Iran - Imminent Danger of War

Latest UPDATE at the end of blogspot !

Israeli drone

According to Israeli sources, Azerbaijan should have granted Israel access to four of its military airbases. After an earlier deal between Azerbaijan and Israel, comprising the delivery of arms and material provided by Israel's aircraft industry, Israel might now be able to attack the Islamic Republic of Iran directly from its northern border.

Up to now, any attack by Israeli warplanes would have required their refuelling in the air. While the arms deal has already been confirmed and reported in another blogspot of mine, the alleged use of Azerbaijani airbases by Israel was only considered as a possible option by some global security website. The new development became officially known today by People's Network, Beijing, and related Chinese sources referring Israeli media. The day before, a German TV broadcast presented a satellite image showing one of those bases in question. It should be located north of Azerbaijan's Caspian seaport of Baku.

以色列欲借道阿塞拜疆袭击伊朗？
Does Israel wish to use Azerbaijani runways in an attack on Iran ?
[Headline for People's Network, Beijing, on April 2
and referring to "recent" U.S. diplomatic reports]

In the past, Azerbaijan became known as some kind of save haven for terrorists of all kind, an old map showing the camps of Islamist and pro-Taliban groups as well as of Turkish nationalists (Grey Wolves). One airfield in Southern Azerbaijan should even have served as a training camp for pilots connected to alleged terrorist groups. It is therefore unclear to what extent Azerbaijan can now be regarded as a stable pro-Western community that could serve Israeli pilots as a base of action against the Islamic Republic. The official conditions of use for the above mentioned airfields are unknown either. Maybe, Israel could try to resort to some kind of hit-and-run strategy when using Azerbaijani facilities for an attack, using the help of Azerbaijan's secret service.

In another Chinese article from XinHua-News-Network, dating back to February 2, 2012, Israeli sources are cited that Israel is decided to attack up to 27 targets in Iran and that are related to the development of nuclear weapons.

Comment by Ulysses:

In recent days, the war drums against Iran are being beaten even more forcefully than ever before. Even though U.S. President Obama has not yet decided to resort to war on Iran, influential pressure groups inside the U.S. are demanding an immediate attack:

The Republican candidates, at least, are seemingly eager to teach the Iranians a lesson they would never forget. Seen in the frame of U.S. preelections, such behaviour makes sense especially for those politicians who are unable to present a real new concept for solving the actual problems of U.S. economy including unemployment and social decay. While not being in charge of essential military decisions to be taken in case of war, and therefore being far away from any personal responsibility, it is an easy game for such people to rely on popular stances.

Even more dangerous, however, are those voices inside the U.S.A. that are in favour of Israel, the only partner in the game who is really interested in a military conflict with the Islamic Republic of Iran for most practical reasons.

Unfortunately, U.S. media seem to "jump" at the Iranian subject in the actual situation of political incertainty and confusion. We should only remember recent "developing stories" presented by Wolf Blitzer in CNN's "situation room":

March 24, 2012
The "Iranian A-Team", allegedly consisting of hundreds of Hezbollah agents and being paid by Tehran to inflict inside damage to the U.S.A.. By the way, the same U.S.A. which is known to be the Iranian cash cow. Just a new idea: Hitting the place where you earn much of your money.

March 28, 2012
Another related subject in Wolf Blitzer's situation room was considering a nuclear attack on Washington DC. A new study was used to demonstrate how the White House would be erased for sure because of its unshielded position within the skyline of Washington, while the Pentagon might still remain unaffected.

Now that "common sense" of U.S. citizens is being driven to realize the need for another war in the Middle East, after the U.S. "having done" with Iraq and Afghanistan, we can nothing but wait for the next desaster to come and which will blow up the whole region in a splendid TV presentation of fireworks. It can be predicted that we will, sooner or later, meet with some old enemies at the war site, as Russia is not really amused by the idea of America and Israel making trouble in Putin's Kaspian backyard. Even China might take it the wrong way. It could be just like a former commanding general for U.S. CENTCOM already put it: "If you liked Iraq and Afghanistan, - you will love Iran."

