolev. In fact Sveta and I have been able to purchase the new unit that we live in from the family of hers and hence it means we have no house payment, to deal with. Russians virtually own all their homes, unlike most in America and that makes for cheap living in comparison…

All we have to deal with is utilities and when I lived in America, I never dreamed that utilities could be so cheap as they are in Russia. Only one place in America did I have dirt cheap utilities (and that was only electricity) when I lived on a lake that had hydroelectric and we got a special deal because we lived in that situation…

So as I sip that cup of coffee and do some thinking’s as to what I need to do and achomplish. I am trying to get lined out a publisher for a book of mine that is a week away from being done and I have according to the old saying, “Too many irons in the fire!”

Sveta has found someone to do some artwork and if all works well by the end of 2013 I will have 4 or 5 books done and published. I have discovered my calling and producing SciFi series books is a dream come true for me…

So I have to walk the dog and get back to work, it fits on a snowy day like this. I have only one reservation about today and Sveta has had to go to the dentist and have a wisdom tooth pulled. That is no fun and I suspect she will be kinda grouchy tonight when she gets home…

That reminds me! I have to get an appointment to the doctor and have my medications adjusted, I am having issues with heart medicines…

Gotta run, Boza is calling me and he wants to go play in drifts of snow over his head… 🙂

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

Munich’s Security Conference is held annually. This year marks the 49th session. Dozens of countries participated. Hundreds of world leaders attended.

They included heads of state, foreign affairs and defense ministers, as well as other senior figures. Active engagement was prioritized. Current and future security challenges were discussed.

In 2007, Russian President Vladimir Putin took full advantage. He pulled no punches. He sharply criticized US foreign policy. He called it:

“very dangerous (in its) uncontained hyper-use of force – military force – in international relations, force that is plunging the world into an abyss of permanent conflicts.” US imperialism, he stressed, “overstepped its national borders in every way.”

“(U)nilateral illegal actions have not resolved any single problem. They have become a hotbed of further conflicts.”

“We are seeing increasing disregard for the fundamental principles of international law….No one feels safe! Because no one can feel that international law is like a stone wall that will protect them.”

“Of course, such a policy stimulates an arms race. The dominance of force inevitably encourages a number of countries to acquire weapons of mass destruction.”

Putin also addressed a “unipolar world.” He called it one “in which there is one master, one sovereign. And at the end of the day, this is pernicious not only for all those within this system, but also for the sovereign itself because it destroys itself from within.”

He added that “We are constantly being taught about democracy. But for some reason those who teach us do not want to learn themselves.”

America deplores democracy at home and abroad. It prioritizes unchallenged dominance. It demands what it says goes. Russia supports peace, not war. It favors diplomatic conflict resolution.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov attended this year’s Conference. Itar Tass headlined “Moscow calls on West not to impose outside values on peoples of Middle East, Africa.”

Lavrov told participants:

“We all aspire for stability and conditions for sustainable development in the Middle East and in Africa, we want the peoples of countries there to be able to move towards the democracy and wellbeing, to have guaranteed human rights, smooth supplies of hydrocarbons and other vital resources.”

“If those are our joint objectives, then, we may agree on transparent and clear rules, which should be used by all players in their practical actions.”

“Agree that we all will be supporting the democratic reforms of the changing countries, but not to impose an outside value scale, acknowledging the variety of development models.”

“Should agree that we shall be supporting the peaceful settlement of the inner state conflicts and stopping of violence via conditions for an inclusive dialogue with involvement of all national political groups.”

“Should agree that we shall refrain from outside interference, especially by force, without a clear mandate from the UN Security Council and from any unilateral sanctions. That we should continuously and firmly fight extremism and terrorism in all forms, should demand observation of rights for ethnic and confessional minorities.”

“Approaches of our Western counterparts cause many questions.”

“Does support for change of regimes justify terror methods? Is it possible to be fighting in one situation against those who you support in another one?”

