11 July 2008. Out and About…

Mi-38 helicopter is the best on the world market

Euromil Mi-38 helicopter

Aleksei Samusenko, the general designer of the Euromil helicopter manufacturing enterprise in Moscow, stated at the HeliRussia 2008 exhibition that the Mi-38 helicopter, which is currently being developed in Russia, has no competitors on the world market. According to Mr Samusenko, the helicopter’s maximum ceiling is 8,300 meter (26,246 feet). This is the only helicopter that can fly at such a height. It has a very low level of vibration, which can be compared with that of an automobile. This is quite an important feature. New advanced technology has been developed to make the rotor blade a vital element of the helicopter. The blades are made out of composite materials and guarantee unlimited use. “We could not break them even on the testing ground”, Mr Samusenko said. In short, this is a state –of-the-art helicopter. The Euromil company shall start to deliver Mi-38 helicopters to clients starting in 2010-2011. 

9 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29468&cid=50&p=09.07.2008 (in English)

“See-all” optical monitoring system developed

Experts at the Ural Optical and Mechanical Enterprise developed an advanced optical system for monitoring, SON-730 for special services and rescuers. It helps to get high-quality and stable images under any conditions and different types of shooting: daytime and night, poor visibility, and rocking and vibration. The system could be used to follow drug traffickers, patrol border regions, rescue people who are in trouble, and monitor traffic. A high sensitive thermal observation device integrated into the system fixes the difference in temperatures between the surrounding and the object under monitoring at a distance. This has made it possible to discover forest fires and defects in power supply lines and oil and gas pipelines. In fact, the enterprise exports its products to 75 countries. 

9 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29471&cid=50&p=09.07.2008 (in English)

Stone Age settlement discovered in Armenia

Armenian archaeologists discovered a Stone Age settlement in the south of the country. They believe that there are traces of ancient wine-making. The complex is in the Areni-1 cave and belongs to the Stone and Copper-Stone Ages (3900-3700 BC). Owing to the favourable micro-climate in the cave, organic materials are well-preserved. Parts of clothes, woollen and other materials give an opportunity to study the technology of the Stone Age. Scientists believe there was an ancient wine-making complex in the cave. They discovered well-preserved seeds and vines. The Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography in Armenia has already received proposals about joint work from several international organisations. 

9 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29474&cid=50&p=09.07.2008 (in English)

Satellite launched as part of the Sea Launch project

Another satellite will take off as part of the Sea Launch project on 15 July. This report comes from the press service of the Sea Launch Corporation in Long Beach, California. The Odyssey launch pad and the Sea Launch have left the port of Long Beach. This time, a Russian-Ukrainian rocket will carry to orbit an American “DISH-Network” satellite which services 14 million subscribers of satellite television throughout the United States. 

10 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29502&cid=87&p=10.07.2008 (in English)

Nursery for Mediterranean Turtles built on the Black Sea

A nursery for the Mediterranean turtle was built in the Black Sea resort of Gelendzhik. According to Eco-Watch for the Northern Caucasus, the nursery provides all conditions necessary for the reptile’s living and propagation. The nature protection complex is part of the project “Attention, Turtles!” carried out with the support of the World Wildlife Fund. The Mediterranean turtle was entered into the Russian Red Book and the International Red Book of Endangered Species. 

10 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29502&cid=87&p=10.07.2008 (in English)

World’s largest clock installed in Moscow

Big Ben is still the world’s largest four-sided chiming clock. Sorry, Charlie!

A clock with a 30 by 12 metres (99 feet by 40 feet) display was installed on a building now under construction in Moscow. It shows the precise time in hours and minutes. The clock is installed at a height of 230 meters (755 feet), and it also shows atmospheric pressure and temperature.

11 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29577&cid=50&p=11.07.2008 (in English)

Massive campaign against Sea Breeze-2008 launched in the Ukraine

Baba speaks her mind. Don’t mess with Baba, you’ll be sorry!

