russia

Senate committee votes unanimously to sanction any country that takes Snowden

"The 30-member Senate Appropriations Committee adopted by consensus an amendment to a spending bill that would direct Secretary of State John Kerry to meet with congressional committees to come up with sanctions against any country that takes Snowden in. Bolivia, Nicaragua and Venezuela have said they could offer sanctuary to Snowden. Republican U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham said he introduced the amendment to try to get the attention of any country that might take in Snowden, not Russia in particular, although he noted Moscow has lined up against the United States on other issues, including the civil war in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSenate committee votes unanimously to sanction any country that takes Snowden

How Putin Uses Money Laundering Charges to Control His Opponents

"The crux of Putin's ability to punish dissenters revolves around Russia's financial intelligence unit, Rosfinmonitoring. Putin created Rosfinmonitoring--under the direct control of the president and placed it in the charge of a fiercely loyal subordinate, Viktor Zubkov (also the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the natural gas and oil giant Gazprom). Rosfinmonitoring, and the laws criminalizing money laundering (Russian Federal Law No. 115-FZ ), were established on the recommendation of the U.S. and European powers, who sought to institutionalize a global anti-money laundering regime in the 1990's and early 2000's." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHow Putin Uses Money Laundering Charges to Control His Opponents

Snowden plans to settle and work in Russia – lawyer to RT

"Anatoly Kucherena, a Russian lawyer who assists the whistleblower, told RT: 'It’s hard for me to say what his actions would be in terms of a positive decision [on the asylum plea],' Kucherena said. 'We must understand that security is the number one issue in his case. I think the process of adaptation will take some time. It’s an understandable process as he doesn’t know the Russian language, our customs, and our laws.' 'He’s planning to arrange his life here. He plans to get a job. And, I think, that all his further decisions will be made considering the situation he found himself in,' he added." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden plans to settle and work in Russia – lawyer to RT

Floating Nuclear Power: Inside Russia’s Reactors at Sea

"The U.S. and Russian navies have long used nuclear-powered submarines, aircraft carriers, and icebreakers. But a new kind of nuclear power is coming. Russia's Akademik Lomonosov, currently under construction, will be a floating power plant with two 35-megawatt generators designed to supply power to hard-to-reach Arctic communities straight from the ship. After years of delay, the Rosatom State Nuclear Energy Corporation says it plans to build this first ship by 2016 and to ramp up to four to six in the near future to power up remote cities and industrial areas cut off from the regular power grid." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFloating Nuclear Power: Inside Russia’s Reactors at Sea

Glenn Greenwald: About the Reuters article

"The current criticism of Snowden is that he's in Russia. But the reason he's in Russia isn't that he chose to be there. It's because the US blocked him from leaving: first by revoking his passport (with no due process or trial), then by pressuring its allies to deny airspace rights to any plane they thought might be carrying him to asylum (even one carrying the democratically elected president of a sovereign state), then by bullying small countries out of letting him land for re-fueling. Given the extraordinary amount of documents he has and their sensitivity, it is incredibly foolish for the US government to force him to remain in Russia." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGlenn Greenwald: About the Reuters article

Chemicals found in Syrian rebel facility were from Saudi Arabia

"Al-Alam reporter who accompanied the Syrian army on their mission in Jobar’s al-Manashir district, located in Rif Dimashq governorate, said there were packs of poisonous materials and deadly chemicals in the storage. A video filmed by our reporter showed packs of chemical materials labeled 'Made in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia'. The Russian envoy to the United Nations (UN) said baseless allegations blaming Syrian government for applying chemical weapons are aimed at blocking efforts by the UN to probe into militants’ use of chemical weapons in Syria." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingChemicals found in Syrian rebel facility were from Saudi Arabia

Lindsey Graham: Boycott the Soviets Again!

"In his hyperventilated desperation to punish Russia for not sending NSA leaker Edward Snowden back to face life in the American gulag system (another irony) he wants to go back to 1979 and boycott the Soviet Olympics! Out of any ammunition or even logic, Graham is all bluster: 'At the end of the day, if they grant this guy asylum, it’s a breach of the rule of law as we know it and is a slap in the face to the United States.' How dare Russia not follow our laws! What a slap in our face! More ironies drip from the Graham Plan, however, as the original US boycott was meant to embarrass the Soviet Union for its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLindsey Graham: Boycott the Soviets Again!

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden applies for temporary asylum in Russia

"Fugitive US intelligence leaker Edward Snowden has applied for temporary asylum in Russia, a pro-Kremlin lawyer said Tuesday, after President Vladimir Putin accused Washington of 'trapping' him in the country. Snowden, wanted by the United States for revealing sensational details of its vast spying operations, is now spending a fourth week in the transit lounge at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport without crossing the Russian border. Washington has reacted sharply to the possibility that Moscow might offer Snowden a safe haven and accused it of providing him with a 'propaganda platform.'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNSA whistleblower Edward Snowden applies for temporary asylum in Russia

The FBI: An American Cheka

"Nearly twenty years ago, then-FBI Director Louis Freeh – still basking in his agency’s residual glory from the Mt. Carmel Massacre of April 1993 – visited Moscow to sign a joint cooperation accord with the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). After touring the Lubyanka Square headquarters of the Russian secret police, Freeh observed that 'Our nations have more in common than ever before.' At the time I thought it was shocking that Freeh would traduce his country by offering that comparison to the renamed KGB. Roughly two decades later I’ve come to understand that if the comparison is offensive, the Russians have the stronger claim to be the insulted party." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingThe FBI: An American Cheka

Paul Craig Roberts: Putin Dresses Down The Group of Eight

"'You want President Bashshar al-Asad to step down? Look at the leaders you’ve made in the Middle East in the course of what you have dubbed the 'Arab Spring.' [...] 'In Syria all of you are standing on the side of the forces that for the last 10 years you have claimed to be fighting against under the rubric of ‘fighting terror.’ Now today you are with them, helping them to take power across the region. You declare that you’re going to arm them and work to facilitate sending their fighters to Syria to bring it down, weaken it, and break it up.' Putin asked, 'In God’s name what kind of democracy are you talking about?'" Continue reading →

Continue ReadingPaul Craig Roberts: Putin Dresses Down The Group of Eight