However, the time window for war with Iran is being expected to close in a very near future as a commentator for Al-Jazeera recently put it. Even if Israel succeeded in some hazardous attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, the Islamic Republic would probably need just another year to complete its first nuclear weapon and which would be celebrated by the people of Iran. In the end, an Israeli attack could only delay but not completely stop the development of Iran's military power. Once U.S. preelections are over, the surviving Republican candidate and Obama's competitor might need to row back in front of all those internal problems that are haunting the U.S.A., and a less emotional view on foreign affairs might return sooner or later. Same goes with the European Union and their initiative for international sanctions against Iran, as soon as recent election campaigns in France and Germany and the temporary settling of imminent economic problems have come to an end. - It's just the actual period of uncertainty and chaos that is most dangerous to peace as it might seduce Israel into making a decisive mistake of historic dimensions.


Cited Chinese sources:

以色列媒体：阿塞拜疆允许以色列使用4个空军基地
来源：人民网-国际频道2012年03月30日
Israeli media: Azerbaijan granting Israel access to four [Azerbaijani] air bases.

以色列媒体称以可能使用阿塞拜疆基地攻击伊朗
来源： 人民网 新华网 2012年03月30日
Israeli media saying that Israel might probably use Azerbaijani bases in an attack on Iran.

以色列军方确定打击伊朗核设施27个目标
来源： 人民网 2012年02月02日
Israel's military determined to hit 27 targets among Iran's nuclear facilities.

俄罗斯军事改革基本结束 发生“革命性”变化
来源：人民网-《人民日报》 2012年03月30
Russian military reform basically completed - "revolutionary" changes being accomplished.

伊朗强调与敌人对抗不退缩 称美国阴谋令人厌恶
来源：中国新闻网 2011年10月16日
Iran emphasizes it would not shrink back from their enemies in case of war and is naming the U.S. as the disgusting leader in a conspiracy.

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UPDATE from March 31, 2012:


روسيا "الشيعية" و ثورة سوريا العربية
Russia's "sectarianism" and the Arabic revolution in Syria
................. is the title of a comment that appeared in today's edition of Al-Jazeera's Arabic website. It is discussing the subject of Russia's individual position within an international community in favour of foreign interference in Syria and Iran. Here some quotations related to the conflict between Iran and the Western alliance comprising America, Israel and the European Union, thus showing the complexity of the subject:

الكتيبة المتقدمة لروسيا و إيران مما تخشي موسكو وتل أبيب ؟ ليست طائفة و الثورة العربية
Is it the avantgarde of Russia and Iran that Moscow and Tel Aviv are fearing ? It's not the same class [who made] the Arabic revolution.
This quotation might be hinting at the new economic forces growing inside Russia and Iran, decided to efficiently control the distribution and use of crude oil and other natural resources from the so-called "belt of benediction" between Russia and Iran.

هنا القراءة الشاملة للمشهد تُعطي كل المؤشرات بأن الحبكة الإيرانية الروسية المباركة باهتمام من تل أبيب قد اكتملت، وأن عواصم الغرب بالفعل أعلنت رسميا رفضها لتسليح الضحية, وهذا الأمر صداه بارز في واشنطن وباريس وغيرهما من عواصم التأثير الغربي, في حين أن المليشيات وجسر السلاح الإيراني والسلاح الروسي لا يتوقف, والتواطؤ الغربي واضح
It is the total view of the scene that is providing all indicators [how] the Iranian-Russian "belt of benediction" came to the attention of Tel Aviv after its completion, and [why] the Western Uncle Sam definitely and officially declared his rejection of [their] victim's armament. And this affair was calling for war in Washington, Paris and [elsewhere] under the Western influence of Uncle Sam. At the moment, militias dared the armament of Iran and Russian armament didn't stop, the Western conspiracy [became] visible.

Arabic author of above cited comment


UPDATE from April 2, 2012:

Another article from Al-Arabiya's Arabic website [April 2, 2012] is touching the subject of foreign interference in Syria which is critisized by Iran and that has already been chosen as the next target of military intervention:

عسكري إيراني يدعو دمشق إلى معاقبة داعمي الثوار

العميد مسعود جزائري: حان الوقت لتمريغ أنوف القوى الأجنبية في التراب
Iranian military is calling Damascus to punish those who support the rebels.
For a better understanding: The brigadier doesn't target Syrians engaged in uprising but foreign countries in support of them, thus following their own interests.
Brigadier Massoud Djasairi: It is time to turn down the arrogance of foreign powers in [their] suspicion.

