usfollowme: January 2013

TIME: What is NATO's purpose today? If Russia were invited to join would it do so?

PUTIN: I wouldn't call NATO a putrid corpse of the cold war, but it is a leftover of the past, indeed. Let's be frank. First, NATO was set up. Then, in response, the Warsaw Pact was established. There were two military-political blocs. While we're talking about the need to seek mutual understanding, we must now introduce new principles in international life. We have a multipolar world; it's as it should be. How can NATO efficiently fight terrorism? Did it stop the terrorists on 9/11? Where was NATO then? They were not there. They couldn't be there, because such threats can be addressed only if you have a trusting relationship with the actors that are capable of stopping this threat, including Russia. Russia has no intention of joining military-political blocs because that would be tantamount to restricting its sovereignty. But we want to have good relations, both with the U.S. and with other countries, including NATO countries. But today it's not possible to militarily corner others, to make other people obey. Formerly the U.S. was loaded with extra burdens and even perhaps compromised its position while trying to protect other countries from the Soviet Union. Now that context has changed. Therefore, internally this organization will need to reorganize around different principles. As regards the need to fight terrorism, drug trafficking, organized crime, poverty, which is a source of terrorism—all this requires a broader cooperation than the framework of a single military-political bloc.

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/personoftheyear/article/0,28804,1690753_1690757_1695787-3,00.html

"The new research was carried out by analysing a 2.5km long ice core drilled from the Greenland ice last year by a major scientific expedition involving top boffins from around the world. The core data showed that 115 to 130 thousand years ago, temperatures above the Greenland ice were much higher than they are today: 8±4°C, in fact.

Until now it had been generally assumed that any such temperature rise - or indeed a much lesser rise of more than 3°C - would mean that all the Greenland ice would inevitably melt, causing the oceans of Earth to rise by as much as 7 metres. Based on the current IPCC status report, the climate-hardlinerhippies at Greenpeace have this to say (pdf):"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/01/24/greenland_ice_sheet_simply/

Thursday, January 31, 2013

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Of course: Feinstein’s assault weapons ban exempts government officials

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Friday, January 25, 2013

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Friday, January 18, 2013

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Bundesbank to repatriate gold from Paris and NY

Iran ready to register nuclear weapon ban as "int'l document": spokesman

Monday, January 14, 2013

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Saturday, January 12, 2013