Patriotic Ukrainians launched a massive campaign against the Sea Breeze-2008 joint exercises with NATO. Left-wing parties, Communists, Socialists, and Russian-speaker’s rights organisations launched this campaign. Aleksandr Golub, a leader of the Communist faction of the Ukrainian parliament, told our correspondent that over 70 percent of population opposes joining NATO. But, the Ukrainian government ignores their opinion. The manoeuvres, where US forces play a key role, will be staged in Lvov, Nikolaev, and Odessa oblasts and in the Crimea.

11 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29574&cid=48&p=11.07.2008 (in English)

Editor’s Note:

The Bushies are playing with matches… deliberately. They should know that actions such as this are provocations. Oh, yes… “democracy”… they are intent on grabbing bases close to Russia, no matter what real Ukrainians wish or the risk that they run. In short, George W Bush is a lunatic and the largest menace on the world scene today.

UN General Assembly refuses to discuss so-called Ukrainian “Holodomyr”

Vitaly Churkin (1952- ), Russian ambassador to the UN. Kudos for muzzling the Uniates!

The General Committee of the General Assembly of the United Nations has, acting on a Russian request, advised the international community to refrain from discussing the so-called Ukrainian famine of the early 1930’s. The Ukrainian delegation brought the topic up for discussion. Vitaly Churkin, the Russian Ambassador to the United Nations, dismissed the Ukrainian suggestion as historically and politically false. He said that not only the Ukraine suffered, as many other parts of the former Soviet Union suffered from in the famine of the early 1930’s.

11 July 2008

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29571&cid=45&p=11.07.2008 (in English)

Editor’s Note:

Sanity prevails! The Galician Uniate fanatics are not only cut off at the pass, they are muzzled. Well done, Mr Churkin! These people are irritating in the extreme. Over many years, I have despaired of hearing sense from any of them. So, if they pipe up with their nationalistic moonshine, I retort… loudly. Don’t mess with Mother Russia!

Voice of Russia World Service

Slavic Festival Brings Continents Together

Performers and cultural figures from all continents have gathered at a traditional Slavic Festival in Vitebsk, Belarus. The Festival “Slavyansky Bazaar in Vitebsk” was established right after the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1992 at the initiative of Russia, Byelorussia, and Ukraine, who sought a new way for integration. It’s the 17th such event this year, and it kicks off today.

Byelorussian Deputy Culture Minister Vladimir Rylatko commented, “Slavyansky Bazaar originated as a protest from the artistic communities of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus against the break-up of the family of Slavic peoples. The forum’s priority is to preserve our common cultural space and good neighbourly relations. Though, the banner of the festival invites all willing to join, saying that the doors of the Slavic house are open for all”.

Indeed, the Slavic house has flung its doors open to representatives from all continents. The housewarming audiences will be applauding to groups and lead singers from 35 countries, including Portugal, Austria, Venezuela, South Africa, China, Israel, and of course, Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine. “Slavyansky Bazaar”, according the Culture Minister Aleksandr Avdeyev, is also a social and political highlight whose festive atmosphere facilitates understanding and constructive talks. A new cultural cooperation agreement between Slavic countries is to be signed in Vitebsk within the next few days.

This year, guests to the Vitebsk Festival will see theatrical shows and films, visit exhibitions and a book fair, and judge the participants of a song contest and the mastery of music performers working in different genres. Saturday, 12 July, is the Day of Russia, which will feature a full spectrum of Russia’s multi-ethnic culture.

11 July 2008

Olga Bugrova

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29584&cid=62&p=11.07.2008 (in English)

OPEC says that an Attack on Iran could Send Oil Prices Skyrocketing

Abdulla al-Badri, the Secretary General of OPEC, warned that reduction in or halting of Iran oil exports could lead to unpredictable consequences on the world oil market. If Iran is attacked, the price of a barrel of oil shall increase uncontrollably, Mr Badri warned. Iran is currently the second-biggest oil producer behind Saudi Arabia, producing 4 million barrels daily. OPEC shall not be able to make up for the loss of Iranian crude on the international market, the International Herald-Tribune wrote, quoting the OPEC secretary general.