في تصريحات شديدة اللهجة، هدد مساعد الأركان العامة للقوات المسلحة الإيرانية العميد مسعود جزائري، في مقابلة له أمس الأحد الدول الداعمة للثوار السوريين، مطالباً نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد بمعاقبة الضالعين في اضطرابات سوريا
In an interview granted yesterday, Sunday [April 1], and where he gave his declarations in a rough dialect, the man second-in-rank within the general command of Iran's armed forces, brigadier Massoud Djasairi, said those countries in support of [Syrian] rebels, i.e. of "Syrians demanding the punishment of president Bashir Al-Assad's system", are only accomplices of revolutionary turmoil.

Terrorism - French Jews Targeted

Latest UPDATE from March 21 / 23 at the end of this blogspot !
استمرار حصار المشتبه فيه بهجوم تولوز على مدرسة يهودية
المشتبه فيه الذي زعم أنه على صلة بتنظيم القاعدة 21/3/2012

snapshot of culprit [French TV station]



مقتل أربعة أشخاص و إصابة أخرين في اطلاق نار أمام مدرسة يهودية في تولوز بفرنسا
Four persons killed and others hurt in a shootout in front of a Jewish school in Toulouse / France.


الحادث يأتي بعد أسبوع من مقتل عسكريين في إطلاق نار مماثل في مونتوبان
The incident occured one week after the killing of two soldiers in a similar shootout in Montauban.


السلطات الفرنسية تفرض أعلى مستوى انذار ضد الإرهاب جنوب البلاد بعد الهجوم على مدرسة يهودية في مدينة تولوز
French authorities are considering a high-level anti-terror alert for the Southern part of the country after the attack on a Jewish school in the town of Toulouse.

[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic channel, on March 19]
...................................................................

Additional news from Radio France Info on March 19:
According to a witness and police investigation, the terrorist used a 9 mm weapon [ later a .45-calibre gun ] when targeting children at the Jewish school in Toulouse. Three children of the age up to ten and one teacher died in the course of that shooting spree.
...................................................................

Quotations from The Telegraph, London, on March 20:

"He was calm and determined. In cold blood he assassinated them as if he was killing animals," said Nicola Yardeni, the regional president of CRIF, France's Jewish organisation, after viewing CCTV footage of the shootings from surveillance cameras.

"You see a man park his motorcycle, start to shoot, enter the school grounds and chase children to catch one and shoot a bullet into her head. It's unbearable to watch. He was looking to kill."

Police began a huge manhunt, erecting roadblocks across Toulouse, and put extra security outside religious schools across France. The attack is being linked with two other shootings in the Toulouse area in little more than a week, prompting fears that France is dealing with a racist serial killer. Last Thursday, three soldiers were shot as they stood by a cash machine in Montauban, 30 miles north of Toulouse, by a gunman dressed in black and riding a motor scooter. Two of the victims, aged 26 and 24, died immediately. They were of north African descent. The third, 28, who is in a coma in hospital, is from the French overseas region of Guadeloupe. A witness described how the gunman approached one soldier who was wounded and attempting to crawl away, turned him over with his foot and fired three more shots into him before getting back on his scooter and making his escape.

Four days previously in Toulouse a 30-year old soldier from the 1st Parachute Logistics Regiment was shot dead – again by a gunman on a motor scooter. The victim was also of north African origin. One of the weapons used at the school was the same calibre as that used in the attacks on the soldiers – a .45 calibre automatic pistol.

There were reports in France that police were looking for three former soldiers of the logistics regiment sacked for "neo-Nazi" activities. The men were all ejected from the army in 2008 after a photograph emerged of them making Nazi salutes in front of a swastika. "Police are interested in locating those men to see if there may be some connection," said a source close to the investigation.

The prospect of a serial killer targeting religious and minority groups spread fear across the nation and is likely to raise questions over controversial remarks made during the presidential campaign relating to faith and immigration.

President Nicolas Sarkozy, who is seeking re-election with votes in April and May, has come under attack by religious leaders and from within his own party for veering to the Right. Presidential campaigning was suspended yesterday as Mr Sarkozy visited Toulouse, followed later by his socialist challenger, François Hollande.
...................................................................