Lavrov said answers to key questions “should be found jointly, especially regarding final objectives for the efforts to settle crises in countries of the Euro-Atlantic region, which have more uniting aspects rather than discrepancies.”

Russia categorically opposes force. It wants Syrians alone to decide who’ll lead them. It wants no external interference. It’s got international law on its side.

Earlier Lavrov expressed concern about Israeli aggression on Syria. He called it “unacceptable.”

Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak also addressed Munich participants. He admitted Israel’s involvement.

He said “what happened in Syria several days ago (is) proof that when we said something we mean it….and we say that we don’t think it should be allowed to bring advanced weapons into Lebanon.”

Israel committed naked aggression. It was unrelated to cross-border weapons transfers. Israel’s objectives aren’t clear. It may be to goad Syria to counterattack.

Doing so would risk greater war. It could become regional or global. History proves small conflicts at times become major ones.

Iran’s Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani warned Israel, saying:

 ”The world is witnessing a vengeance carried out by the West, particularly the US, and some backward elements in the region against resistance.”

He urged regional countries to distance themselves from Israel. He said “the Islamic awakening movement in the region would give a proper response to the Zionist regime.”

On February 3, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) said “Israeli Aggression Reveals Israel’s Role in Destabilizing Syria.”

Assad responded publicly for the first time. He said Israel acted in “collaboration with hostile external powers.” Syria’s able to confront challenges. It’ll repel aggression. Destabilizing Syria won’t work. Iran offers full support.

On February 2, Voice of Russia contributor Konstantin Garibov headlined “Israel’s air attack against Syria heralds new regional conflicts,” saying:

Doing so entails great risks. Russia’s Foreign Ministry condemned Israel’s attack. It called it “an unprovoked attack against a sovereign state.”

Syria declared the right to respond. International law permits justifiable self-defense. Lebanese political scientist Imad Rizk called the attack’s timing “symptomatic.”

Netanyahu “returned to big politics.” He forming a coalition government. He’s negotiating for strategic advantage. He’ll deal with Washington’s new Secretary of State.

 ”It looks like the attack became the US and Israel’s joint declaration” of war on Syria.

Vladimir Putin said “Israel will keep delivering blows on facilities or forces participating in the Syrian conflict. They would be either Islamist groups of troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad. I can foresee that as the crisis becomes worse, Israel could expand its participation in such attacks.”

Israel allegedly fears Islamic extremists. Supposedly it’s concerned about ties to Hamas and Hezbollah.

Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies analyst Vladimiri Sotnikov believes “It would be a nightmare for Israel.”

It’s likely what Israel prefers. It needs enemies to justify belligerence. Peace, calm and stability defeat its agenda.

As foreign minister in 1982, Yitzhak Shamir explained why Israel attacked Lebanon. A “terrible danger” existed, he said, “not so much a military one as a political one.”

On June 6, 1982, Israel invaded Lebanon. Fighting lasted nearly a year.

An Israeli staged false flag was pretext. Arafat was falsely blamed for Abu Nidal militants’ attempted assassination of Israeli UK ambassador Shlomo Argov.

Israel got the war it wanted. Around 18,000 Palestinians were massacred. Southern Lebanon remained occupied until May 2000. Israel still illegally holds Sheba Farms.

It’s a 14-square mile water-rich area near Syria’s Golan. It’s been lawlessly occupied since 1967 along with Ghajar, a bordering Lebanese village.

Sabra and Shatila remain symbols of Israeli ruthlessness. At the time, Ariel Sharon was defense minister. He ordered the slaughter. He let Phalangist fascists do his dirty work.

Palestinian civilians were massacred in cold blood. Women were raped multiple times before being killed. Children were murdered like adults.

Whole families were shot, stabbed, bludgeoned to death, or buried dead or alive under homes. Some were tortured before dying. Bodies were decapitated.

Corpses were charred and violated. Eyes were gouged out. Faces were unrecognizable.

Israel maliciously planned it. Sharon led it. He called it “ridding the world of the center of international terrorism.” Orwell couldn’t have said it better. No one to this day was punished. Israel massacres with impunity.

