Executing Russian Regions Gasification Program
The Balts learned a painful lesson and yet, the remainder of Europe remains hungry and naive.
The title above comes from GAZPROM's website :rolleyes:
Take a quick look at what a nasty lesson does to production and exports here.
Energy is politics and vice versa
In an earlier post this year on this topic Fuchs in German wrote in part:
Quote:
Natural gas has near-perfect substitutes in all its uses. Mankind does not need natural gas - it can do the same things with coal products.
* Natural gas replaced coal gas in the 70's for heating/cooking in residential areas (in Berlin and Eastern Europe only in the 90's).
* Natural gas powerplants are quick reaction peak supply tools, but not necessary for the base supply. Improved coal and even nuclear powerplant technologies can replace it in that role (and a special type of water power, but not on large scale).
* Natural gas is also in use in steel production. Alternative technologies use electricity and/or coke as far as I know.
* Natural gas-driven vehicles: No need for such a thing, it's a stupid idea anyway.
The reality is we have mix and match sources, ways and means to pick and choose which energy resources we prefer to use to balance out or hold down costs as our various nations and national interests would prefer.
Natural gas for vehicles here in the US is the wave of the future.
Here in my City of Hoover, Alabama our municipal auto and trucking fleet is fuel entirely by used cooking oil in a cheaper than regular gas or diesel fuel processing plant our city has contracted with for this purpose.
Summer of 2006 my wife and I were touring part of Europe, German, Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. We kept seeing a growing number of windmills used to generate electricity. The highways were full of flat bed trucks carrying blades and construciton parts to build more new windmills. Wind into electricity is a very good idea in my book, and it is being pursued more actively here in the US in the past two years, in fact, oddly enough.
Russia should about now be completing it's largest refinery in the world in the Houston, Texas area...this came about inpart when interpersonal relations were at their best between then President Bush and then President Putin.
"Personalized" politics plays a great role, always, otherwise why mention Merkle over Schroder, and now Schroder regarding the Russia to Germany natural gas underwater pipeline, which underwater routing makes sound engineering and safety sense if you take the time of analyze the science of that engineering approach.
This thread is a good one and can go on forever as it revolves around the changing world scene daily from now to eternity, but it serves a good purpose to bring out so many different nationality posters on these energy and politics topics.
Russian journalist/blogger beating in Moscow
Kommersant Reporter Is Badly Beaten
08 November 2010
Quote:
One of Russia's best-known reporters, Oleg Kashin, remained hospitalized in critical condition Sunday night as journalists and activists increased pressure on the authorities to investigate the savage weekend beating that broke his jaw, fingers and a leg.
Kashin, a 30-year-old journalist with Kommersant and one of the country's most prolific and popular bloggers, was attacked by two unidentified men early Saturday near his home at 28 Pyatnitskaya Ulitsa in downtown Moscow.
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/a...en/421914.html
Look at the video and how the journalist's leggs are chopped :eek:
http://www.lifenews.ru/news/42779
Crime and punishment in a Russian village
Taken from Open Democracy an article 'Kuschevskaya: crime and punishment in a Russian village':
Quote:
The story of scores being settled with a brutal mass murder in southern Russia has hit the Russian national press. It reveals much about the links between organised crime and power in the country today and gives the lie to the propaganda machine’s claims of increasing happiness and stability.
Link:http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russ...ussian-village
There are links within, such as the BBC's report:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-11736312
Naturally Wikileaks has some wider comments on Russia being a Mafia state, IMHO this article provides some context - the reader draws his own conclusions.
"Russia’s Power Families – 2011. The Government"
Russia's Power Families - 2011
Quote:
The "Russia’s Power Families – 2011. The Government" report was prepared by the Monitoring Expert Group (MEG), created in 2011 by Marina Litvinovich, political scientist and journalist. The Group brings together information processing specialists, investigative journalists, experts and analysts. Six people helped gather the material for this report, which took three months to prepare.Russia's Power Families - 2011
Quote:
Bortnikov Alexander Vasilyevich, Russian FSB Director
Chaika Yuri Yakovlevich, General Prosecutor
Fradkov Mikhail Efimovich, Foreign Intelligence Service Director
Fursenko Andrei Alexandrovich, Minister of Education and Science
Ivanov Victor Petrovich, head of Federal Drug Control Service
Ivanov Sergei Borisovich, Deputy Chairman of RF Government
Khristenko Victor Borisovich, Minister of Industry and Trade and Golikova Tatyana, Minister of Health and Social Development
Kudrin Alexei Leonidovich, ex-Minister of Finance
Levitin Igor Yevgenievich, Minister of Transport and Communication
Murov Evgeny Alexeyevich, Federal Protective Service director
Mutko Vitaly Leontievich, Minister of Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy
Nabiullina Elvira Sahipzadovna, Minister of Economic Development
Patrushev Nikolai Platonovich, Security Council Secretary
Serdyukov Anatoly Eduardovich, Defense Minister
Shoigu Sergei Kuzhugetovich, Minister of Civil Defense, Emergency Situations and Disaster Relief
Shuvalov Igor Ivanovich, Government’s First Deputy Chairman
Skrynnik Elena Borisovna, Minister of Agriculture
Stepashin Sergei Vladimirovich, Accounts Chamber Chairman
Trutnev Yuri Petrovich, Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology
Zhukov Alexander Dmitrievich, Deputy RF Prime Minister
Zubkov Victor Alekseyevich, First Deputy RF Prime Minister
http://eng.election2012.ru/reports/1/
Russia, politics and power: internal & external(new title)
Quote:
Russia has sent interior ministry troops to Moscow and increased the alert level of security forces after a protest of thousands of people opposing Vladimir Putin, officials said on Tuesday.
“They (the troops) have just one aim--to ensure the security of the citizens,” interior ministry forces spokesman Colonel Vasily Panchenkov told the Interfax news agency while a police spokesman said the security forces were now on a “heightened regime” of alert.
“The number of troops deployed is determined by the Moscow police,” Panchenkov added, without giving numbers.
http://english.alarabiya.net/article...06/181111.html
Protesters Harness the Power of Facebook
From The Moscow Times
Quote:
Russia inched closer to a Facebook revolution Thursday, after the number of users who signed up for a protest against the State Duma vote results crossed the 30,000 mark.
Web dissent spilling offline sparked suspicions that the authorities may be mulling a crackdown on Internet freedoms, a fear fueled by reports about law enforcement agencies' disjointed attempts to pressure the online community.
But analysts interviewed for this article said the cost of such a crackdown would be too high and that the Russian segment of the World Wide Web would likely remain a bastion of free speech and political discussion.