“Moscow-on-Seine” Orthodox Cathedral by Eiffel Tower gets Green Light

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A massive Russian-style cathedral is set to transform the iconic skyline of the French capital, Paris. In the wake of Prime Minister Dmitri Medvedev‘s visit to Paris, his French counterpart Jean-Marc Ayrault said that France backed the construction of a controversial Orthodox cathedral not far from the Eiffel Tower. During a press conference with Medvedev, Ayrault said, “France shall stick to the realisation of the project. However, to build in Paris is more difficult than elsewhere, due to all the architecture and heritage protection laws”.

Moscow‘s plan to build a large cathedral and cultural centre with five onion domes and an undulating roof of glass panels beside the River Seine was stopped earlier this month. Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë described the project as “pastiche architecture” and an “ostentation totally unsuitable for the banks of the Seine”. Russia bought the 4,000-square-metre (43,055 square feet. 0.4 hectare. 1 acre) land plot that once hosted the headquarters of the French weather service in 2007 for about 60 million UK Pounds (3 million Roubles. 96 million USD. 75 million Euros). Medvedev finalised plans to build a second Orthodox cathedral in Paris with then-French president Nicolas Sarkozy in 2010.

However, when the joint design by Spanish architect Manuel Nuñez, agency Sade, and Russian company Arch Group was unveiled, many Parisians raised their eyebrows. They soon dubbed the project “Moscow-on-Seine”. The French government subsequently suspended an agreement with Russia whereby it pledged to study ways to make the building “harmoniously fit the surrounding landscape”. Ayrault said in conclusion, “I’m sure we’re on the right track to find a good project. I’m sure we’re going to find a solution”. Tens of thousands of Russians live in or near Paris. In the 1920s, the French capital became a favourite destination for anti-Bolshevik “White Russians” fleeing the Communist takeover of Russia.

28 November 2012

International Business Times

http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/articles/409305/20121128/paris-orthodox-cathedral-moscow.htm

Editor’s Note:

Let’s keep this one simple. On the one hand, you had the Mayor of Paris, homosexual activists, and posturing pseudo-intellectuals (think the SVS crowd, and you’ll have ‘em nailed). On the other hand, you had the Russian government and the powerful builders’ trades union. There was NO contest. However, Hollande had to mollify the loud activists, so, he took a week to make his decision to allow them to posture to their heart’s content. Now, it’s time for real work, and the project’s going forward, as originally planned. After all, Russia ships in the natural gas and the builders’ union has a lot of clout. This was over before it even started…

BMD

 

Elections in Europe Show Anti-American Bias

The Socialist Red Rose… they’re celebrating today…

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According to the results of an exit poll by the Gallup International Association, five Armenian political groups will pass the parliamentary threshold. Eight parties and one party alliance participated in the elections. The threshold for parliamentary representation is five percent for a party and seven percent for a bloc. Exit poll results at 20.00 local time (19.00 MSK 16.00 UTC 11.00 EDT 08.00 PDT) showed that the Republican Party of President Serzh Sargsyan and the Prosperous Armenia party, both in the governing coalition, are clearly in the lead with 43.3 percent and 29.3 percent, respectively. Centrist Orinats Erkir (Rule of Law), the third party in the ruling coalition, got about 6.2 percent. Other parties likely to succeed in the polls are the opposition Heritage Party with 6.5 percent and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation with 5.2 percent.

It’s unclear whether the main opposition force, the Armenian National Congress of ex-President Levon Ter-Petrosyan, will pass the parliamentary threshold. Exit polls give the bloc 6.4 percent, below the required threshold of seven percent. Vote tabulation is currently underway and results only from 35 polling stations are available so far. According to early results, the Republican Party got 71.8 percent and Prosperous Armenia received 13.21 percent. The Armenian Revolutionary Federation was third with 7.77 percent. Other parties got less than 3 percent. According to the Central Election Commission results, more than 1.5 million, or 62.33 percent of almost 2.5 million eligible voters cast a ballot in Sunday’s election. More than 31,000 domestic observers and 647 international monitors monitored the voting. The Armenian police said it received 62 reports about possible election violations; they are investigating all of them, and they’ve already launched three criminal cases. Police also investigated 43 reports on the internet and in the mass media about suspected violations. Officials shall release preliminary results within 24 hours after the vote; the official result is due in a week.

