The European Union Times |
- Russia’s vast extent of Oil, Gas Reserves Revealed for First Time
- US, Russia power struggle in Asia
- America No Longer Has a Functioning Judicial System
- Italy has sold soul to German devil: Opposition leader
- Snowden plans to settle and work in Russia
|
Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:48 PM PDT
 According to declassified data Russia holds 17 billion tons of oil and 48 billion cubic meters of gas. Moscow believes revealing the extent of the vast reserves will lead to a surge of investment in the extraction and production of hydrocarbons. The country’s recoverable oil reserves in the C1 category (proven reserves) totals 17.8 billion tons; category C2 (preliminary estimated reserves) is 10.2 billion tons, according to data collected on January 1, 2012. Meanwhile, gas reserves were equally bountiful at 48.8 trillion cubic meters C1 category; gas stores of the C2 category is estimated at 19.6 trillion cubic meters. The Minister of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation Sergey Donskoy said the resource potential for these kinds of mineral resources remains one of the most significant in the world. “I am convinced that the opening of this data will give a powerful impetus to investment in reproduction and production of hydrocarbons,” he said. He also added that Russia’s potential for the mineral resources is one of the most significant in the world. Russia’s available hydrocarbon potential will be able to provide the nation’s growing economy for 30 years, according to expert estimates put out by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources and the Federal State Commission on Mineral Reserves. Meanwhile, increased exploration of mineral resources consistently exceed the level of production, the minister said, noting that last year 49 oil fields were discovered. Last week, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev signed a government decree that removed the lid of secrecy on oil reserve data. Earlier, President Putin, explained the necessary level of cooperation that exists between the domestic fuel and energy sector and foreign investors, called the former level of secrecy “an obvious anachronism.” Putin also called on the development and approval of a new classification of Russian oil and gas reserves as close as possible to international standards. Before the release of the official data Russia was placed second in the world by gas reserves after Iran, with 32.9 trillion cubic meters, and eighth by crude oil reserves, after Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and UAE, with 11.8 trillion cubic meters of oil. Source Related Posts:
|
|
Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:29 PM PDT
 When President Barack Obama announced the rebalancing of U.S. forces toward Asia in 2011, it was often called “the pivot to the Pacific”. Now it’s Russia’s turn to refocus. Russians, like Americans, are turning their attention to a region that’s home to half the global population, several of the largest and fastest-growing economies and some of the world’s busiest ports and shipping lanes. “The Russians are interested in demonstrating that they are a player in Asia”, Ralph Cossa of the Pacific Forum in Hawaii said. “They don’t want to be ignored”. The Russians are sending a clear message this month with massive land and sea maneuvers in Siberia and the Sea of Japan. Its biggest military exercise since the Soviet era involves 160,000 troops, 5,000 tanks, 130 aircraft and dozens of ships. Part of it simulates a response to a hypothetical attack by forces from Japan and the U.S. – nations that occupied parts of Siberia during the Russian Civil War in 1918-20. The maneuvers come at a time when the U.S. rebalance has been undermined by defense budget cuts that have limited exercises with allies and reduced the readiness of forces in the region. Russia also appears to be mirroring America’s “places not bases” policy that will see U.S. forces rotate to Australia and the Philippines on training missions. Last year, Moscow opened negotiations with Vietnam to allow the Russian Pacific Fleet to resupply at Cam Ranh Bay – home to a massive Soviet naval base in the years after the fall of Saigon. But Russia’s military has been eroding for years, and it’s uncertain whether its forces in the Pacific are as capable as their Soviet-era predecessors, Cossa said. “I don’t think there is a lot of power left in the Russian Pacific fleet”, he said. During the Cold War, Russian aircraft carriers berthed in Vladivostok. These days, the naval force in the far east is limited to a large missile cruiser, several destroyers and a flotilla of nuclear and diesel-electric submarines. Russian officials have signaled plans to add new Mistral-class amphibious ships, cruisers and submarines in coming years. The build-up in Vladivostok comes as the U.S. has announced plans to base 60 percent of its Navy in the Pacific. “Russia is moving in the Pacific direction”, said Thomas Fedyszyn, a retired Navy captain who is a national security professor at the Naval War College in Newport, R.I. “I would expect to see more Russian naval activity in the Pacific.” Russia’s most modern warships – two new Mistral-class amphibious assault ships under construction at French shipyards – will arrive in Vladivostok next year and in 2015, Fedyszyn said. “A lot of experts are thinking the underlying issue is Japan and the Kurile Islands”, he said. The Mistrals are equipped for humanitarian assistance missions but are designed for amphibious assaults on small islands and can carry Russian Naval Infantry – akin to U.S. Navy SEALS. A 3,000-strong contingent of naval Infantry is stationed in Vladivostok. Russia is also likely to send the first of its new Borei-class nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines – now undergoing sea trials – to the Pacific next year, Fedyszyn said. “The Russians will be slowly but steadily increasing their warfighting ability in that part of the world”, he said. “China is looking for a strategic partner since the U.S. seems to have no shortage in the region, including India. Russia doesn’t know if China is a friend or an enemy but Russia is a relatively powerful and available country that is also concerned about the American shift to the Pacific.” During the Cope North Exercise in February, U.S. F-15s intercepted two Russian Tu-95 Bear-H bombers, capable of carrying nuclear weapons, near Guam. Fedyszyn said he expects to see more of those flights as Russia seeks to gain respect in the Pacific. Fiona Hill, director of the Center on the United States and Europe and a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, described Russia’s renewed interest in the Pacific as “a response to the U.S.” but she believes the recent military maneuvers are “bluster”. Russia is recognizing the rise of China and doing the same thing as other nations: reacting to growth in the Asia-Pacific region. “The Russians are desperately trying to figure out how to tap into the growth there”, she said. Source Related Posts:
