Russia Plans Space Program Expansion And Moon Base By 2030: Reports

Russia is planning a massive increase in its space launches and may even build a base on the moon as part of a manned mission to Mars in the next two decades, according to reports.

Other reports cite official documents which claim a manned Russian mission to Mars could be possible in 2030 following the creation of a moon base. "Above all, we are talking about flights to the moon and the creation of a base close to its north pole where there is likely to be a source of water," read one of the documents, according to the Telegraph.

Russian scientists are also said to have touted the moon as a potential source of energy, saying it contains large reserves of helium 3, a sought-after isotope that may be the key to a new way of generating power.

Russia, NASA to hold talks on nuclear-powered spacecraft

Muscovites have the balls but not the money


In previous reports, Perminov has been quoted as saying that the "engine" design now being worked on is of the type known as "megawatt-class nuclear space power systems" (MCNSPS). This refers specifically to use of a nuclear reactor to generate electricity, but other previous remarks regarding a propulsion capability suggest that the Russian engine could also use reactor heat to eject reaction mass, providing thrust as well as electrical power. Reactors normally generate a large surplus of heat energy over and above their electrical output, so the scope is there to do both propulsion and power generation at once: nuclear rockets using reactors to heat reaction mass were tested decades ago. Because they can use reaction mass selected to be good reaction mass – rather than being forced to accept what chemical fuels can produce – they can get much more shove out of a given weight of fuel.


Source: theregister.co.uk

Al-Qaida Brings More Russian Made Suitcase Nukes to U.S.

According to captured al-Qaida leaders and documents, the plan is called the "American Hiroshima" and involves the multiple detonation of nuclear weapons already smuggled into the U.S. over the Mexican border with the help of the MS-13 street gang and other organized crime groups.

Al-Qaida has obtained at least 40 nuclear weapons from the former Soviet Union – including suitcase nukes, nuclear mines, artillery shells and even some missile warheads. In addition, documents captured in Afghanistan show al-Qaida had plans to assemble its own nuclear weapons with fissile material it purchased on the black market.

In addition to detonating its own nuclear weapons already planted in the U.S., military sources also say there is evidence to suggest al-Qaida is paying former Russian special forces Spetznaz to assist the terrorist group in locating nuclear weapons formerly concealed inside the U.S. by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. Osama bin Laden's group is also paying nuclear scientists from Russia and Pakistan to maintain its existing nuclear arsenal and assemble additional weapons with the materials it has invested hundreds of millions in procuring over a period of 10 years.

At least half the nuclear weapons in the al-Qaida arsenal were obtained for cash from the Chechen terrorist allies.

But the most disturbing news is that high level U.S. officials now believe at least some of those weapons have been smuggled into the U.S. for use in the near future in major cities as part of this "American Hiroshima" plan, according to an upcoming book, "The Al Qaeda Connection: International Terrorism, Organized Crime and the Coming Apocalypse," by Paul L. Williams, a former FBI consultant.

According to Williams, former CIA Director George Tenet informed President Bush one month after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks that at least two suitcase nukes had reached al-Qaida operatives in the U.S.


"Each suitcase weighed between 50 and 80 kilograms (approximately 110 to 176 pounds) and contained enough fissionable plutonium and uranium to produce an explosive yield in excess of two kilotons," wrote Williams. "One suitcase bore the serial number 9999 and the Russian manufacturing date of 1988. The design of the weapons, Tenet told the president, is simple. The plutonium and uranium are kept in separate compartments that are linked to a triggering mechanism that can be activated by a clock or a call from the cell phone."


However, it is worth noting that Bush failed to translate this policy into securing the U.S.-Mexico border through which the nuclear weapons and al-Qaida operatives are believed to have passed with the help of the MS-13 smugglers. He did, however, order the building of underground bunkers away from major metropolitan areas for use by federal government managers following an attack.


According to Williams' sources, thousands of al-Qaida sleeper agents have now been forward deployed into the U.S. to carry out their individual roles in the coming "American Hiroshima" plan.


The future plan, according to captured al-Qaida agents and documents, suggests the attacks will take place simultaneously in major cities throughout the country – including New York, Boston, Washington, Las Vegas, Miami, Chicago and Los Angeles.







Source: wnd.com

Top Stocks of Russia

Did you know that the Market Vectors Russia Exchange Traded Fund (RSX) has significantly outperformed the S&P 500 over the last two years. It has also outperformed over the last year, the last six months, and the last three months. Where has all this strength come from?

Russia has the world's largest reserves of mineral resources and energy resources. It also has the world's largest forest reserves. According to what the Russian government reports, the literacy rate is 99.4%. Of all the major economies, it has one of the lowest foreign debts. In addition, it has the fourth largest amount of farmland in the world, the world's largest natural gas reserves, the second largest coal reserves in the world, the the eighth largest oil reserves in the world, and is the fifth largest renewable energy producer in the world.