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With 65 percent of votes counted in Greek parliamentary elections, centre-right New Democracy received 19.8 percent of the vote, whilst its coalition partner, centre-left PASOK was third with 13.6 percent of the vote. The results give the ruling Greek coalition a weak majority in parliament, with New Democracy receiving 61 seats in parliament plus the 50 seats the winner gets under the law. Its coalition partner got 42 seats. Pro-bailout New Democracy and PASOK are amongst the parties likely to pass the 3 percent parliamentary threshold. Syriza, a radical leftist party, was a solid runner-up; its 16.2 percent of the vote gave it 50 parliamentary seats. Other parties that are likely to win seats in parliament are Independent Greeks with 10.5 percent (32 seats), the Communist Party of Greece (KKE) with 8.4 percent (26), neo-Nazi Golden Dawn with 6.9 percent (21), and the Democratic Left with 6 percent (18). Final results are due on Monday.

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French Interior Minister Claude Guéant said that François Hollande, the leader of the opposition French Socialist Party, won election as France’s new president with more than 80 percent of ballots counted. With 98.89 percent of ballots counted, incumbent President Nicolas Sarkozy got 48.33 percent of the vote, whilst 51.67 percent supported Hollande. Gueant said, “On behalf of the government I congratulate the new President of the Republic and wish him successful service, to the benefit of France”. Sarkozy, the incumbent French president, has already admitted his rival’s victory in the Sunday’s runoff presidential vote. Sarkozy said at a meeting with his supporters in Paris, “Hollande was elected President of France; we’ve got to respect this choice”. The official vote count is continuing, with the announcement of official results due on early Monday, but preliminary results, exit polls, and various French media gave Hollande between 50.8 and 52 percent, with about 48 to 49 percent for his opponent, with voter turnout at 81.03 percent. Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti, German Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel, US President Barack Obama, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron have already congratulated M Hollande on his election victory.

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According to first results, incumbent Serbian president Boris Tadić and ex-nationalist Tomislav Nikolić are likely to face each other in a presidential election runoff. Serbia voted in presidential, parliamentary, and municipal elections on Sunday. According to the country’s election commission’s data obtained by Serbian election officials from 26 percent of polling stations, Tadić received 24.81 percent of the vote and has a narrow lead over his main election rival, who has 24.71 percent. Interior Minister Ivica Dačić was third, with 15.76 percent of the vote. In Serbia’s previous presidential election in 2008, Nikolić led after the first round, but lost 2.3 percent to Tadić in the runoff. The Centre for Free Elections and Democracy (CeSID) said in its early results that Tadić won 26.7 percent, whilst Nikolić received 25.5 percent of the vote. The candidates’ political parties are also close in the parliamentary election. With 7.5 percent of ballots counted, Tadić’s Democratic Party (DS) received 21.3 percent, and it appeared to be narrowly behind Nikolić’s Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), which has 24.2 percent.

 7 May 2012

RIA-Novosti

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120507/173279098.html

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120507/173279944.html

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120507/173277456.html

http://en.rian.ru/world/20120507/173280793.html

Editor’s Note:

There’s no joy in Mudville tonight. The pro-American parties are on the run… with the largest defeat for the neocons coming in France. No doubt, M Hollande will accelerate French withdrawal from the Afghan quagmire, and he’ll not involve France in any more US neocon warmongering. In Armenia, the local pro-Russian bosses won, but the USA won’t trumpet the obvious fraud because of the Armenian-American diaspora (which has about as much clout as the Israel Lobby and Greek Lobby does… Russia gets bad press because there’s no powerful Russian-American Lobby). Serbia’s due for a runoff, a rematch between Tadić and Nikolić. In Greece, the pro-austerity parties only won a very narrow four-seat margin because of the oddbod election law that hands over 50 additional seats to the top vote-getter. The pro-austerity slimers only got a third of the vote (33.4 percent), but this wrinkle in the Greek election law gave the parliament to the pro-oligarch friends of the affluent effluent (shades of “hanging chads”, no?). The majority’s so slim that the chances of a “no confidence” vote are VERY high indeed.