Latest UPDATE on March 21:

According to French authorities, the serial killer of Toulouse has finally been identified as 24-year-old Mohammed Merah, a French citizen of Algerian origin. The man has already been surrounded for hours in his Toulouse apartment where he is holding contact with security forces. Merah already confirmed being the serial killer and claimed working for Al-Qaeda.




Satellite view
of Toulouse:
Photos marking
Jewish school
(above)
and Merah's home
(below).




As to the children Merah cornered and murdered in a Jewish school, he said he was avenging the killings of Palestinian children while his killings of three soldiers should be seen as a protest against the deployment of French troops in Afghanistan. Earlier expectations blaming a "racist serial killer" with "neo-Nazi background" for the linked shooting sprees in Toulouse and in the neighbouring community of Montauban have therefore been dropped.
[Source: Al-Jazeera - Doha, German TV channel 1, Haaretz - Tel Aviv]


Another snapshot of Mohammed Merah as published by a French TV channel, the photo's origin and date remaining unknown [cited from People's Network, Beijing, on March 23]. 法国当地电视台曝光的梅拉照片，日期及来源不详. Merah was finally shot by French police on the same day.

Postscript:
It was only one day after Merah's death that French police accused his brother of complicency. According to Radio France International, his brother was quoted having praised the killings, and there must have been other evidence as well.
Maybe, this affair is just showing the "top of the iceberg" of a general disapproval of French society among some underprivileged youngsters of North African origin. Up to now, nobody really knows how far this is going, even though, the problem itself has already surfaced in different uprisings in the suburbs of Paris since the 1990s.

Global Competition for Raw Materials

The following lines have been cited from People's Network, Beijing, on March 17, 2012:

近日，欧盟联合美国、日本，就中国限制出口包括稀土、钨、钼等在内的17种原材料，向WTO提出诉讼。这是西方国家再次采取一致步调，在稀土等稀缺资源问题上向中国施压。全球的稀土呈现出什么样的供应格局？谁掌握着稀土定价权？不了解这些，也就无法明白东西双方在这个问题上的是非曲直。
Recently, the European Community, in alliance with the U.S.A. and Japan and with regard to China's export restrictions on 17 raw and processed materials including the Rare Earths, Tungsten and Molybdenum, raised [accusations] at the WTO [World Trade Organization]. This is just another step in sequence taken by the West to apply pressure on China when it comes to the [extreme] shortage of natural resources like the Rare Earths. The whole world's Rare Earth [material] emerges from what kind of supply structure ? And who has in his hands the power to fix the price of that Rare Earth material ? Those who don't find out are unable as well to understand the rights and wrongs of that matter affecting, both, the East and the West.

稀土具有明显的稀缺性，在全球分布不均。数据显示，全球已探明的1亿吨稀土储量中，中国占36%，俄罗斯占19%，美国占13%，澳大利亚占5.5%。南非开普省斯廷坎普斯克拉尔的磷灰石矿伴有独居石，是世界上唯一的单一矿脉状独居石稀土矿。
The Rare Earth [elements] are obviously [characterized by their extreme] shortage, their global distribution being uneven. Data are proving that from one hundred million tons of globally verified Rare Earth reserves, 36% are held by China, 19% by Russia, 13% by the U.S. and 5.5% by Australia. Monazite [mineral embedded in] Apatite deposit from South Africa's ... is the world's only single mineral ore accounting for Rare Earth mining from Monazite.

Comment by Ulysses:

Monazite is a mineral consisting of Rare Earth Phosphate while the main mineral Apatite is some kind of Calcium Phosphate. The Rare Earth material applied for technical use includes Cer and Lanthan as the main constituents. Usually, all other Rare Earth elements are present as well because of their particular character that makes it difficult to refine one single element by chemical means. As far as I know, Rare Earth metals are additives like Tungsten and Molybdenum, all of them used in the making of special steel for high-performance applications. The Rare Earth elements are used as well in catalysts (especially for oil cracking) and in laser applications.

The Chinese adaptation of the South African mine's local name has been skipped.

