h/t Gates of Vienna
Muslims in the Central Asian nation of Kazakhstan are up in arms at a vodka producer for including the word Allah on its liquor bottles.
Privately owned Channel 31 cited Bekzat Boranbaiuly, head imam at a mosque in the city of Semey, as saying the vodka maker should seek forgiveness for the blasphemous use of the sentence The Power of Allah Suffices for All.
Kremlin critics and Russian bloggers mercilessly mocked President Dmitry Medvedev after microphones broadcast him promising to "transmit" a message from President Obama to Vladimir Putin.
"I understand. I will transmit this information to Vladimir," Medvedev was heard saying in English to Obama in a "hot-mike" exchange that has already caused a stir in the United States.
Medvedev was responding to a pledge by Obama that the United States will be more flexible on some bilateral issues such as missile defense once, as he expects, he is re-elected.
Russian bloggers immediately circulated Medvedev's phrase on Twitter, mocking Medvedev for his apparent admission that all information needs to go through the all-powerful Russian number one Putin.
Opposition movement leader Alexei Navalny tweeted, "Today, let's all respond to every tweet: 'I will transmit this to Vladimir'."
"Vladimiru", Russian for "to Vladimir", became a worldwide Twitter trend in a matter of a couple of hours Tuesday morning as bloggers used it as a universal response to any sort of statement.
"I am Dima, I don't want to make any decisions. I will transmit to Vladimir," tweeted @sult, using the familiar form of Dmitry.
Bloggers spread an image of Putin answering his cell phone in the country side, with the caption, "Hello, I am Vladimir. Did anyone transmit anything to me?"
Medvedev has never able to shake off his reputation as a president who is not in control. Last September similar footage made its way onto the Internet of Medvedev pushing finance minister Alexei Kudrin to quit at a government meeting, to which Kudrin replied "I will consult with the prime minister."
#4
Yeah, this is funny and mockable. But I care less about Dima being Vlad's messenger boy and more about my Prez thinking he will have more flexibility to sell our country out after he is re-elected.
#11
Putin and Medvedev go to a restaurant. Putin orders steak. The waiter says, "Very good, sir, and for the vegetable?". "The vegetable will also have the steak."
People are being allowed into areas around Fukushima with ambient radiation levels of 20mSv or less without protective gear. This is allowing cleanup, repairs, and operation of business concerns in the area. At present, people are not allowed to stay overnight. The main contaminant is Cesium-137 which is water soluble so the contamination levels should continue falling with every passing rainstorm.
#2
Just out of idle curiosity, what is there to return to? I doubt the land will be farmable in our lifetime (salt water tends to lower the crop yield, I understand). What else can they use it for?
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/05/2012 23:02 Comments ||
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A commercial Launch Services Agreement between Antrix Corporation Limited (ANTRIX), the commercial arm of ISRO; and ASTRIUM SAS, a Company under EADS, France; has been signed recently. Under this agreement, an advanced Remote Sensing satellite - SPOT -6, weighing nearly 800 kg, built by ASTRIUM SAS, will be launched on-board ISRO's Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV), during the second half of 2012. Along with SPOT - 6 satellite, the PSLV, in its core alone configuration, will also carry other co-passenger payloads.
This Launch Services Agreement signed between ANTRIX and ASTRIUM is a part of the Long Term Agreement signed between the two agencies in September 2008.
It may be recalled that in November 2010, under a commercial contract between ANTRIX and ASTRIUM, an advanced communication satellite HYLAS was successfully built by ISRO and ASTRIUM together for a EUROPEAN customer. In the coming days, further collaboration possibilities between ANTRIX/ISRO and ASTRIUM would be explored.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/05/2012 17:06 ||
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NEW DELHI: The Indian Air Force has now decided to deploy its additional six C-130J Super Hercules transport aircraft at Panagarh in West Bengal-- the likely location of a proposed Army Mountain Corps headquarter-- and not in Odisha.
The IAF was earlier planning to deploy the six aircraft in Charbatia in Odisha and an announcement in this regard was made by IAF in a press conference on October 3.
"We already have an air field under the Eastern Air Command there in Panagarh and now it has been decided that the additional six C-130Js would be deployed there," IAF officials said.
The six aircraft would be used by the IAF for looking after the requirements in the Northeast and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, they said.
The first six C-130Js, procured at a cost of around USD one billion, have been deployed in Hindon air base near here and have already started taking part in special operations.
The IAF has already sent a Letter of Request (LoR) to the US government for acquiring another six aircraft.
Officials said representatives from Lockheed Martin-- the American manufacturer of these aircraft-- have already carried out a survey of the location for developing the infrastructure for these aircraft.
The C-130J Super Hercules aircraft were used extensively by the IAF for carrying out relief operations during the Sikkim earthquake.
They have already created the record for the longest flight when they air dropped a contingent of Indian Army Special Forces in Andaman and Nicobar Islands after taking off from Hindon air base.
The Army has proposed to raise a new Mountain Corps for deployment in the Northeast and Panagarh is likely to be its headquarter location.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/05/2012 15:03 ||
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Gulliver Energy granted first-ever domestic permit to explore for radioactive metallic element
The Water and Energy Ministry has granted Gulliver Energy a domestic uranium exploration permit, Ynet learned Tuesday.
The company, headed by former Mossad Chief Meir Dagan, will dig for the radioactive metallic element in the Negev.
It's good to give former intelligence heads something to do to keep busy and out of trouble.
The permit given to Gulliver Energy is the first of its kind. Ministry sources said that the license was not exclusive and that other companies can bid for uranium exploration permits as well.
A blurb by Gulliver Energy said that the company's permit, allotted for a period of one year, will allow it to explore for uranium across 12,000 acres stretching between Arad and Sodom.
A feasibility study done in the area suggests that there is a good chance that there radioactive elements can be found there.
Initial testing was done at shallow depth and the company plans to conduct further testing, in various depths, in order to explore the type of elements in the ground.
#1
12000 acres is not much. 12000/640(acre/sq mile) = 18.75 sections.
or about half the size of a cousin's hard scrabble ranch.
sneeze and you will miss it.
good luck...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
04/05/2012 2:54 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Kremlin critics and Russian bloggers mercilessly mocked President Dmitry Medvedev after microphones broadcast him promising to "transmit" a message from President Obama to Vladimir Putin.
People are being allowed into areas around Fukushima with ambient radiation levels of 20mSv or less without protective gear. This is allowing cleanup, repairs, and operation of business concerns in the area. At present, people are not allowed to stay overnight.
