Russian sea pollution forms massive moving slick

https://phys.org/news/2020-10-russian-sea-pollution-massive-slick.html

Suspected toxic waste pollution off Russia's Kamchatka peninsula that caused the mass deaths of marine animals has formed a moving slick stretching 40 kilometres (25 miles) along the Pacific coastline, researchers said Thursday.

The Far Eastern Federal University said in a statement the pollution was between 100 and 300 metres (330-1,000 feet) wide in some places, had a green hue and was creating an unusual foam while floating south along the Russian coast.

The waste was previously thought to be stationary and confined mostly to one beach, but researchers who carried out aerial photography said it was "gradually moving south" towards the contested Kuril Islands "without diminishing in size".

Kirill Vinnikov, the head of a biology lab at the university, also noted that the pollution was not disintegrating and had clear dimensions.

The statement said researchers collected pollution samples from a helicopter despite difficult weather conditions and an analysis will be carried out in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok.

Locals sounded the alarm in September as surfers experienced stinging eyes after being in the water and sea creatures including seals, octopuses and sea urchins washed up dead.

The Russian branch of Greenpeace has described the situation as an "ecological disaster".

Russian authorities on Wednesday opened a criminal probe, citing the illegal handling of dangerous substances and "pollution of the marine environment".

Kamchatka governor Vladimir Solodov previously said the most likely source was the Kozelsky site, 35 kilometres (20 miles) outside the region's main city Petropavlovsk-Kamchatksy and used since the Soviet era to store poisonous substances deep in the ground.

Several experts suggested that toxic rocket fuel such as heptyl or samin and melange from a nearby military facility could be responsible for the damage.

Solodov on Thursday ruled out that heptyl was behind the incident, saying samples had come back negative.

He said tests indicated the presence of fuel products but not in high enough concentrations to wipe out marine animals in such large numbers.

The governor, who took office several weeks ago, said around 20 people were examined and eight were diagnosed with third-degree corneal burns.

Vinnikov of The Far Eastern Federal University said scientists had found that streams next to the Kozelsky site are "completely ecologically clean."

"We observed four groups of organisms which can live only in crystal-clear water without any contaminants such as heptyl and other toxic chemicals," he was quoted as saying.

Conservation group WWF said it was not currently possible to say how many fish died.

"The death of fish and seabed creatures is dangerous for both sea birds and mammals," WWF said, adding that sea otters that eat urchins and clams could be among the most affected animals.

Stalin at the Movies

https://redphoenixnews.com/2019/02/19/stalin-at-the-movies/

It is strange to say that, considering he was one of the most significant figures in world history, Joseph Stalin has rarely appeared on the silver screen.  Certainly, when compared to the number of films portraying individuals as widely diverse as John F. Kennedy and Adolf Hitler, the number of movies where Stalin appears is miniscule.

There were a number of films made in the former Soviet Union, both during his lifetime and afterwards that featured the Soviet leader as a character.  But these films, such as The Vow, Unforgettable 1919, and the well-received documentary I was Stalin’s Bodyguard are almost impossible to view outside of Russia; and, with the exception of the latter, may not even exist on tape or DVD.  That being the case, I’ll limit my observations to those productions an American or Canadian viewer would be likely to see or can easily find.

The most widely distributed film about Stalin would be the eponymously titled HBO docudrama, Stalin.  My own opinion towards the film can perhaps be guessed by the slogan the producers, used to publicize the film here in the United States: “For four decades the Russians had a word for death…Stalin!”

I feel the film not only slanders Stalin, showing him as a thug and a brute, but is one of the most anti-communist films ever made. This should come as no surprise considering that Robert Conquest, former British Intelligence agent and extreme reactionary, was cited as a major consultant in the film’s credits. The film bases itself on the crudest anti-communist stereotypes that are not only offensive, but even rejected by contemporary bourgeois scholars such as Sheila Fitzpatrick and J. Arch Getty.

Interestingly enough, the film totally ignores the period of WWII, jumping from 1941 to 1946.  I think there is a very sound reason for this. To wit, the film’s makers wanted to avoid anything that would show Stalin in a positive light. After all, even conservative historians praise Stalin’s heroism and leadership in the anti-fascist war.