In short, Langley will pull no corks today… and that’s a GOOD thing… bet on RED.

BMD

5 April 2012. The Left’s Surging Forward in France… Sarkozy in Deep Doo-Doo

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No wonder the rightwingers in the USA are scared. The general trend this year around the globe has been leftwards. Robert Fico won in Slovakia… millions came out in Spain to demonstrate against the rightwing slimers… Putin won the Russian election by turning “left”… and, in France, it’s a question of whether the Socialists or the Left Front is going to come in second in the first round (and Sarkozy‘s expected to lose the second round to whatever leftist opposes him). The Extreme Rightwing view was found on Fox News:

“Obama’s gonna win because of the low-lifes coming out to vote… minorities, immigrants, feminists, and gays”.

That’s an EXACT quote. Don’t slacken your efforts until we drive a stake through the rightwing bloodsuckers’ hearts… and don’t slacken your vigilance even then. These people are godless, soulless, greedy SOBs who want to profit at your expense… and they lose NO sleep over it.

VOTE THEM OUT.

Barbara-Marie Drezhlo

Thursday 5 April 2012

Albany NY

Paris Mayor Slams Russian Church Due Near Eiffel Tower

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Paris Mayor Bertrand Delanoë described a planned Russian Orthodox church to be built along the River Seine as an example of ”hodgepodge architecture” not worthy to be on display near the Eiffel Tower. Delanoë said the project… a gleaming white church with five traditional golden domes topped by a wavy glass roof linking it to a nearby Russian spiritual and cultural centre… was “mediocre architecture conceived in haste”. In 2010, Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy of France and Dmitri Medvedev of Russia agreed to the project, whose design came out of an international architectural competition. Moscow purchased a plot of land for it on the left bank of the Seine, just across the river from the tunnel where Britain’s Princess Diana died in a car crash in 1997.

In a statement this week, Delanoë said, “I want to express my very firm opposition to this project conceived by the French and Russian states without the agreement of the city of Paris. I’d like UNESCO, the guardian of the banks of the Seine, to get involved so no permission can be given without the endorsement of international experts”. Paris-based UNESCO (United Nations Education, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation) granted World Heritage Site status to the banks of the Seine and the various styles of French architecture adorning them. Delanoë’s statement on Monday said the project’s “hodgepodge architecture displays an ostentatiousness unsuited to a UNESCO World Heritage Site, or one within view of the Eiffel Tower”.

A Russian presidential spokesman in Moscow said the Paris mayor couldn’t block the decision made by the French president. On Tuesday, Viktor Khrekov told RIA-Novosti, “This is his personal opinion… and it has no legal significance”. With its 165 million members, the Russian Orthodox Church is the second-largest in Christianity after the 1.3-billion strong Roman Catholic Church. It’s played an increasingly active role at home and abroad since the end of Soviet communism in 1991.

29 February 2012

Tom Heneghan

Reuters

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/29/us-france-russia-church-idUSTRE81S1R220120229?feedType=RSS&feedName=lifestyleMolt

Editor’s Note:

M Delanoë is openly gay… and St Petersburg just passed a law banning gay parades and propaganda for homosexuality and paedophilia amongst minors. To be sure, they’re not unrelated, are they now? The St Petersburg law does NOT outlaw homosexuality or close gay clubs; it merely states that you can’t circulate propaganda in favour of the gay agenda amongst minors. As the MP was in favour of the law, M Delanoë is attempting to strike at them. He’s one of those militant fallen-away lapsed Catholics… need I say any more? The church is on track, that’s all that matters. If he could’ve put a spoke in the wheel, he would’ve, and he couldn’t. Let him fume… and let the building go on.

BMD