Mr al-Badri, therefore, urged a peaceful solution of the problem of Iranian nuclear programme, which is believed by some Western countries to have a military purpose, an accusation strenuously denied by Iran, which says that it is engaged in nuclear technology development for peaceful purposes only. Until now, this quarrel between states has not been blamed for constant price fluctuation on the global oil market; the weak US dollar is credited with that dubious leading role.

This explanation is disputed by Boris Rubtsov, head of the faculty of securities and financial engineering at the Financial Academy, who believes that the role of the dollar has been blown out of proportion. “To my mind, the major reason is a reduction in exploratory prospecting for crude oil deposits as well as a huge increase in consumption by the booming economies of India and China. The weakening of the dollar is also a contributing factor, but, not the leading one”.

It is now established that there is a close link between the price fluctuation of crude oil and geopolitics; at any rate, it is widely believed that Thursday’s price hike in crude oil in America and Britain was caused by Iran’s test firing of a series of rockets. The firing led to an almost 6 dollar (139.58 roubles. 3.76 euros. 3.02 UK pounds) increase in the price of a barrel of crude oil, now selling at more than 141 dollars (3,280 roubles. 88.46 euros. 70.89 UK pounds) per barrel, a serious signal to politicians.

11 July 2008

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29565&cid=57&p=11.07.2008 (in English)

NATO Expansion is an Attempt to Undermine Current International Relations

The results of the NATO aggression against Federal Yugoslavia in 1999, an action unsanctioned by the UN. May God have mercy on us for such an enormity.

Albania and Croatia signed a protocol on joining NATO. In short, NATO is expanding. This worries Russia, which considers the move as a return to the Cold War. Naturally, Russian concerns are linked with the approach of NATO alliance close to its borders. Reportedly, the alliance has been discussing the so-called NATO Membership Plan for Ukraine and Georgia, a programme of assistance to individual needs of countries wishing to join NATO. If the two countries were admitted to the alliance, the move would undoubtedly harm Russia’s national security. 

Russia established cooperation with the alliance under the Russia-NATO Council, especially in fighting international terrorism. Moreover, Russia has allowed the transportation of non-military cargo through its territory to the NATO forces fighting against Taliban in Afghanistan. NATO is also fighting against the flow of narcotics to the world market from Afghanistan. However, despite cooperation, Russia considers NATO expansion as an attempt to undermine the current system of international relations. If the majority of European states joined the alliance, some could try to use it as a replacement for the United Nations, and act through it on the international scene in the interests of the alliance rather than on the basis of international law. The US is attempting to realise its dream of a unipolar world by expanding the alliance.

In the opinion of General Leonid Ivashov, the president of the Academy of Geopolitical Issues, “This is a movement to unify Europe and put it under the domination of American capital. Americans simply try to bring into play several new NATO members, the governments of which are under their control. As a whole, NATO is turning into an instrument that shall be used to seize natural resources and key communication lines. The unification of Western civilisation under the domination of American capital is a preparation for a fight for resources”. 

President Dmitri Medvedev recently suggested working out a legally-binding European Security Treaty. The new treaty would be based on the UN Charter and would exclude bloc politics by the countries that join the treaty. It would be best if the treaty were approved at a common European summit. In fact, several European countries have welcomed the President Medvedev’s proposal. 

10 July 2008

Anatoly Potapov

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=29522&cid=56&p=10.07.2008 (in English)    

Donetsk Orthodox Organisations urge all Orthodox Believers to keep the “Antichrist” Yushchenko from entering the Svyatogorsk Lavra

Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko (1954- ), he intends to bring schismatics and Uniates to defile an Orthodox monastery. SHAME ON YOU!