|
|
Posted: 25 Jul 2013 12:13 PM PDT
 The Department of Justice told a federal court this week that the NSA’s spying “cannot be challenged in a court of law”. (This is especially dramatic given that numerous federal judges and legal scholars – including a former FISA judge – say that the FISA spying “court” is nothing but a kangaroo court.) Also this week, the Department of Justice told a federal court that the courts cannot review the legality of the government’s assassination by drone of Americans abroad: “‘Are you saying that a US citizen targeted by the United States in a foreign country has no constitutional rights?’ [the judge] asked Brian Hauck, a deputy assistant attorney general. ‘How broadly are you asserting the right of the United States to target an American citizen? Where is the limit to this?’ “She provided her own answer: ‘The limit is the courthouse door’ . . . . “‘Mr. Hauck acknowledged that Americans targeted overseas do have rights, but he said they could not be enforced in court either before or after the Americans were killed.’” (Indeed, the Obama administration has previously claimed the power to be judge, jury and executioner in both drone and cyber-attacks. This violates Anglo-Saxon laws which have been on the books in England and America for 800 years.) The Executive Branch also presents “secret evidence” in many court cases … sometimes even hiding the evidence from the judge who is deciding the case. Bush destroyed much of the separation of powers which made our country great. But under Obama, it’s gotten worse. For example, the agency which decides who should be killed by drone is the same agency which spies on all Americans. Daniel Ellsberg notes that even the Founding Fathers didn’t have to deal with a government claiming that it could indefinitely detain Americans … even on American soil. After Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Chris Hedges, journalist Naomi Wolf, Pentagon Papers whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and others sued the government to enjoin the NDAA’s allowance of the indefinite detention of Americans – the judge asked the government attorneys 5 times whether journalists like Hedges could be indefinitely detained simply for interviewing and then writing about bad guys. The government refused to promise that journalists like Hedges won’t be thrown in a dungeon for the rest of their lives without any right to talk to a judge The Department of Justice has also tapped Congressional phones, and a high-level NSA whistleblower says that the NSA is spying on – and blackmailing – top government officials and military officers including all 9 Supreme Court justices. It’s not just the Executive Branch which has attacked the courts. For example, Congress passed a bill stripping courts of the power to review issues related to genetically modified foods. The Constitution is mortally mounded. While the “war on terror” is commonly cited as the excuse, most of the attacks on our rights started before 9/11. Indeed, the Founding Fathers warned 200 years ago that open-ended wars give the Executive an excuse to take away our liberties. Two former U.S. Supreme Court Justices have warned that America is sliding into tyranny. A former U.S. President, and many other high-level American officials agree. In addition to attacks on the judiciary by the White House and Congress, judges are voluntarily gutting the justice system … and laying down in lapdog-obeisance to D.C. For example, the Supreme Court ruled that if judges don’t like plaintiffs’ allegations of bad government actions, the judge can simply pre-judge and throw out the lawsuit before even allowing the party to conduct any discovery to prove their claims. This guts 220 years of Constitutional law, and makes it extremely difficult to challenge harmful government action in court. America has a “dual justice system … one for ordinary people and then one for people with money and enormous wealth and power”. Indeed, most Americans have less access to justice than Botswanans … and are more abused by police than Kazakhstanis. Source Related Posts:
|
|
Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:46 AM PDT
 Italian Five Star Movement opposition leader Beppe Grillo“Italian politicians have sold their soul to the German devil in return for their survival, at the expense of the people, who have to suffer from austerity and deflation,” Italian Five Star Movement opposition leader Beppe Grillo wrote in his blog entitled “the devil wears Merkel” on Tuesday. The satirist-turned-activist criticized the European Union banking institution, who uses a fixed exchange rate system that benefits strong countries like Germany that are completing the “economic annexation” of weaker states. “Today we have to decide whether to restructure our debt while staying in the euro or returning to the lira,” warned Grillo, adding that the move would be “the only way in which Italy can see the light again.” Over the past decade, Italy has been the slowest growing economy in the eurozone as tough austerity measures, spending cuts, and pension changes have stirred serious concerns for many people already grappling with the European country’s ailing economy. This is while Italy’s unemployment rate in 2013 reached its highest level in at least 36 years, with 40 percent of the youth being out of work. Italy started to experience recession after its economy contracted by 0.2 percent in the third quarter of 2011 and by 0.7 percent in the same year’s fourth quarter. The worsening debt crisis has forced EU governments to adopt harsh austerity measures and tough economic reforms, which have triggered incidents of social unrest and massive protests in many European countries. Source Related Posts:
|
|
Posted: 25 Jul 2013 11:36 AM PDT
 Anatoly Kucherena“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. Kucherena expressed hope that the whistleblower’s plea will be granted, because the reasons which prompted Snowden ask for political asylum in Russia “deserve attention.” “He fears for his health and his life. He’s afraid that if he’ll be handed to the US, torture can be used against him down to death penalty,” he said. In case of a negative ruling on the plea, Kucherena said that Snowden has “an opportunity to go to court and appeal against the decision of the Federal Migration Service.” “He intends to do so,” the attorney stressed. “During our meeting, our dialogues, and our consultations, he made detailed inquiries on those procedures. And I informed him of what possibilities he has according to Russian law.” Source Related Posts:
|