Haaretz contributor Gideon Levy said “Israel does as it pleases.” Rogue states operate that way. Criticizing them is called “heresy and treason.”

Israel overflies Lebanon’s airspace with impunity. It’s “taken for granted.” It bombards whatever it calls dangerous. It “invade(s) any place, settle(s) anywhere. It may do (almost) anything.”

It does any damn thing it wishes. Washington offers full support. They’re imperial partners. They jointly plan aggression. They get away with it because who’ll stop them?

“(A)nything allowed (is) shaped (in) Israeli consciousness.” It’s based on largely baseless assumptions. Notions about being surrounded by hostile Arabs don’t wash.

It bears repeating. The only threats Israel faces are ones it invents. It menaces regional neighbors and humanity. It prioritizes Middle East dominance.

It wants regional rivals eliminated. It wages unprovoked naked aggression. Israel alone has weapons of mass destruction. Using them is prioritized if threatened.

“(T)o hell with all the troublesome questions,” said Levy. Only what Israel wants matters. Rule of law principles apply to others. “Israel is allowed to do anything.”

It gets away with mass murder and much more. Its right is divine, it claims. It doesn’t matter what others say. Only Israeli interests count.

Saying so claims Jewish exceptionalism, specialness, and uniqueness. Israeli hardliners say they’re God’s “chosen people.” They have a divine right to commit naked aggression. Spurning human rights comes with the territory.

They can do any damn thing they wish. They debase moral values and ethical principles. They threaten Jews and non-Jews alike. They endanger humanity.

They need to be stopped before they kill again. In response to Israel’s May 2010 Mavi Marama massacre, former Congressman Dennis Kucinich asked colleagues to sign a letter to Obama, stating:

“It is not acceptable to repeatedly violate international law. It is not acceptable to shoot and kill innocent civilians. It is not acceptable to commit an act of aggression against another U.S. ally.”

“It is not acceptable to continue a blockade which denies humanitarian relief. It is not acceptable to heighten tensions in a region while the United States continues to put so much blood and treasure on the line.”

“No one questions the right of Israel to defend its border. (Doing so) does not extend to shooting innocent civilians anywhere in the world, anytime it pleases.”

“Israel must account for our support, for the lives of our soldiers, for the investment of billions from our taxpayers.”

“Israel owes the United States more than reckless, pre-meditated violence waged against innocent people.”

It’s hard imagining anyone in Congress today this forthright. It’s likely why Kucinich lost his March 2012 primary reelection bid. Dark forces targeted him. The Israeli Lobby wanted him ousted.

They went after Cynthia McKinney the same way. Doing the right thing is costly. The Israeli Lobby ran her out of Congress twice. Ruining her political career became policy.

Virtually no one in Congress criticizes Israel. Doing it risks being a career ender. McKinney believes principle matters most. Her soul isn’t for sale. Hopefully, Kucinich feels the same way.

He’s free to keep doing what’s right. Voices for truth and justice are badly needed. The most perilous time in world history demands they speak out. Imperiled humanity depends on it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

Windows to Russia…

Pakistan and America were and, perhaps, still are friends. Nevertheless, mostly this relationship has been a roller coaster ride, especially after the Afghan war that is the major cause of instability in Pakistan. Consequently, the economy is collapsing, militancy is increasing impacting Pak-US relations. Despite geopolitical bondage Islamabad and Washington blamed each other for it. Now with America’s planned exit from Afghanistan, there is a need to strengthen Pak-US friendship.

The US should be seen by Islamabad as a friend after its forces leave the neighborhood, and Washington needs to get rid of its obsessive thoughts about Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. It needs to realize that a strong, stable and economically vibrant nuclear Pakistan is required to bring about a nuclear balance in South Asia; it poses no threat to anyone.

Against this backdrop, Secretary of State John Kerry’s pragmatic and amiable views about Pakistan are a good omen. Hopefully, friendly relations with the US will develop in the future.