As to the use of Rare Earths in steel, refer to the following news item:

10月28日，中国钢研集团公司与寿光市宏达稀土材料有限公司签署合作协议暨共同出资组建钢研集团稀土科技有限公司。...
On October 28, 2011, China Steel Research Group and Hong Da Rare Earth Materials Ltd. in Shou Guang municipality signed an agreement of cooperation for the jointly financed foundation of Steel Research Group's Rare Earth Science and Technology Ltd. ...

寿光宏达拥有5000吨钕铁硼废料回收生产线、1500吨金属及钕铁硼原料生产线等。
Hong Da Ltd. in Shou Guang owns 5000 tons of Neodynium-Iron-Boron waste material that has been recycled to reenter the production line as well as 1500 tons of metal added Neodymium-Iron-Boron raw material of production line quality.

[Source: Website of the "Morning Sunlight" New Materials Ltd. (or: Chen Guan Rare Earth 晨光稀土) in Ganzhou (or: Jiangxi Province) 赣州晨光稀土新材料股份有限公司 on November 1, 2011.]

Gadhafi's Security Chief Captured

موريتانيا تعتقل عبد الله السنوسي رئيس الاستخبارات الليبية السابق
Mauritania has imprisoned Abdullah al-Sanussi, chief of former Libyan intelligence service.
[Source: Al-Jazeera, Arabic service, on March 17]

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Pictures from Central Europe:

Lakeside in Winter - Frozen Leaf

Lakeside in Spring - Early Catkins

U.S.A. - China's Bitch ?

Former Goldman Sachs partner Peter Kiernan, author of Becoming China's Bitch: And Nine More Catastrophes We Must Avoid Right Now, on CNN sharing his concerns about China replacing the U.S. as the world's top economy.


The broadcast was two days ago, and I first hesitated to write just another blogspot on a subject of international importance. I found it hard to deliver an adequate and fair evaluation of the present situation after having invested a lot of time to receive a broader knowledge and understanding of China's language, culture and historic development.

Here are some data that support Kiernan's theses of China going to dominate the U.S.A.. China's answer, however, can be read at the end of my blogspot.


However, there is nothing new in it. The trend of China's rising influence is visible for many years. Could it be that the West has slept too long instead of rising in competition ?

As to China, who would not understand the Chinese people's striving for a better life after all those hardships suffered through the years of the Cultural Revolution and other politically motivated campaigns on behalf of some grass-root Communism that dominated China for many decades ?

Throughout China's history, its tribes have virtually "invaded" South-East-Asia as honorable merchants and detested smugglers. They have spread their culture to Japan and even made an early contact with the Arabic world. Since 1800 they arrived in North-America to earn a living while realizing badly needed railway connections from coast to coast.

Far away from the country of their ancestors they founded prospering communities all over the world in towns like San Francisco, London and Singapore, only to mention some of the most important and oldest settlements. As a result of steady efforts and Chinese ability to cope with hardships of all kind, some of them soon succeeded in business affairs and were often regarded as a danger by those who claimed older rights. No wonder that Chinese were mobbed in some South-East-Asian countries, their natural resort for emigration. In Indonesia, things culminated in bloody riots against Chinese immigrants who already controlled the economy. Even though nowadays, the proportion of Chinese in that country can be considered as insignificant, their economic influence is still highly remarkable.

Someone I spoke to compared the Chinese emigration with that of the Jews who are similarly distributed all over the world and who tend to be living in their own communities making money there. Such analogy has the truth, with the exception that Chinese never killed another people's Messiah and one of Allah's prophets. Furthermore, the Chinese have no use of a Wailing Wall in spite of so many hardships they had to overcome in their history.

After China had slowly regained its political power under Mao Tse Tung, following a century of stagnation that was due to the crumbling of the old Chinese empire and the rise of Japan, it only needed the economic reforms and some freedom of trade in the era of Deng Xiao Ping and his successors to put China into a kind of economic pole position. And that's just what we have to deal with.

China has simply been underestimated during all those years of Communist rule. Same goes with the Arabic race that was hampered in its development by political constellations established by their former colonial powers and by recent Western politics that used to maintain a "balance of horror" while supporting all those corrupt leaders who are now being swept away.

