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Russia Is Targeting Asteroids

February 19, 2016 By Joe Hennessey Leave a Comment

The nuclear warheads that were constructed during the Cold War will be used against meteors.

(Mirror Daily, United States) – After being affected a few times by rogue space objects, now Russia is targeting asteroids that are scheduled to pass near our planet. The 99942 Apophis is estimated to reach our planet in 2029, 2036 and in 2068. Neither of the calculated encounters has an impact risk, but Russia is not taking any chances.

Russia is targeting asteroids with the missile system built in the Cold War. The country’s plan is to build an entire missile network that would be able to destroy an asteroid in the blink of an eye. According to TASS, the system that there are planning to implement will be efficient against asteroids, comets, and meteors in between 65 and a maximum wide of 165 feet.

The biggest space object that could be destroyed at the snap of a finger is actually pretty small compared to what’s roaming around out there, in space. But it doesn’t take a large asteroid to do a lot of damage.

Russia is targeting asteroids because it has been through previous unpleasant experiences caused by the rogue frozen space rocks. The disaster at Chelyabinsk, for example, was caused by a meteor with a width of only 65 feet.

The meteor explosion that took place in 2013 in the northeast of Russia caused a shock wave that injured more than 1,500 individuals and severely damaged around 7,200 structures in six cities.

And the aftermath of the meteor impact was actually very light seeing as the meteor exploded in the atmosphere. If it had the chance to reach the Earth’s surface, then the damage would have been far more extensive.

The scariest part in the Chelyabinsk story is not the aftermath of the meteor impact, but the fact that the object was never detected by satellites. Its presence was acknowledged only in the moment in which it became visible in the Russian sky.

After a closer look at what happened at Chelyabinsk, the reason why Russia is targeting asteroids becomes very clear.

The missile system that they want to transform into an Earth defense station is actually the ICBM. During the cold war, both Russia and the United States were ready to defend themselves against each other. That is when the “Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles” were built. The weapons are still locked and ready to be deployed at the slight of the hand.

So there is no need to call Bruce Willis or SG-1 when a meteor, comet or asteroid is detected. Just send a notice to the Russian government and they will go nuclear on the threat.

Image source: www.pixabay.com

Armenians Marks Centenary Of The Massacre By Ottoman Turks

April 24, 2015 By John Birks Leave a Comment

Armenians from all around the world are marking the 100 years commemoration of the Ottoman killings of up to 1.5 million of their people. Turkey still refuses to recognize the act as genocide.

In a procession to a memorial in the capital Yerevan, Armenians will lay candles and flowers near an eternal flame, as members of the diaspora, relatives of those who fled the country from the slaughter commemorate the sad anniversary.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and French President Francois Hollande are expected to travel to Armenia for the commemorations, but others important world leaders are not going to attend the ceremony, fearing it will upset Ankara.

In an unusual procession on Thursday, the Armenian Church offered sainthood to all those massacred by Ottoman fighters a century ago, in the largest canonization service in history.

More than 20 states have so far recognized the Armenian genocide, a definition which is supported by many historians.

German President Joachim Gauck angered Turkey after he called the massacres as genocide for the first time, during a religious service commemorating the events that happened a century ago.

Mr Gauck explained the then German empire, which was allied to Ottoman Turkey in WWI, “shared responsibility and possibly guilt for the genocide”, adding that Germany sent soldiers who “planned and, in part, carrying out the deportations”.

Ankara on Wednesday issued a recall for its ambassador in Austria in response to Viennese lawmakers’ act to condemn the killings as “genocide”.

Turkey has said that half a million of people were killed during those events, mostly due to starvation and war. The country rejects the use the term genocide.

US President Barack Obama on Thursday described the World War I massacre as “terrible carnage”, not mentioning the world genocide. Commemorations expected to draw millions of people in Yerevan, but also in cities like Paris, Los Angeles and others where important Armenian minorities are found. The events will come a day after the canonization service for the 1.5 million Armenians that most historians suggest to have perished in the massacre.

Ex-Soviet Armenia, along with the Armenian diaspora worldwide, have fought for decades for the recognition of the Ottoman Genocide, which took place between 1915 and 1917. But modern Turkey, which was came to exist after the Ottoman Empire collapsed, has refused to admit its past crimes, while relations between the two countries remain frozen to this day.

Image Source: Time To Analyze

New Ceasefire Agreement In Place To End War In Eastern Ukraine

February 12, 2015 By Ryan Harris Leave a Comment

A new ceasefire and a road map to end the war in Eastern Ukraine was agreed upon by leaders of the major nations namely France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine after an exhaustive and long drawn talks. The talks were almost stalled before it was salvaged by last minute measures taken by the participating players.

Though the agreement has been finalized, things appeared far from being rosy with the major players agreeing that there was more work to be done.

The cease fire will come into effect from Saturday mid night. Though the agreement was made unanimously, the fact that the three leaders used three separate conferences to announce the cease fire showed a lack of unity between the players. Still the fact that the major aggrieved parties are talking after bitter fighting which has lasted for almost a year is heartening.

The negotiations which was described in the words of President François Hollande of France as, “consisted of a long night and a long morning, but we have arrived at an accord on a cease-fire and a global end to the conflict. It is a relief for Europe.”

Mr Hollande further added that the ultimate success of the ceasefire will depend upon the implementation of the terms of the agreement like withdrawal of heavy weapons and border control.

The cease fire talks alternated between surging hopes and despair as the major powers cancelled a meeting to announce the cease fire and extended their talks. After marathon talks which lasted for more than 15 hours between President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, President Petro O. Poroshenko of Ukraine and Mr. Hollande, along with the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, the ceasefire agreement was finally agreed upon.

The urgency was further emphasized by the fact that Ms. Merkel and Mr. Hollande were scheduled to address the summit meeting of the European Union in Brussels, which Mr. Poroshenko was also scheduled to address. Both the leaders were keen to have a ceasefire agreement in place since they had committed themselves to make one last ditch effort to secure peace.

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