Moscow, 11 July 2008 (Interfax):

Donetsk Orthodox organisations urged “an army of Orthodox believers” to come to the central Lenin Square on July 12, Saturday, to discuss the plan of protecting the Holy Dormition Lavra from a planned visit of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko. “We won’t let Yushchenko into the Lavra; he has no right to go there. Let’s anathematise this demon marked with the sign of the Beast so that he doesn’t defile our shrines. Let’s bar his way into our churches forever”, according to a press-release of the Donetskaya Respublika (Donets Republic) popular movement and the Mezhdunarodnogo Russkogo Fronta (International Russian Front) posted on the website Zadonbass.org.

Mr Yushchenko plans to visit the Svyatogorsk Lavra in Donetsk on 27 July as a part of the 1,020th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. The Donetsk Orthodox press-release said that the Ukrainian President is going to “bring with him a satanic host drawn from the minions of Philaret, Uniates, sectarians, and other schismatics, in order to hold a Witches’ Sabbath in the Lavra cathedral. What kind of festival can the servants of Satan celebrate in an Orthodox church??? The Uniates are coming to the monastery to hold a council advocating the Unia and they have egged on the duped Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew to set up a schismatical patriarchal see to commit blasphemy against the [Moscow Patriarchate].

A religious war is now beginning in the Ukraine. They are trying to rip Russia to shreds, and all believers should unite into an Orthodox army to protect the memory of their ancestors. We mustn’t stand aloof and simply watch the hordes of the antichrist defile our land. If we keep silent today, tomorrow, they will rip us to pieces. Arise, Orthodox people! No one will help us, let’s protect Russian Orthodoxy and don’t let evil forces defile the Lavra, so they can desecrate our holy icons, the holy relics of St John the Hermit, or the land of Holy Russia! Let’s kick these enemies of all humanity out of Holy Russia, far away from our holy Orthodox shrines!”

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25426 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

This shows the strong feelings of the believers in the true canonical Church in the Ukraine. They are facing the fire, and they are rising to the challenge. We MUST support them in every way possible. One thing that we can do is to have no association with Uniates save for passing contact made necessary by work or other such necessities. If Uniates enter the Lavra as part of an official delegation, it shall be an abomination of desolation, and we cannot condone it in any way. I fear that some shall accuse me of stirring up hate. Well, the Orthodox did not initiate the religious war in the Ukraine, the Galician Uniates did. We must do what we must to protect our Church from the grasping talons of the Vatican.

Ordinary Uniates do not bear the guilt of this, but, they must understand that their leadership eagerly does the bidding of the Roman curia, they are attempting to ram a Unia down the throats of the believers in the Ukraine, and that stirs up reaction in those attacked. I hold nothing personal against any Uniate, but, I cannot stand idly by when the Church is violated by Uniate proselytism. Therefore, I must hold myself to my own words. I shall not initiate contact with those who are enemies of the Church and are attacking Her at present.

This is a sad outcome, but, it is the logical end of the Vatican attacks on the Church of Christ. Arise, O Russian people! 

“Shall you sit down for tea, Fr Andrew? Truly, I don’t bite…”

Drinking Tea (Vasili Nesterenko, 1997)

Editor’s Foreword:

This started life as a reply to a comment of Fr Andrew Morbey of Minneapolis MN. Well… it just GREW, like Topsy. To do it justice requires a full post. Fr Andrew, thank you for getting the ol’ brain in gear. Oh, by the way, do you take cream in your tea or do you take it straight, in the Russian manner?

******

I would not say that Honeycutt and Greene are “Orthodox apologists”. Both are nothing but half-baked Evangelical Anglicans with the thinnest possible Orthodox veneer. Honeycutt’s corrosive Russophobia is never far from the surface. As one Russian bishop rightly said, “Russophobia is a form of Christophobia”. Greene is nothing but a “pushy American female”, as a Russian priest-friend of mine remarked (I would add that she is bezkulturny). Honeycutt and Greene are nothing but Grabovois, and the mirage of the American church they advocate does not exist, save in their disordered imaginations.