And even nowadays Western politicians surprise us with funny remarks like our German Chancellor, Frau Merkel, who recently said: "To work in Germany, you don't have to learn Chinese and Arabic". That was when she headed to Portugal in order to find badly needed workers while many qualified German specialists and who now depend on social welfare are unable to fill the gap because of drastic restrictions to additional income. Maybe we should tell her: "You never know what you will need to learn in order to survive in a world of growing competition". Moreover, I remember a German middle-class employer from my region who successfully introduced his company's products on the Chinese market. He said: "If you want to make it in China, you'll have to rely on any professional help you can get your hands on, including, both, foreign and home support."

And finally, wasn't it on Capitol Hill in Washington DC that a nominated candidate for the chairmanship of some committee dealing with foreign policy had been questioned about his qualifications for the job ? Being asked about his knowledge of foreign languages, he simply replied: "I speak English, that will be sufficient." Even though I forgot that gentleman's name, this is a true story.

For all those U.S. citizens who are venturing to deal with China and its people, here some examples taken from an old guide to the Chinese language and that should be regarded as outdated. Don't use such phrases and the ideology behind them any longer !

Practical Chinese for U.S. diplomats, published in 1931:


A diplomatic household employing a new cook:


Chapter on meeting bandits:


Talk on politics - It's about Communists:

................................................................................

UPDATE on March 11:

The following financial news from People's Network, Beijing, should be compared to a past reality not so long ago when China's citizens held no significant bank accounts at all [People's Network on March 10, 2012]:

去年全国居民存款缩水6600余亿 人均财富“蒸发”500余元
Last year, the bank savings of all Chinese citizens were shrinking by more than 6.6 billion Yuan, i.e. the people's average sparings "evaporated" by more than 500 Yuan.

This loss of value is about 1.9% of all bank sparings [or: 190 Yuan for each 10.000 Yuan 一万元会“缩水”190元]. It can be related to a prolonged period of lower benefits for type A shares:

通胀预期减弱利好A股
Going through an expansion of the expected weakening of profit for type A shares.

...............................................................................

An answer to U.S. media reports on different trends of economic development in China and America is given in an article of People's Network, Beijing, published on March 11, 2011:

这种观点在中国显得相对较新鲜而且与众不同。曾几何时，一些想移民美国的人无所不用其极，甚至声称要“政治避难”，目的就是获得美国公民身份。而现在，当美国停滞不前，失业率居高不下时，中国经济却繁荣发展，或许人们的观念正发生变化。最近，中国很多微博用户在激烈讨论这样一个问题：美国国籍不再吃香？
Such point of view appears to China as rather new and furthermore out of the ordinary. It's not long ago that some people, being decided to emigrate to America, not even stopped at claiming "political asylum" in order to obtain U.S. citizenship. But now, this very America has reached a standstill, the unemployment rate resting high without [any current decrease]. China's economy, however, is prospering and developing. Maybe, personal plannings are undergoing a change. [At least] China's many consumers, owing [but] tiny riches, are lately intrigued by heated discussions dealing with the subject: Will U.S. citizenship ever again become so popular ?

.............................................................................

The Development of Global Commerce

Traditional lines of global commerce and their predicted change until 2030. The center of trade will be moving from the U.S. to China. While South-East Asia (and namely Indonesia) will become a reservoir of cheap working power for China's industry, the Middle East and Africa will be China's main provider of oil products. New trade connections will be established between China and Africa. [Source: ARTE French-German TV channel on March 13, 2012]

Sun Storm Just Affecting Earth

A strong geomagnetic storm is racing from the Sun towards Earth.

Its expected arrival on Thursday could affect power grids, airplane routes and space-based satellite navigation systems, U.S. weather experts said. [Comment: It's all about high-precision GPS; car based GPS should not be affected.]

The storm, a big cloud of charged particles flung from the Sun at about 7.2 million km/h [Comment: 1/150 of the speed of light], was spawned by a pair of solar flares, scientists said.

This is probably the strongest such event in nearly 60 years, and is likely more intense than a similar storm in late January, said Joseph Kunches, a space weather specialist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
............

Such stormy space weather is unusual in recent history, according to Harlan Spence, an astrophysicist at the University of New Hampshire who is principal investigator on the Cosmic Ray Telescope for the Effects of Radiation (CRaTER) aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

"These relatively large (solar) events, which we've had maybe a couple of handfuls total in the course of a decade, we've now had two or three of them, more or less right on top of each other", Spencer said.