Pak-US Geopolitics: America is a global power, but also a non-Eurasian power. Washington has a long list of geopolitical concerns. Afghanistan should be on the wane, while Middle East and Africa are rising issues. The Afghan war has lasted too long. President Barack Obama, thus, has taken a bold and wise decision to draw down the forces Afghanistan. Pakistan can facilitate America in its exit strategy and help stabilize the war-torn country after the occupation forces leave.

Having said that, Mali and Algeria and Africa at large would now be the US-Nato forces’ major concern. The turbulence in North Africa, West Africa and larger Middle East is linked. After all, the geographically and economically north and west Africa is closer to Europe than Afghanistan, and a greater concern of the western world.

Moreover, the United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM or AFRICOM) was established to ensure American interests. Now, Washington needs to outsource its security concerns to Islamabad to achieve a negotiated peace in Afghanistan. For this purpose, the Pak-US relationship should be improved.

Pakistan seeks peace at home and peace abroad. Washington must respect the aspirations of Pakistani people and coordinate with the army and ISI for a peaceful Pakistan and Afghanistan. The ISI has greatly contributed to regional balance. All this is to America’s advantage so that it exits Afghanistan without worrying about leaving behind an explosive region. The reality is that Pakistan’s army would be the only professional, powerful military force between River Oxus and River Sutlej after the US has left Afghanistan.

All things considered, Pak-US geopolitical interests should coincide in future, only if Washington respects our national interests.

Pak-US Geo-economics: America’s geo-strategy should give way to geo-economics in Pakistan, Afghanistan and the Central Asian Region.

The Central Asian energy and mineral resources can be easily piped through existing conduits through Afghanistan to the deep Gwadar seaport on the Arabian Sea. Pakistan is already coordinating with China and, perhaps, even Russia for geo-economic confluence. Yet, this is not a zero-sum game.

The USA can also be an economic partner, or part of a greater consortium. Energy and transit highways from Central Asia, the old silk route (China-Pakistan), and even the new silk route (Afghanistan, Pakistan and India) are all possible only through Pakistan. Therefore, it can serve as a bridge between the regions of Central Asia, West Asia, China and South Asia. This can be achieved in an environment of peace. Otherwise, Pakistan has the potential of acting as an interposing state.

Future Geopolitics: With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s re-election, the chances of Israel-Iran conflict may rise. This may embroil the USA even if by default, while North Korea and USA’s relations can worsen. It seems that America is going to remain busy even after it departs from Afghanistan.

Pak-Afghan friendship and geo-economics ties are keys to regional peace. The training of the Afghan forces by Pakistan should go a long way in achieving the quest for stability. Islamabad can bring Kabul and Taliban on the negotiating table. On the whole, America, Pakistan, China and Russia can help achieve lasting peace in Afghanistan.

As Indian ambitions increase, there may be a divergence of interest with the US. Washington has leverage with Russia, China, the EU and other parts of the globe. On India, the main leverage is Pakistan. No matter how much New Delhi talks of ‘Shining India’, it would remain embroiled with Pakistan until it settles the Kashmir dispute.

Even as Israel, and even USA, come in conflict with Iran, a moderating and war-avoiding role can be played by Pakistan. Washington can benefit from Pakistan’s diplomacy that is not just limited to Afghanistan. By the same token, Washington should discourage centrifugal tendencies in Balochistan. Indeed, a united, peaceful, prosperous and nuclear-armed Pakistan is in the interest of regional balance and American efforts for a stable world.

The writer is a retired brigadier and has authored a book titled Gwadar on the Global Chessboard. Email: nadirmir13@gmail.com Blog: wwwpakistangeopolitics.blogspot.com. The article has been posted with full consent of Nadir Mir and any issues with copyright should be sent to the author in person…

Windows to Russia…

Wow can you believe what just happened and all in the name of starting a war!