Considering the film, purely as a film: I think most of the principles were totally miscast. Robert Duvall looks so little like Stalin that to affect even a slight resemblance, tons of make-up had to be applied to him. The end result is that Duvall’s Stalin goes through 40 years of Russian history with only one expression on his face — a constipated grimace. The actor playing Beria sports a full head of hair, and Maximilian Schell is way too tall and thin to play Lenin.

These may seem like quibbles, but then again, this is a film that purports to show historical truth. More appropriate actors could have been found. For example, Edward James Olmos for the role of Stalin, Patrick Stewart as Lenin, Bob Hoskins or Ed Asner as Beria, etc., etc. The film is visually beautiful, and nicely scored. But these attractions pale before the distortions of historical truth.

2017’s The Death of Stalin is, as the titled implies, not actually based on the life of the Soviet leader; rather, its focus is on the events following his demise.  Based on a French graphic novel, the film is a wildly uneven farce whose sole purpose appears to be to depict various Soviet historical figures as malevolent buffoons.  There seems to have been no attempt at verisimilitude in the casting; with the casting of thin, lanky American actor Steve Buscemi as Nikita Khrushchev serving as a fitting comment on the rest.  The film was praised in the British press, but drew fire from some historians for gross historical inaccuracies, such as creating a fictional massacre of mourners at Stalin’s funeral.  The film was banned in Russia and several former-Soviet republics, and never entered into general release in the US.

Most of the other films portraying Stalin, while not as execrable as The Death of Stalin or the HBO TV production, are weak to one extent or another. In The Winds of War, Stalin has but a cameo role, and his purpose is mainly to silence a Russian critic of the hero.  The Inner Circle and Europa, Europa both use Stalin as a symbol.  In the first film Stalin represents the protagonist’s conflicted relationship with his wife; and in the second Stalin represents the hero’s fears and fantasies about wartime Europe.  There was an American TV movie, Meeting at Potsdam where Jose Ferrer did a fairly good job of playing Stalin. But this film is presently unavailable to home viewers.

For my money, the best cinematic portrayal of Comrade Stalin was by the British actor Michael Caine in the mini-series World War II: When Lions Roared. Widely available on video, this movie is unique in that it consists solely of the communiques and meetings between Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill. The dialog is taken straight from their correspondence and the minutes of meetings. In other words, there is no fictional dialog or scenes — just the straight, accurate, historical truth!

Caine’s Stalin is superb. Comrade Stalin appears as a man of high intelligence. Complex and shrewd, yet also very human. But what comes through most of all, is Stalin as totally dedicated to the Soviet Union and to smashing the fascist hordes. This is the film for anyone seeking a cinematic interpretation of Stalin.

Finally, there is, of course, the film version of Ambassador Joseph E. Davies‘ memoir, Mission to Moscow.  This film succeeds in capturing Soviet Russia, as seen through the American ambassador’s eyes, but it’s hard to find and is a bit dated. Made in the 1940s, the wartime propaganda, though understandable, is rather unsubtle and simplistic. Not a bad movie, by any means. But not the best.

So, to my lights, World War II: When Lions Roared, stands as the best film treatment, to date, of Stalin and his era.

Who's Out There? (1975)

This 1975 NASA documentary narrated by the great Orson Welles delves into the possibilities of extraterrestrial life as gleaned from the results of planetary probes, interstellar discoveries and findings about the nature of life itself.

Meg Myers' New Video for "Desire" Is Terrifyingly Beautiful

https://www.vice.com/en/article/6aawb6/meg-myers-desire-video-premiere

I just watched "True Detective" the other night on HBO—shouts to Matthew McConaughey you looked stunning—and it scared the shit out of me. Not that I have any idea what's even happening in the show but obviously part of it is about some Bible Belt satan worshippers, or something. So, life has been pretty dark as I've been thinking a lot about the paranormal.

Anyway, when I watched Meg Myers' video for "Desire," it was haunting and pretty relatable—you want someone who's not there; you desire someone who's not there, you get the point. But, because I've been scaring the shit out of myself by watching paranormal docs, I immediately thought, "out of this world ghost sex."