[Source: Excerpts from an article published by Al-Jazeera on March 8, 2012]

Further information on NASA says there's no need to worry.

U.S. Republicans - Super Tuesday

latest overall results (5:00 GMT)

Mitt Romney leading the Republican Primaries on what they call "Super Tuesday" when there are pre-elections for the nomination of the Republicans' presidential candidate held in 10 federal states.

Mitt Romney already succeeded in Virginia, Massachusetts, Vermont and Idaho. Georgia went to Newt Gingrich. Votes in Alaska are still not counted.

Rick Santorum winning Tennessee, Oklahoma and North Dakota but lost his home country of Massachusetts where he was governor. Yet, it will not be enough to win the Republican Primaries.

Some hours after my first report it is still not clear who won Ohio. It seems that Mitt Romney is now in the lead and will probably win the Republican Primary. According to CNN, Santorum's close loss would be due to a lack of money invested in the Ohio campaign. Santorum might have taken the wrong choice to spare campaigning funds for further state primaries to come.

latest results for Ohio (5:00 GMT):

No president since 1960 has gone to the White House without winning Ohio. Ohio is a swing state because no political party has an overwhelming majority there. The winner of the Ohio Republican Primary could gain up to 66 delegates.

Portrait of Rick Santorum

Santorum and his family celebrating a phoney victory in Ohio (2:00 GMT):

Santorum on Obama's Healthcare plan: "Begin of ending of personal freedom for all Americans" (which is targeting the ultimate need of citizens to buy healthcare insurance).

Santorum declares that America could even gain back its No.1 position in the world. He is accompanied by "U.S.A., U.S.A." shouts when addressing U.S. economy defaults not yet fixed by President Obama. In fact, Santorum is naming each demanding task of U.S. society (restoring triple A rating, healing unemployment and low income, cutting taxes for low income, creating a "100%" healthcare system, etc.) and earnestly promises he would fix all of those problems better than Obama ever could. It should be added that Santorum's voters are being considered as belonging to a less educated and lower income group. [Editor's comment: It's incredible how an excited mass can be made cheering on such kind of unrealistic bullshit.]

Al-Jazeera TV asking citizens in the urban areas of Ohio; a choice of characteristic answers:
Republicans are too conservative, less realistic and far from earnestly dealing with essential subjects regarding the regular citizen, especially when it comes to contraception and abortion [Info: Rick Santorum has seven children].
While Obama is "too" diplomatic, all Republican candidates are eagerly decided to go on war with Iran. [Editor's comment: Well, it probably depends on what chair each of them is sitting on ...]

outdated results (2:00 GMT):

Russia and Iran - Days of Voting

The above picture has been taken from a life transmission of RUSSIA TODAY, Spanish service, showing early voters in the Far East of Russia. After having passed through 9 time zones, the elections will finally reach Moscow. However, the result seems to be clear from the beginning: Putin's supporters will almost certainly prevail.

On the occasion of the Russian elections, different German TV stations enlightened us with a portrait of Vladimir Putin, a tough person with unusual strength and determination and who "came in from the cold" in more than only one single meaning of the word. He is not bluffing either ..... When questioned in an interview about the notorious U.S. missile shield against Iran, he managed to laugh heartily as if confronted with a merry joke. According to him, all those detection facilities in countries neighbouring Russia and that should enable an early response to any Iranian missile attack, are rather serving control of Russia's airspace than any other purpose.

Further information on U.S. missile defense in Russia's backyard is included in another recent blogspot of mine: Iran - Who is threatening whom ?

Anybody interested in Russia's political system might like to read the following article, published by RUSSIA TODAY, state TV, on March 2, 2012:
Russian politics doesn't fit the Western mold


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Lets now consider the Iranian elections that took place the day before. First results are showing the dominance of religious leader Ayatollah Khamenei. According to a Russian analyst, candidates of the opposing reformist movement have lost credibility because of their alleged links with U.S. supporters.



الداخلية الإيرانية: نسبة المشاركة في الانتخابات البرلمانية تجاوزت
64%
According to the Iranian [ministry of the] interior, the proportion
of participants in the parliamentary elections exceeds 64%.
[Al-Jazeera, Arabic service]