Israel with the blessings of America (NATO and chums) went and violated intentionally the airspace of Syria with a “cock and bull” story about “prospects” of “illegal weapon transfers” which of course, will never be confirmed as always is the case, because the idea of the attack was not to prevent the movement of “chemical weapons,” but to cause a explosive conflict aimed at salvaging the West’s disaster of proxy terrorist scum inside Syria, attempting to subvert and overthrow the legit Syrian nation…

Now Israel and most of the West are scratching their head and trying to hide cover up a “foot in mouth” issue as Syria did not fall for the bait, as our wonderful Western world would have done if anyone did the same to them…

Can you even imagine Israel sitting back and taking what they just did to Syria? Could you imagine America allowing someone to strike with in the borders of the USA? Could you imagine Britain or France allowing the same? Yet they all did it to another country and did it with full intentions of starting a war…

Syria did not fire back and just like the provocation that Turkey has been doing, Israel has been trying her best to start a war also against Syria…

Syria knew that Israel would be made to look like the pond scum that she is and the actions on Syria’s part shows a country that cares more about her people, than the Western countries, that tried to entice a war. Syria is not stupid and it is so obvious that NATO and its Western backers are frothing at the bit to enter another war with any excuse as a reason…

The Western Empire is dying in disgrace and yes, Israel did not disappoint in her expectations that I have seen in her past…

“Goo goo g’joob” the west is “Living is easy with eyes closed!”

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

I wrote an article not long ago about this issue and Russia made it clear that reassurances were necessary:

Ractopamine: Russia Just Doesn’t Want It In Their Meat… (Me Either!)

In just another example of American, “We don’t care what you feel is important, it only matters what we feel is important!”

Russia has had to stop importing meat from the USA due to safety issues for her population…

(Now understand that Russian mean pork and beef when they say meat. Chicken and turkey fall in a different mind set with Russians…)

Russia has imposed a ban on US meat starting in February. The restrictions were enacted after the US Veterinary Service failed to meet regulations for levels of ractopamine, which stimulates muscle tissue growth. ­Chilled meat will be prohibited from February 4, and frozen meat imports will be banned starting on February 11. According to Russia’s Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, the “US ignored numerous requests from the Russian regulative body, and refused to support its products with documentation confirming the absence of ractopamine…”

Similar reactopamine requirements have also been enacted for Canada, Brazil and Mexico: But “As of today we got a flat refusal only from American Veterinary Office,” a spokesperson for Russia’s Veterinary Service said…

Ractopamine is a chemical substance used in cattle and pig feed to increase the animals’ muscle tissue. It can cause toxic effects if ingested by humans, and is prohibited in many many countries. But it is allowed in the US as you read this right now…

Until the US gives written support that the meat does not have ractopamine in it, then Russia has decided to cease importation of those products and due to the fact that meat in the US does have the drug in it!

Well Russia may not be using US meat from now on…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…

In times of rapid change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”  Eric Hoffer

“Every valuable human being must be a radical and a rebel, for what he must aim at is to make things better than they are.”  Neils Bohr

A good case can be made for ending initial education (more of which could be obtained in the home through electronic devices) somewhere around the age of eighteen. This formal initial period could be followed by two years of service in a socially desirable cause; then by direct involvement in some professional activity and by advanced, systematic training within that area; and finally by regular periods of one and eventually even two years of broadening, integrative study at the beginning of every decade of one’s life, somewhere up to the age of sixty. Zibignew Brezezinski 1970

There is an illuminating briefing produced by the Center for Digital Education titled Education Market Forecast, 2012. One page, in particular, displays where select US K-12 schools and universities would rank in the Fortune 500. The New York City K-12 school system, with US $18.5 billion in revenue, would be ranked number 136 far ahead of Marriot International and Yahoo, Inc. At the college level, the University of Michigan with US $5.8 billion in revenue ranks ahead of MasterCard and the Washington Post.