Whatever the intention, the video is simply stunning and Meg's voice embodies so many feelings that it's clear there's a lot going on behind this record. "I want to skin you with my tongue/I'm gonna kill you/I'm gonna lay you in the ground," is just a preview of some of Meg's lyrics on "Desire." Watch the video above, and pre-order her upcoming EP Make A Shadow on iTunes right now.

Just finished watching Ghost In The Shell 2: Innocence (2004) and The Iron Giant (1999)...

Just finished watching Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 (2024) and Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie (2017)...

Women Of Amphissa by Lawrence Alma-Tadema, 1887.

Will U.S. Troops Train a Nazi Regiment in Ukraine?

https://nomadiceveryman.blogspot.com/2022/08/will-us-troops-train-nazi-regiment-in.html

This spring the U.S. will be sending troops to Ukraine to help train four companies of the Ukrainian National Guard. Heading up that mission will be the head of US Army Europe Lt. Gen Ben Hodges.

The story of the national guard in Ukraine is an interesting one. Back in 2000 it was disbanded altogether only to be revived after the color revolution crafted by our State Department. They’ve been steadily trying to recruit members since May and a new recruiting drive hopes to net another 10,000 for service by time the training begins.

The question is, will U.S. troops be asked to train Ukrainian Nazis of the Azov Battalion during this process? That would be some turn around from WWII wouldn’t it? I wonder if those troops have any family members who fought the Nazis during WWII. And now they might be tasked with training new ones?

Will the wonders of President Peace Prize never cease?

A number of the ultra-right militia groups were courted for membership in the National Guard at first but some decided they didn’t wish to give up their weapons. VICE did a story on the start-up of the National Guard back in March of 2014.

One of the most brutal and fascist of these militias was called the Azov militia. They are complete Nazis, not even a question about that. They don’t like Jews or commies and think the separatists should all be killed or captured and then killed. Many respect what Hitler did.  Reports of their brutality toward civilians are plentiful.

The Azov militia has since been transformed. They are now the Azov Battalion and are the official Ukraine Special Forces regiment which reports officially to Ministry of Internal Affairs which would kind of make them like the Gestapo.

The head of this battalion is Andriy Biletsky who just also happens to be head of both the S.N.A. (Social-National Assembly) and the ‘Patroits of Ukraine” , the S.N.A.’s paramilitary wing. They are unapologetic fascist organizations.

wikipedia describes “Patriot of Ukraine” (but with wikipedia’s footnotes removed) — a Ukrainian nationalist organization with racist and neo-Nazi political beliefs. It constitutes a paramilitary wing of the Social-National Assembly of Ukraine (S.N.A.), an assemblage of neo-Nazi organizations and groups founded in 2008 that share the social-national ideology and agree upon building a social-national state in Ukraine. Both the “Patriot of Ukraine” and the S.N.A. engage in political violence against minorities and their political opponents. The leader of the “Patriot of Ukraine” and of the Social-National Assembly is Andriy Biletsky…

… In a youtube video (with English subtitles), Biletsky describes how he tortures residents in the separatist region (called “Donbass”), in order to extract confessions and other information from them; so, Obama’s conflict with the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee over the release of their torture-report might have relevance to his policies in Ukraine, especially since Blackwater-Academi is a U.S.-based mercenary firm, which Obama hires. Eric Zuesse

Biletsky was the commander who just lost the Donetsk airport after blowing it to pieces.

Azov has a slick marketing campaign and has drawn in mercenaries from all over the world. Fascist racist mercs, like those Takfaris and Salafists we train from Saudi Arabia.

It is unclear at this time whether or not the Aziv Battalion will be one of those groups our troops will have to train over in Ukraine this spring. I will keep looking into it.

In the meantime, here’s a little reminder: a video put together showing how the two largest and most influential pro-Israel lobbying groups helped keep our congress from stipulating our tax dollars and soldiers wont be used to help Nazis in Ukraine.

It’s worth remembering at this point.  What’s also worth remembering is how Israel was just accused of operating what amounts to work camps with slave labor.