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Posts Tagged ‘Georgia’

Ancient walled city, older than Egypt’s pyramids, unearthed off Georgia coast

January 31, 2012 Comments off

examiner.com

(Atlanta) Six hours southeast of Atlanta off the Georgia coast on Sapelo Island, archaeologists have unearthed the remains of an ancient walled city which predates the construction of Egypt’s pyramids. Known as the Sapelo Shell Ring Complex, this ancient city was constructed around 2300 B.C. and featured three neighborhoods each surrounded by circular walls twenty feet in height constructed from tons of seashells. Some of the earliest pottery in Read more…

Russian Threats of Nuclear War Grow Louder

January 21, 2012 2 comments

1913intel.com

The most recent threats of nuclear war come from the Russian foreign minister. Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov is threatening a “very big war” with “suffering across the world” if the west encourages anti-government uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa.

Russian threats of nuclear attack started out in Georgia back in 2008. These threats expanded to the trans-Caspian gas pipeline. Then they moved onto the expansion of NATO. Then onto Iran and Syria. Now these threats have expanded onto the entire Middle East and North Africa. Does anybody see a problem here?

Back in August of 2008 we got a first taste of Russia’s nuclear threats:

Moscow has issued an extraordinary warning to the West that military assistance to Georgia for use against South Ossetia or Abkhazia would be viewed as a “declaration of war” by Russia.

Military help for Georgia is a ‘declaration of war’, says Moscow in extraordinary warning to the West

Later Russia issues an implied nuclear threat if Georgia joins NATO. Obvously, attack on Georgia would then be an attack on Read more…

Heat wave chokes southern U.S.

August 5, 2011 Comments off

thestar

The suffocating heat wave sweeping the southern U.S. that has led to at least four deaths and left farmers’ fields bone dry shows no signs of abating as temperatures continue to reach record highs and electricity demand threatens to cripple the power grid.

The National Weather Service issued yet more excessive heat warnings Thursday for most of the southern plains, where the temperature in parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas reached as high as 43C, without the humidex.

Southern parts of California and Arizona in the west and Georgia, Florida and the Carolinas in the east also fell under heat advisories, while municipalities and counties scrambled to open cooling centres and make house calls on vulnerable residents.

Dallas marked its 34th straight day of temperatures over 38C, while on Wednesday, Fort Smith, Ark., saw the temperature reach 46C without the humidex, breaking a record of 42C set back in 1896.

As if things couldn’t get any worse, Florida residents are bracing for the Read more…

Drought by area impacted is worst ever – though majority of US still drought free

August 2, 2011 Comments off

wattsupwiththat

From the University of Nebraska-Lincoln , a new record in the 12 year old drought monitor.

US sets drought monitor’s ‘exceptional drought’ record in July

Worst classification for drought in nearly 12 percent of contiguous US

US Drought Monitor, July 26, 2011

The percent of contiguous U.S. land area experiencing exceptional drought in July reached the highest levels in the history of the U.S. Drought Monitor, an official at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln said.

Nearly 12 percent of the contiguous United States fell into the “exceptional” classification during the month, peaking at 11.96 percent on July 12. That level of exceptional drought had never before been seen in the monitor’s 12-year history, said Brian Fuchs, UNL assistant geoscientist and climatologist at the NDMC.

The monitor uses a ranking system that Read more…

Classified report: Russia tied to blast at U.S. embassy

July 27, 2011 Comments off

washingtontimes

Sen. Jon Kyl of Arizona, the chamber’s Republican whip, said he sent a classified letter in June to the House and Senate intelligence committees asking them to investigate the incident and report back to members. (Associated Press)

U.S. intelligence agencies concluded in a classified report late last year that Russia’s military intelligence was responsible for a bomb blast that occurred at an exterior wall of the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia, in September.

The highly classified report about the Sept. 22 incident was described to The Washington Times by two U.S. officials who have read it. They said the report supports the findings of the Georgian Interior Ministry, which traced the bombing to a Russian military intelligence officer.

The Times reported last week that Shota Utiashvili, director of information and analysis for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said the embassy blast and others in his country were the work of a Russian military intelligence officer named Maj. Yevgeny Borisov.

