Comprehending Today’s Russia

Source: https://consortiumnews.com/2017/05/31/comprehending-todays-russia/

By Rick Sterling

For over two weeks this May, a delegation of 30 Americans visited seven regions and ten cities across Russia. Organized by Sharon Tennison of the Center for Citizen Initiatives. The participants began in Moscow with several days of meetings and visits, then broke into smaller groups going to cities including Volgograd, Kazan (Tatarstan), Krasnodar (near the Black Sea), Novosibirsk (Siberia), Yekaterinburg and the Crimean cities Simferopol, Yalta and Sevastopol.

Red Square in Moscow with a winter festival to the left and the Kremlin to the right. (Photo by Robert Parry)

After these regional visits, delegates regrouped in St Petersburg to share their experiences. Following is an informal review with conclusions based on my observations in Kazan and what I heard from others.

GETTING JULIAN ASSANGE: THE UNTOLD STORY

May 20, 2017
By: John Pilger
Source: http://johnpilger.com/articles/getting-julian-assange-the-untold-story

Julian Assange has been vindicated because the Swedish case against him was corrupt. The prosecutor, Marianne Ny, obstructed justice and should be prosecuted. Her obsession with Assange not only embarrassed her colleagues and the judiciary but exposed the Swedish state's collusion with the United States in its crimes of war and "rendition".

Had Assange not sought refuge in the Ecuadorean embassy in London, he would have been on his way to the kind of American torture pit Chelsea Manning had to endure.

This prospect was obscured by the grim farce played out in Sweden. "It's a laughing stock," said James Catlin, one of Assange's Australian lawyers. "It is as if they make it up as they go along".

Contemporary Environmental Issues

It is an expression to call a book or writing “the textbook version”. It means in-depth analysis of the subject based only on facts. That is why reading a textbook about some serious subjects that may keep future life on earth in suspense, due to nuclear or environmental dangers, is the best way to get a clear understanding of the problem. A text book titled “Contemporary Environmental Issues” written by Professor Michael C. Slattery is one of such books. This book explores every environmental issue facing us in the twenty first century, and discusses it from human aspect and scientific view point. Although it contains a few formulas and parameters, it is easily readable by a lay person. From the first page, it creates curiosity about the subject being discussed.

California, Calafia, Khalif: The Origin of the Name "California"

From Beijing to Buenos Aires, from Moscow to Mecca, all around the world people know of California. And it is a place that exists in our imagination, as much as it does a physical location. Geographically standing at America's western frontier, California has psychologically come to represent a land of promise, possibility, and opportunity. And over the last century, waves of migrants, from filmmakers to oil men, from farmers to "dot com" entrepreneurs, have journeyed to the state in hopes of attaining their own piece of the California dream.
But even though the name "California" is known throughout the world, most people, including its own residents, are unaware of the origin of its name. And this origin story demonstrates that the California dream is not a new phenomenon, but rather has existed in the imagination of men and women for hundreds of years.

At the Beginning

For centuries, and as long as we can trace the history of human being back to the paintings on caves, people have been looking up into the sky for an answer to a prominent question; who they are and how they landed on earth. Scientists are constantly finding historical evidence to their theories with regards to those questions. The premise is that there is a start for everything, and therefore, there was a time that our world began. By studying historical evidence and delving into the sciences of paleontology, geology, archeology, and biology, we can use the creative part of our brain and imagine just how it was at the beginning.  In order to do that, we need to answer the following questions. When, or how long ago was the beginning? How was the beginning perceived? Where did the beginning start from? Why can’t we think independently? Is there an organized way to know this phenomenon? And finally, is there a limit to our imagination? By answering the above questions, we can start our trend of thoughts towards a rational thinking, however imaginary, to picture the time which has been much polluted with myths and fairy tales throughout centuries.

A Universe Not Made For Us (Carl Sagan on religion)

Chomsky on North Korea & Iran: Historical Record Shows U.S. Favors Viole...

Free elections, 1979- Freidoon Hoveida

Just stumbled upon a passage written by Fereidoon Hoveida, for the "Iranian" e-magazine in 18th of August 2000. The article is interesting and historic in many aspects, that will be mentioned at the foot of this diary. For those who may not know who Fereidoon Hoveida is, he was the brother of the longest termed Iranian Prime Minister, Amir Abbas Hoveida. Among other governmental positions, he was also the Iranian representative in the United Nations from 1971 until the revolution. He found a French magazine about cinema. He was further known as an expert in the politics of Arab nations (he was born in Damascus and was raised in Beirut). He passed away about a decade ago at the age of 82.

________________________________________________________
Free elections, 1979
My last audience with the Shah
Freidoon Hoveida
August 18, 2000
The Iranian
In April 1978, I was summoned to Tehran.The Shah wanted to give me special instructions about the forthcoming special session of the U.N. General Assembly on disarmament, initiated by the Soviet Union.This was about a month after the riots provoked by Ayatollah Khomeini's followers in Tabriz. My audience with the monarch was fixed for Wednesday April 12th at 11 o'clock a.m. I was ushered in a parlor room where the commanders of the different branches of the army were waiting to be received. The Shah would see them one by one! He was running late in his schedule because of an urgent meeting with the minister of interior. I had a lunch appointment with my brother. I called his office to inform him that I would be late and he should not wait for me.