In addition, both are apologists for the “American Church”, not Orthodoxy, and one can see how their work is immersed in Evangelical Protestantism and American Positivism (as is virtually everything written by Anglo-Saxon converts, I am afraid). Besides this, they are out of the AOCANA, which is only formally Orthodox. The Antiochians are nothing but Evangelicals/Anglicans with an Orthodox ritual (any group with a LAYMAN as chancellor is hardly churchly). Ergo, anything that arises from them must be ignored, and, indeed, fought. They are the American equivalents of the “Patriarchate of Kiev” and Philip Saliba is nothing but an American Philaret Denisenko. To join the AOCANA is to run to an American Penza Cave, huddling in the dark away from the ordinary Orthodoxy of the ages. To tell the truth, I refuse to set foot in any of their conventicles, they present “a likeness of power without the substance thereof”.

The bishops of the MP assembled outside the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in Moscow for the Archpastoral Council

A choice is coming. We may follow Moscow, or we may follow the various pied-pipers out there. Saliba is one, Black Bart is another, SVS leads another cohort. If one follows SVS or Black Bart, one is on the high road to Uniatism. Dangerous, indeed. However, Philip Saliba is the most dangerous in a churchly (tserkovnost) sense. He has placed American phyletism as the driving engine of his movement, just as Philaret Denisenko places “Ukrainian” phyletism as the driving force of his. Any nationalism in church life is corrosive, and American nationalism is no exception. The fact that 70 percent of the AOCANA clergy are converts (most ordained before they were ready, as Mr Honeycutt illustrates so abundantly) is a weakness, not a strength. Compare this to the fraternal unity shown at the late Archpastoral Council in Moscow. Bishops from all over the world, of all nationalities, united together in holding high the banner of Orthodoxy. You can have UNITY (as shown by the MP) or you can have notional ISOLATION (as shown by AOCANA, OCA, and the Paris lot).

American converts are the largest portion of the Orthodox voices on the internet. Therefore, the world has gained a distorted view of the Church. All too many American converts are nothing but spoilt children in soiled nappies daring to lecture at the MDA. They have never faced the test, and they must have the humility to listen to those who have faced such, although I believe that shall require a miracle of the Lord. All too often, I come away from a convert or from one of their writings with the sad conclusion, “You can tell a convert, but, you can’t tell ‘em much”.

In short, we Russians have faced Butovo and Solovki, our Church is founded on the blood of millions of martyrs, and many of us here in America faced the useless (but, damaging) and bitter jurisdictional wars of the 70s and 80s. I should add that the worst (and most fanatical) actors in those bitter wars were the Anglo-Saxon converts on both sides. I should say that I find the current crop of converts no different. They are moralistic Savanarolas ready at the drop of a hat to light the fires of the auto dà fé under their opponents. They have no idea of the actual tolerance of the Church. I have heard “baba’s religion” and “nominal Orthodox” from Anglo-Saxon mouths once too often. Indeed, this website is a reaction to all that. They oppose a bloodless vision of the church to the rich and lively lived tradition of the Church. Of course, the wheat is mixed with the tares. Didn’t our Lord Christ say so?

Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg (1953- ), one of the greatest (if not the greatest) pastors in the Church today

We can see the result of the above in our church life today. The OCA is a grinning and lifeless corpse with its devotees dancing about it in a grisly (and very sad) analogue of a pagan sacrifice, whilst the AOCANA is nothing but Billy Graham with Byzantine make-up. For all its faults (and it DOES have them, by God!), the MP stands for the Orthodoxy of the ages. Compare Herman Swaiko and Philip Saliba to Archbishop Vikenty of Yekaterinburg, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev, Metropolitan Sergei of Voronezh, or Metropolitan Mefody of Kazakhstan. There is NO comparison. We either stand with Moscow or we shall stray away from the Orthodoxy of the Holy Fathers. I wish that there was a kinder way of saying this, but, there is not.

