Tag Archives: un

International

Russia says attacking Libya will validate WMDs for extremists

Alexei Arbatov, the head of the International Security Center of the Institute of World Economy and International Relations of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said attacking Libya will prove that obtaining WMDs is necessary to keep from being attacked by the West.

“An attack against Libya would be a gift for all violators of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. If Libya becomes an object of a military operation, it will lead some countries to believe that no one would think of threatening Gaddhafi with a military operation now if he had not voluntarily given up his nuclear program several years ago.”

In order to receive financing from western countries, and gain favor from western governments,  Gaddafi revealed his WMD program and allowed international inspection and dismantlement of that program.  That’s why President Bush Jr removed Gaddafi from the terrorist list.  Now the West is about to attack him.

Arbatov says “This will lead Iran, Syria, and some other countries violating the non-proliferation regime to make a new powerful step towards obtaining nuclear weapons.”

International

Concerns over volcano may unite North & South Korea

The 9.0 quake/tsunami has officials in North and South Korea concerned over possible eruption of the Baekdu volcano in North Korea.

The last time it erupted was in 1903.

The increase seismic activity in the area, including volcanic activity in Japan and Eastern Russia, has Korean officials worried so much that it has become part of their unification discussions.  However, both sides are downplaying it.

Korea is directly due west of the Japanese state of Honshu.

International

Iran may act to stop Sunni Arab invasion of Shia Bahrain

“The Saudi’s should know for a fact that Tehran will use all the power and potentials at its disposal to halt the oppression of the people of Bahrain.”said Iranian lawmaker Hossein Naqavi.

Majority Sunni Arab countries invaded majority Shia Arab Bahrain, in order to protect the Sunni rulers there from the Shia revolution.  Iran and Bahrain are majority Shia Muslim countries.

Iran has asked the UN to take action.  The United Nations, pushed by France, U.K. & U.S.,  has authorized military force against Libya, supposedly to protect the revolutionaries there.

A Bahraini women, who is Sunni, is supporting the Shia rebels; “The government is making this a sectarian issue. I see the way my [Shia] friends are treated and I came here to show solidarity.”

The headquarters of the U.S. 5th Fleet is in Bahrain.

Fukushima

IAEA asks Japan to disclose more info on nuclear disaster

The International Atomic Energy Agency chief, Yukiya Amano, says Japan’s nuclear crisis requires international cooperation.

Yukiya Amano met with Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Friday, and expressed the need for more information from Japanese officials.

A four man team from the IAEA is now in Japan for monitoring of the situation.

International

Libya agrees to ceasefire, U.K. & France preping for military action

Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa announced that Libya will accept a ceasefire with rebels.

Libyan officials believe the UN Security Council resolution allows the Libyan government to use force in order to protect civilians.

France and United Kingdom say they are preparing for military action. Spain and Norway announced they are prepared to join the enforcement of a no fly zone.

President Obama will make an announcement this afternoon.  It is expect that two Arab nations will be named as taking part in the no fly zone operation, Qatar is expected to be one of those countries.

The United States, United  Kingdom, France are members of the UN Security Council, and voted for the no fly zone.  China, Russia, Germany, India and Brazil are also members, but abstained, they will not help with the no fly zone.

Technology

Russia to Create Multi-Use Cards: ID, passport, debit, insurance all in one

President Medvedev has ordered the creation of a multi-use card, that will act as ID, passport, insurance, drivers license and debit card.

The cards will contain micro-chips.  It’s part of a plan for a “…better digital culture…”.  A new national payment system will be created, so people can use the IDs for bill payments.

The system could cost Russia $5 billion, and it’s hoped to get it up and running by January 2012.

Business/Economics, Fukushima, Opinion

Japan Disaster start of Global Great Depression

For a third day, the DOW fell big, along with other U.S. stock markets.  Stock markets around the world being affected. This is because Japan has become the “parts” supplier to the global economy.  Auto parts to electronic chips are made in Japan.  This production has come to a virtual stand still.  One analyst said that if this situation lasts a few weeks (best case) consumers can expect noticeable increases in prices.

It must be remembered that the Great Depression, that hit the United States in the 1930s, was not solely caused by the investment/finance crash of ’29.  What put the U.S. into a Great Depression was the loss of its main industry at the time; agriculture. Because of the quake, tsunami, and now nuclear disaster, Japan has essentially lost its main industries.

Until the Second World War, agriculture was the biggest industry in the U.S.  Most Americans worked in farming, or agriculture related jobs.  The industry was hit by a disaster that was a combination of Mother Earth, and man made.  The plain states, and mid west, had been dealing with a major drought, and,   farming techniques destroyed the top soil.  This is where the term “Dust Bowl” came from.

The result was that hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their jobs and their homes, just from the collapse of the agriculture industry. Combined with the losses of the finance/investment industries (which affected manufacturing) this created the Great Depression.

The World is already in a major financial crisis, bigger than what hit the world prior to the Great Depression in the U.S. (other countries, like Germany had already experience a depression). Now we have the natural/man made disasters that could push the World into a Great Depression.

Never before have the economies of the World been so tied together.  We have a dominoes situation. Japan, being a major parts supplier, could be the dominoe that starts the fall.

Fukushima, U.S.

U.S. Military issuing Iodide Pills to Aircrews, U.S. taking Radiation Readings

The United States military is issuing Potassium Iodide pills to helicopter crews flying operations in Japan.  The crews take the pills before their missions.

U.S. nuclear experts now in Japan will start taking their own radiation readings.  Officially this is to “help” Japan with the Fukushima nuclear disaster, but I think it’s because U.S. officials don’t trust what TEPCo, and Japanese officials, are reporting.

Fukushima, U.S.

West Coast U.S. buying up Iodide Pills

A Miami Herald article says people living on the West Coast of the United States are buying up anti-radiation pills.

nukepills.com, in North Carolina, has sold 6,500 orders of iodide pills (it is still being incorrectly called iodine pills) in four days. Normally they sell only 100 in the same time period. Most of the orders came from Washington state, Oregon and California.

The problem with Iodide, is that it can be a health hazard if misused.  Iodide builds up in the thyroid, and can cause health issues.  Another problem is that the more Iodide is used the less effective it is.  Radioactive Iodine-131 causes thyroid cancer.

When Iodide and oxygen mix you get Iodine. So Iodine is a byproduct.