Because we can’t all be analyzing the economic crisis. (H/T Dispatches from France.) Discoveries like this are a pleasure of cleaning up the blogroll, bit by bit.
Author Archives: Doug Merrill
Russia Plans Fleet Base in Georgia
Going to be an interesting year again here in the Caucasus.
Russia will start building a naval base this year in Georgia’s Black Sea separatist region of Abkhazia, Russian media reported on Monday, a step Tbilisi said would violate its sovereignty. …
Russia’s Itar-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed official at Russian naval headquarters as saying commanders planned to station vessels at the Abkhaz port of Ochamchire. Russia’s navy could not immediately be reached for comment.
“The fundamental decision on creating a Black Sea Fleet base in Ochamchire has been taken,” Tass quoted the official as saying. “This year we will begin practical work, including dredging, along Abkhazia’s coast.”
Good memory from the (alas, unnamed) CNN correspondent:
This latest development comes despite comments made last year by Abkhazia’s leader that his territory would not be hosting Russian military bases.
“There will be no new bases,” Sergei Bagapsh told Russia’s Novosti news agency, adding that Russia’s Black Sea Fleet will not be based in the republic either.
“Only units of Russia’s ground forces that have always been based here will continue to be stationed in Abkhazia,” he said.
Picturing the Siege of Leningrad
Over at English Russia, Sergei Larenkov has merged historic photos form the siege of Leningrad with contemporary pictures taken from the same vantage point. Flak balloons, protective scaffolding, ruins and dead bodies juxtaposed with SUVs, modern busses, restored facades. Fascinating work.
Don’t miss his links to other photo projects down at the bottom of the post. Russian North Truckers. Ain’t No Russian City. Another Abandoned Theater.
Experiment in Decoupling
We’re about to find out whether the rest of the world is still dependent on demand in the US. If it is, better set those expectations down a bit further.
The U.S. economy contracted violently in the fourth quarter, with gross domestic product falling at its fastest pace in more than 25 years, economists said ahead of what promises to be a grim week of economic news. …
GDP is expected to have fallen at a 5.5% annualized rate in the final three months of last year, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by MarketWatch. That would be the biggest decline since the 6.4% drop in early 1982 and one of the worst quarters in the post-World War II era.
h/t Atrios
A Little Housekeeping
The administration here isn’t changing, but we are doing a little cleaning up. At the moment, it’s confined to the blogroll. First, I’ll be pruning the blogs that have gone on hiatus. Then, probably some time next week, we will add new ones. We always want to hear about good blogs writing about Europe, but now is a particularly good time to let us know. Comment here, or drop me a note at the address under “Contact” to the right.
Novus Ordo Seclorum
The world my children (one, three and five) remember will always be one in which a black person has been President of the United States of America.
“They Said This Day Would Never Come”
“They said our sights were set too high. They said this country was too divided, too disillusioned to ever come together around a common purpose. But on this January night, at this defining moment in history, you have done what the cynics said we couldn’t do. … You have done what America can do in this new year, 2008.” – Barack Obama, January 3, 2008, on winning the Democratic Iowa caucuses
Lift Every Voice and Sing
“This Land is Your Land”
Verses four and five, as performed at the pre-inaugural concert:
A great high wall there tried to stop me
A great big sign there said “Private Property”
But on the other side …. it didn’t say nothin!
That side was made for you and me!
Nobody living can ever stop me,
As I go walking that freedom highway;
Nobody living can make me turn back
This land was made for you and me!
Update: HBO has put up a sign on the video saying “Private Property”. Search YouTube for Seeger and Obama; I found half a dozen or more. This song is made for you and me.
“Difficult Times Ahead”
He should have turned 80 last week.
On the other hand, he came within a sneeze of dying after being stabbed in 1961, and he achieved a thing or two in those seven years.
Noted with Interest
A senior official from Germany’s ministry of defense was in Tbilisi on Tuesday, meeting counterparts and doing the things that senior defense officials do, including a reception put on by the German embassy. According to one person present at the reception, during his brief remarks he said the Georgia was likely to be a NATO member this year, at which point (by the same account) the ambassador’s jaw dropped for a moment. Then professional training set in, and her poker face returned.
If this account is accurate, and his remarks are on message, it would be a significant change in the German position. It may be walked back — the German ambassador to NATO was quoted in yesterday’s Sueddeutsche Zeitung saying that no member expected Georgian membership soon — but the April summit in Strasbourg and Kehl could have some surprises.