There are approximately 4,493 colleges and universities in the USA with some 35 million or so students. At the K-12 level there are roughly 49 million students in 98,708 public school facilities in 14,000 districts. Private schools (parochial, charter, etc.) have nearly 6 million students under their care in as many as 33,000 facilities. States of the United States spent (all sources) nearly US $2 trillion on education. K-12 and college/university systems employ 11.1 million people. Only 50 percent of the 11.1 million are teachers with the other 50 percent being administrators, ground and maintenance personnel, technology advisors, etc. It is worth noting that public and private spending (all sources) on the K-12 through the college and university levels in the United States exceeds that spent on social security and national defense combined.

“Colleges and universities are important regional economic engines for their communities and are multifaceted in that they provide education, workforce training, employment, research activity, and health care,” according to Moody’s Education Outlook 2012. It is becoming the case that colleges and universities are employers of last resort in places like Detroit, Michigan or Up State New York. This is likely to change for the worse as in January 2013 Moody’s indicated in its US Higher Education Outlook Negative for 2013 that “the US higher education sector has hit a critical juncture in the evolution of its business model.”

Education Factories

Mark Twain, Thoreau, Shakespeare, Diversity and Sustainability notwithstanding, the American education system (K-12, college/university) is a profit making industry (despite the org/edu claims) that is in the business of manufacturing, and warehousing, American human capital. Any nation-state that hopes for longevity must design an education system that ensures a secure life and continuity for its people. That means teaching national/social uniformity in living and purpose.

The US education system is the backbone, the spinal column of the nation.

A key function of the education industry is to develop and produce taxpayers that will have skillsets useful in maintaining and increasing the nation’s productivity levels whether in a research laboratory or the bedroom (nation’s fertility rate). Critical in the manufacturing process is designing individual and collective minds to agree to the covenant, a sort of the secular religion, between “we the people” and the US Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the ideals contained in the Declaration of Independence. Those same minds are manufactured to generally accept the worldviews of American business, education and government leaders flowing through corporate media.

Another critical function of the US education industry is to produce minds that are numb to the contradictions in the capitalist, globalist mode of living and thinking. Certainly not numb to asking questions of the system (to a point); but produced with an inability to think with depth and breadth about the globalized world, about life and one’s place in it, about connections. In 1950 Dean Acheson once remarked that higher order Americans spend about 10 minutes a day thinking about what goes on outside the borders of the USA. Even with the Internet and WWW, that 10 minute mark probably still holds.

From preschool to graduate school students undergo a form of distraction therapy. Video games, American Idol, late night talk shows, nonsense news and information, marketers for clothing, tech gear, music, and credit cards bombard the mind like spray wax at the end of a car wash. But this is all part of the plan for education in America.  It’s an education in buying and selling; what George W. Bush described as freedom, “freedom is the ability to buy and sell.” He was right on many levels but no one likes to pull the curtain back and find that the education industry is just like the defense industry with contractors, consultants, presidents, CEO’s, analysts, investment bankers, fraud, waste, abuse  etc.

It is utterly popular and awfully tedious to say that there is an education-military complex. Eisenhower’s overused statement is very much dated. In fact President U.S. Grant thought about those matters during his presidency. But, we seem to be in the midst of the development of a national security republic perpetually at war and undereducated, by design, in the machinations of the American national security state.

Arguably, it is dangerous to try and break up the industrial model of education, particularly now in the midst of high unemployment in the USA and the perilous state of the US and world economy. The warehousing function that K-12 and college universities play is vital to local economies and keeping millions of young people off the street. The industrial model excels at manufacturing minds with conformity/uniformity built in.

And yet, the US education industry is not even listed as a leading Critical Infrastructure sector in the USA. Perhaps it should be listed under the Defense Industrial Base as important as its function is to the nation.

What’s a Nation State to Do?

So you want to privatize, corporatize, and decentralize the US education industry? You want to end formalized education at 18 years of age as Brezezinski said in 1970?  Is this the best way to get more competent American engineers, scientists, warfighters, buyers, and sellers? You want to make the US education industry more efficient and effective?  You want high scores on the national College Board-Educational Testing Service (teach to the test) to claim the number one slot in the world? You want to save money by eliminating excess human capital, and closing/consolidating schools?  You want to do Podcasts, Skype around the world, work in electronic collectives via the Internet and World Wide Web?

