Salem-News.com Russia articles Page 15

Black Pot and the Kettle

The game of International Politics is not that different from a Saturday night gathering for a friendly game of Poker, except the stakes are higher because the players are not always as clever or friendly.

(PASO ROBLES, Calif.) - The war between Georgia and Russia was so precipitous as to take the world by surprise. As best I can determine, it began when Georgia attempted to recover by force the autonomous territory within its boundaries known as South Ossetia that has familiar ties to Russia and vice versa.

A Russian Peace-keeping force was stationed in Ossetia, after the separation a decade or more ago, to protect against what has now happened.

Oregon Average Drops Below $4 Per Gallon

The price of crude keeps falling despite Russia's military presence in Georgia. In fact, it's the first time in a decade that military action in an oil sensitive region hasn't resulted in an oil market rally.

(PORTLAND, Ore.) - Oregon's statewide average for regular unleaded is less than $4 per gallon for the first time since the last week of May. The statewide average falls seven cents this week to $3.99, and only one measured metro area in Oregon, Medford/Ashland, has an average above $4.

The national average declines for the 26th day in a row, also dropping seven cents this week to $3.80 a gallon." AAA Oregon Public Affairs Director Marie Dodds says, "Oregon's average is down 28 cents in the past month, while the national average has lost 30 cents. The national average should easily dip below $3.75 a gallon as soon as this week, and could drop another 15 cents per gallon by Labor Day."

Understanding the Russian Invasion of Georgia

Both countries blame each other for genocide.

(SALEM, Ore.) - Accusations are flying as to who is responsible for the bloodshed in Georgia, a country that many Russians say has become a puppet government of the U.S. and other western nations.

Both the United States and Israel have been providing Georgia with military hardware under increasingly friendly political arrangements in recent years. We can only hope that this did not give the former Soviet Republic's leaders a false sense of courage against its neighbor to the north: Mother Russia. It may turn out to be a fatal mistake.

Despite its current alliances, the violence in Georgia undoubtedly evolves from tensions that have been simmering since the end of the Cold War in the 1980s.

Will Russia Repeat Horrors of Afghanistan in Georgia?

If the ghosts of Afghanistan were given voices, they would warn against the behavior of Russian military forces.

(KABUL, Afghanistan) - I will never forget the horror stories about the Russians in Afghanistan. People there harbor a hatred so fierce and venomous toward the former Soviets that it is hard to describe with words. The patterns of abuse carried out by Russian soldiers at war is well documented and it rings of some of the most primitive and cruel behavior ever recorded.

The Soviets invaded Afghanistan for a decade, beginning in 1979. It happened because the Afghans weren't towing the Communist line. I hate to wonder how many similarities there are between what is happening in Georgia today and what happened to Afghanistan.

UN Urges Immediate Russian Withdrawal From Georgia

The Secretary-General urged all sides to immediately enter negotiations to try to obtain a peaceful settlement of their conflict, and he welcomed international efforts to end the crisis.

(GENEVA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate end to the fighting engulfing Georgia, voicing fears that the deadly violence has spread beyond the country's South Ossetia region and urging all sides to seek a peaceful solution to their conflict.

In a statement issued last night, Mr. Ban said he was alarmed by “the escalation of hostilities in Georgia which have resulted in large numbers of casualties and massive destruction in South Ossetia and other regions of Georgia.”

Today is the Centenial Anniversary of Russia`s Tunguska Explosion

Scientists believe the blast was about 1000 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan and about one third the power of the Tsar Bomba, the largest nuclear weapon ever detonated.

(SALEM, Ore.) - June 30th 2008 is the Centennial anniversary of an event that rocked the very soul of Russia, known as the Tunguska Event, or Tunguska explosion. Historic accounts describe it as a massive explosion that happened near the Podkamennaya or Lower Stony Tunguska River, in an area now known as Krasnoyarsk Krai of Russia. It happened June 30th, 1908 around 7:14 AM.

That is when Tungus natives and others living in the hills northwest of Russia's Lake Baikal reported seeing a column of bluish light, that they described as being almost as bright as the Sun, moving across the sky.