We have the ill-fortune (or, is it a privilege?) to live in “interesting times”. What we do now shall have resonance for our grandchildren. That is why we must give decent burial to the corpse of the OCA, reject the siren-call of Saliba, and follow our elder brothers in the Faith in Moscow. God shall bless us for showing humility, at the least. The blood of the martyrs calls us! Shall you ignore the call? Remember for Whom the martyrs shed their blood (and are still shedding their blood in the Baltic states, the Ukraine and Carpatho-Russia, by the way)…

I am following the call of the New Martyrs of Russia, what about you?

Vara Drezhlo

Friday 11 July 2008

Editor’s Afterword:

One should note that opinion pieces, such as the one above, always go out under my name, and, if I express an opinion on an article posted, it is always as an openly-labelled editor’s note. I stand tall, I am not ashamed, and I do not hide behind the mask of “Anonymous”.

Bog blagoslovit, my friends. May God give us the strength to face and overcome the coming trials.

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev says that Bishop Diomid is a Tool in the Hands of Those who wish to create an “Alternative Church”

Bishop Hilarion Alfeyev of Vienna and Austria (1966- ), Representative of the MP to the European International Organisations

Moscow, 10 July 2008 (Interfax):            

Bishop Hilarion of Vienna and Austria, the Representative of the MP to the European International Institutions, said that Bishop Diomid of Anadyr and Chukotka is a tool in the hands of a group that is attempting to create an “alternative Orthodox Church” in Russia. “Simply put, we are dealing with a twisted plot. Vladyki Diomid is only a person being used to realise this project. Strictly speaking, the purpose of this charade is to create an alternative body to the canonical Orthodox Church with a similar name”, Vladyki Hilarion stated at a news conference at the Interfax offices. However, the existing structures of this sort, in his opinion, are quite marginal and puny, and they give the impression of being “virtual churches” with bishops “bearing grandiloquent titles and panagia (pectoral icons worn by bishops: editor’s note)”, but, it is questionable whether any of them actually has a flock to pastor. Vladyki Hilarion compared Bishop Diomid “to the priest Grigori Gapon (a figure of the 1905 Revolution: editor’s note), who attempted to gather a crowd around him, inspiring them to fight with disorganised means for a confused cause”.

He went on to say, “His proposed ideology is a disordered slumgullion (literally, “vinagrette”, a salad, Russian slang for a “mess”: editor’s note), composed of such elements as opposing the so-called heresy of ecumenism, keeping the oaths of the Zemsky Sobor of 1613, banning cell-phones, and so forth. These ideas are so crazy that normal people can barely comprehend them”. Nevertheless, he expressed the hope that Bishop Diomid would repent of his actions in the days that remained before the convening of the session of the Holy Synod that shall examine his case. If he fails to show remorse, the decision of the Archpastoral Council concerning his deposition from the episcopate would come into full force, Vladyki Hilarion noted.

“Of course, Bishop Diomid shall not agree with this decision. He shall say, ‘These people aren’t the Church… I am’. Even now, he calls the Archpastoral Council a ‘council of wolves’. Well… he can himself whatever he pleases, he can call himself the Patriarch of all Russia, or the Exarch of the Netherlands, or the Metropolitan of Ireland. We had this sort of thing in our history before, unfortunately”, Bishop Hilarion said. In his opinion, it is important for the Church to clearly explain its teaching by using examples drawn from similar situations. Today, many clergymen are reluctant to enter into open controversy with opponents of the church because they know that such people “invariably sling mud at anyone who dares to disagree with them. Every time that I am asked to comment on the actions of Bishop Diomid, I know that a retaliatory attack shall appear on some website. That is the reality of today’s life. Anyone can say anything, proof is not required”, Vladyki Hilarion concluded.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=news&div=25412 (in Russian)