The answers to these questions raise significant issues for the future stability of the American nation-state and, indeed, the continuity of the American Republic and its form of government.  At the moment, the glue that binds Americans together is many years of participation in the US education educational system.

What needs to be changed within the American education is not so much the addition of technical wizardry, robust communications networks, or the next big fad (teacher as facilitator, blended learning, TED lectures, etc.).  An emphasis needs to be placed on the nuts and bolts, the blocking and tackling aspects of education, the items that are foundational—human capital.

It all has to start with the reeducation of “educated” adults in positions of power: parents, professors, teachers, mentors, politicians, military leaders, et al. It is a crime to blame the young for the failings, the ignorance, of adults who refuse to re-educate themselves about the world around them. They fear the information and knowledge that the Internet and WWW. They are the “learned” that Eric Hoffer refers to above.

Duh…What?

Most American adults do not know the difference between the Internet and WWW or have a rudimentary knowledge of the history and mechanics behind it. Hence, the young reflect that. The same adults would not be able to locate Benin or Brunei on a map even though Google Earth is at their fingertips. “I know nothing about anatomy,” said an adult recently. Well, over at Chrome there are, for no charge but time, 3D software programs on human anatomy. In fact, for every field of academic endeavor, there is a free education software program that can be downloaded and used to self-educate.

Over 50 percent of American adults reject Evolutionary Theory and Evolutionary Psychology/Biology. American adults (the “great leaders”) are destroying America’s English language to the point that words/concepts like accountability, torture, displaced peoples, drones, casualties, shootings and death are meaningless to K-12 and college university students.  Those same adults rip teachers and administrators for lack of effort and appropriate qualifications and demand action and accountability.

Finally, the academic disciplines are mostly stove-piped and isolated from each other during a time when understanding the economic, social, biological, and cultural interconnections from the local to global level are paramount. In fact, students are more stimulated and thrive in a well-run interdisciplinary program as opposed to smokestack pedagogy. There are many ways to discover. For example, can literary analysis/criticism inform about militarism in society? Yes.  Greg Winston’s Joyce and Militarism (2012, University of Florida) focuses in on some of James Joyce’s classics and the times/environment they were written. It is an extraordinary book that travels through the occupation of Ireland by England and World War I.

Murray Gell Mann put it best at a conference sponsored by the National Defense University in 2003.

 “Unfortunately, in a great many places in our society, including academia and most bureaucracies, prestige accrues principally to those who study carefully some aspect of a problem, while discussion of the big picture is relegated to cocktail parties. It is of crucial importance that we learn to supplement those specialized studies with what I call a crude look at the whole…It is essential, in my opinion, to make some effort to search out in advance what kinds of paths might lead humanity to a reasonably sustainable and desirable world during the coming decades. And while the study of the many different subjects involved is being pursued by the appropriate specialists, we need to supplement that study with interdisciplinary investigations of the strong interdependence of all the principal facets of the world situation. In short, we need a crude look at the whole, treating global security and global politics as parts of a very general set of questions about the future.”

What a radical idea.

John Stanton is a Virginia based writer specializing in national security. The Raptor’s Eye is a recent publication. Reach John at cioran123@yahoo.com

Russia Woke Up:”

Russia woke up and looked around…
This is strange and the truth was found…
The US was in Russia’s desks and drawers…
Trying to find some hidden whores…

US found those gutter prostitutes…
Then tried to pay them restitute…
Until Russia caught the act in play…
Now the USA has wore out her stay…

The US cries foul…
Russia says, “But How?”
For you have violated…
We Russia just consecrated…

Now the US sits and whines and pouts…
While Russia points and says you lout…
But the US will stab Russia back…
Which Russia must prepare for thy attack…

For if one thing that Russia has learned…
Is that trust must be earned…

Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…