The following are some of the companies that are based in Russia that trade in the United States, that were turned up by WallStreetNewsNetwork.com.

Mechel OAO (MTL) is a mining and steel production company. The stock has a price to earnings ratio of 16, a forward PE of 8, and a PEG of 1.32.

Mobile Telesystems OJSC (MBT) is a provider of cellular telecommunications services in Russia, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan. The stock has a PE of 17, a forward PE of 10, and a PEG of 0.90.

Vimpel-Communications (VIP) is a provider of wireless telecommunications services in Russia, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Georgia, and Armenia. The stock has a forward PE of 7, and a PEG of 0.31. It also pays a yield of 2%.

Wimm-Bill-Dann Foods OJSC (WBD) is a food, dairy, and beverage products company. The stock has a PE of 55, a forward PE of 28, and a PEG of 1.80. The stock pays a yield of 0.6%.

You can find a free list of more than ten Russian stocks that trade in the US at WallStreetNewsNetwork.com, which can be downloaded, sorted, and updated.

Dislcosure: Author did not own any of the above at the time the article was written.


By Stockerblog.com

Russia Prosecuting Online Infringement. For the WTO?

The Criminal Code of the Russian Federation provides for those convicted of copyright infringement to forfeit up to 18 months of their wages, among other possible punishments including jail time or work-relief.  (Art. 146.) 

Rumor has it that though Russia has these laws on her books, their enforcement has been less ideal.  According to an AFP story on Yahoo! News, Russia is working to change that.  The proposed motive: entry into the WTO.

The Recent Enforcement

Basic story-line, young man uploads music tracks to a social networking site without permission from the copyright owner.  Other users download the songs.  In this case, the Russian music tracks uploaded by the young man were downloaded over 200,000 times by other users.  The young man was caught and prosecution charges filed.

High-profile raids to confiscate infringing goods have also increased in the move to step-up enforcement.

The WTO Relationship

According to the AFP story, Russia is increasing its copyright enforcement in order to finally join the WTO, a process it began in 1993.  The article states, “Russia's inability to implement any meaningful form of copyright protection has been one of the main issues raised by the United States during the latest rounds of two sides' World Trade Organization negotiations.”

Some other research sheds some doubt on this reasoning.  Russian WTO negotiations with IP-promoting Western governments have been going well recently.  The EU backed Russia for WTO admittance late last year and negotiations with the US have been progressing with the support of President Obama.  (See here, here and here.)  And while there is some discussion of intellectual property enforcement being a problem, the major barriers remaining are more likely tariffs.

This is not to say that increased enforcement will not help Russia in its bid for the WTO, but merely to suggest that it is not quite as an important factor as the AFP story suggests.  At the very least, such enforcement should help get Russia removed from the Priority Watchlist in the infamous Special 301 Report (pdf).

News and views: snippets from Russia and Australia

The 1709 Blog's mailbox receives some interesting bits of news and comment. Just in are two items worth sharing with readers:

* Sasha Yelnik writes to tell us that, during a World IP Day meeting, the director of the Russian Authors' Society RAS said that the time has come to establish specialised courts that would deal only with copyright and the related matters. She adds:

"His suggestion was based on the increasing number and complexity of copyright infringement claims. Mr Fedotov from RAS thinks that the main reason for the phenomenon is the "legal nihilism that has become entrenched in the minds of the largest part of the society". Another problem which requires an urgent solution (which was not proposed at the meeting) is licensing music downloads from the internet (see Pravo here, in Russian) I think it is a big achievement that the need for specialised courts has been voiced and recognised but -- knowing the speed with which anything requiring at least a bit of formality is happening in Russia -- the realisation of the idea seems unlikely to take place in the foreseeable future".

* Anne Sanders (AAPT) writes on the subject of artists' resale royalties and asks: "Is the UK aware of the detail of Australian legislation?" She explains:

"It is nothing like the compulsory statutory licence that the the copyright agencies pursued. In fact, it is a poor precedent from their point of view. I believe that the agencies in the EU & UK might mention the royalty being adopted in Australia but forget to mention that:

(a) individual artists have an individual right to waive the royalty on a case-by-case basis (Clauses 22/23).

(b) the royalty will only apply to the first resales of artworks purchased AFTER the introduction of the legisalation. There is no royalty imposed upon the first resales of artworks purchase in the decades before the introduction of the act.

(c) the Australian scheme is sui generis - it is not an extension of copyright because even in its current form it is , too tax-like under our constitution to be part of copyright".