2012
Research by Canadian scientists published in the journal PLOS ONE stated that when women choose a picture or photo for internet use, they tend to choose more explicit avatars. The proportions of the character’s body seem not to matter much one way or the other.
27 December 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://ria.ru/caricature/20121227/916472709.html
The grapevine sez that JP really wants to stay in the Washington DC area, that he doesn’t want to leave the District. That leads to many interesting questions, not least the one that the District is one of the most expensive places to live in the USA, so, where is he going to get the dengi to live there? ROCOR certainly doesn’t have the money! Is he going to hit up Potapov for a subsidy from Langley? Hilarion Kapral doesn’t have the cash… and the Centre’s not going to bankroll a Hard Right hater of the rodina.
However, that’s not as important as the murkiness of this supposed “invitation” from the ROCOR. There’s nothing on either the official OCA or ROCOR websites on this deal. No one knows who’s proffering the “invitation”… is it Potapov? Is it Hilarion Kapral? Is it the ROCOR Holy Synod? Whomever it is should have the stones to stand forth and say, “I’m inviting Paffhausen to come into the ROCOR as a retired bishop”. If they don’t, they’re despicable punks and low scummers, unfit for the company of decent people. Besides that, the use of the word “invitation” is strange. We don’t talk that way. Is the OCA Holy Synod giving El Gordo a canonical release? If so, they should be open and forthright as Christians should be, not slinking like disreputable crooks.
In any case, Potapov’s gathering a nutty squirrel rightwing faction around him in the District. This has happened twice before in the history of the ROCOR, and in both cases, it led to disruption and schism. The first was the sodomite Gleb Podmoshensky (GP) and his adoring konvertsy claque. This caused all sort of rumpus until the ROCOR Holy Synod shitcanned GP for serving under suspension (but Lebedeff admitted on the Indiana List that it was actually for nasty doings). The second was the brouhaha around Panteleimon Metropoulos which led to the HOCNA schism. In both cases, ambitious clergy surrounded themselves with vacuous and clueless konvertsy.
In the present instance, Potapov’s surrounded himself with konvertsy nudniks such as Freddy M-G, Rod Dreher, Alexander Webster, Terrence Mattingly, and (now) Fathausen. That is, Potapov was unable to raise a following amongst grounded Orthodox, so he’s raised up a “Children’s Crusade” of the half-baked to carry his rightwing banner. Should I mention that Potapov’s notions are completely against the Mother Church‘s explicit teachings and actions in re social mission? After all, HH believes that the Free Market‘s a fraud, and he’s friends with Castro, Simonenko, and Zyuganov (that’s 180 degrees removed from Potapov’s lunacy). Potapov’s replaced Real Orthodoxy with a drooling apologia for Godless Western Materialism and Warfare… and he’ll go the way of Podmoshensky and Metropoulos (Potapov’s a Varnava Prokofiev and must be treated accordingly). Oh, did I mention that Fathausen was tied up intimately with GP? My, my, my… the man certainly likes schismatical notions… what does that tell you about him?
In short, this is another murky and dirty First Family machination. Will they come clean? Don’t hold your breath waiting…
Barbara-Marie DrezhloThursday 27 December 2012
Albany NY
Voices from Russia 
Iranian Lawmaker Gripes about Russian Female Russian Staff at Nuclear Plant Not Wearing Hijabs
Tags: Bushehr, Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant, cartoons, editorial cartoons, Iran, Iranian Students News Agency, political commentary, politics, Republican, right-wing, Russia, Russian, Tehran, United States, USA
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An Iranian lawmaker said that Russian female technicians working at Iran‘s Bushehr nuclear power plant aren’t properly adhering to the Islamic Republic’s strict dress code, despite receiving extra pay for compliance. The ISNA news agency quoted MP Mehdi Mousavinejad as saying, “Based on contracts signed with female Russian employees at the Bushehr power plant, they receive a hijab allowance. Unfortunately, they don’t properly observe what [the contracts stipulate]”. He also criticised the authorities for lax oversight of Russian employees. Mousavinejad said that he didn’t know how many female technicians worked at the site or how much they’re paid. Women in Iran, regardless of their nationality or religion, are enjoined to cover up everything but their hands and face.
The station began operating at full capacity on 31 August as the reactor of Bushehr’s Unit 1 was brought up to 100 percent of capacity. Construction of Bushehr began in the 1970s, but was dogged by delays. Russia signed a billion-dollar deal with Tehran to complete the plant in 1998. The plant’s launch in August 2010 prompted Israel and other nations to express fears the reactor could help Iran create an atomic bomb. Tehran denied the allegations, saying the facility was for peaceful power generation only. The plant was connected to Iran’s power grid in September 2011.
26 December 2012
RIA-Novosti
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20121226/178420812.html
Editor’s Note:
There’s going to be no mucking with Russian female techs at the site. In fact, that’s not the reason for the press release. The press release was to emphasise that Russian techs are on the site, and that any Israeli/US strike on the facility would involve killing Russian techs. In short, all the noise by Republican knuckle-draggers about Iran is arrant nonsense. There’s going to be no attack, as there’s Russian techs on site, full stop. All the noise in the Western media is bootless bullshit, no doubt about it.
BMD