“It is written without hedges, and it confirms the Read more…

France transfers sensitive warship technology to Russia

June 20, 2011 1 comment

rian.ru

French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ship

© AFP/ Eric Feferberg

France has transferred to Russia all the technology it asked for under a $1.7-billion deal for two French-built Mistral class amphibious assault ships for the Russian Navy, a Russian arms exporter said on Monday.

Under the deal signed on Friday, the first warship will be delivered in 2014 and the second in 2015.

“The French side has transferred all technologies, including the Zenit-9 [command and control] system, as well as two other systems,” said Anatoly Isaikin, head of the Rosoboronexport state-controlled arms exporter.

A formal contract for the construction of the two Mistral class ships will be Read more…

Europe’s Rejection of Nuclear Power a Gift for Russia

June 16, 2011 1 comment

thetrumpet

« The German E.ON nuclear power station in southern Germany is set to begin closing down in 2014.

Germany will phase out nuclear power by 2022, German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced June 3. A week before, Switzerland made a similar decision. Italy followed suit on June 13, voting overwhelmingly to reject nuclear power in a national referendum.

These countries will almost certainly have to replace their nuclear power with natural gas, at least in the short term. It is readily available and less polluting than coal or oil. The International Energy Agency recently predicted a “golden age of gas.”

The only problem is where Europe gets most of its gas from Read more…

Drought continues to tighten its grip on Georgia

June 1, 2011 Comments off

accessnorthga

UNDATED – The drought continues to push deeper into north Georgia while making it difficult for south Georgia farmers to plant two key crops.

A new report shows roughly 77 percent of the state’s cotton crop and 80 percent of the peanut crop have been planted.

The driest conditions in the state continue to be two pockets in southwest and southeast Georgia.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Drought Monitor says the drought has now pushed as far north as southern Habersham County, south Dawson and south Forsyth, extending westward to the Alabama line near Carrollton and LaGrange. Gainesville and all of Hall County are now considered in a drought. Conditions in all of these areas are considered “abnormally” dry.

A swath of counties just Read more…

Categories: Droughts, Georgia Tags: , , ,

People disappear in Georgia after violent dispersal of opposition rally

May 27, 2011 Comments off

rt.com

Tbilisi: An injured man walks in front of the ranks of the Georgian riot police officers dispersing opposition rally (AFP Photo /Zura Tvauri)

Tbilisi: An injured man walks in front of the ranks of the Georgian riot police officers dispersing opposition rally (AFP Photo /Zura Tvauri)

Opposition leaders urge Georgian government to investigate the disappearances of protesters in Tbilisi after the brutal police crackdown of the peaceful rally. They also vow to stage more protests to free the country from the ‘tyrant’ Saakashvili.

Giya Tsagareishvili, a member of the Georgian parliament from the opposition party of Free Democrats, named ten protesters that vanished after the protests in Tbilisi on May 26. None of them could be found among those detained by the police or in any of the hospitals in the capital city of Tbilisi.

“All of this was happening in Tbilisi, in the capital of the country that, according to Mikhail Saakashvili, came this close to the doorstep of the European Union.” Tsagareishvili said. “Well let me remind Mr. Saakashvili that there, in Paris, London, Berlin and Tallinn, protests are not drowned in blood and people do not disappear.”

Giya Tsagareishvili is not the only opposition leader that draws attention to the strange occurrences which took Read more…

Anti-locust programme in Central Asia and Caucasus

May 20, 2011 Comments off

reliefweb

19 May 2011, Rome – FAO will assist ten countries in Central Asia and the Caucasus to save up to 25 million hectares of cultivated farmland from a locust crisis. Locusts are a serious threat for agriculture, food security and livelihoods in both regions including adjacent areas of northern Afghanistan and the southern Russian Federation.

A five-year programme to develop national capacities and launch regional cooperation is about to start thanks to assistance from the United States of America. Support from other donors is expected soon.

Ten countries at risk

In all, ten countries are at risk: Afghanistan, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. There are three locust pests in the Read more…