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Entries in Poland (2)

Wednesday
Jun062007

Russia Angry Over US Missile Plans


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Relations have not been so strained between Russia and the US since the days of the Cold War. The once cordially wary "friends" have been turning up the rhetoric against each other lately; all because of a US plan to include both the Czech Republic and Poland (two former Soviet block countries) in a missile defense system needed to counter a potential threat from Iran.

The Bush Administration plan is to place a radar system in the Czech Republic and interceptor missiles in neighboring Poland. They insist that the plan is not directed at and has nothing to do with Russia. They also insist that they have the right to do whatever they deem necessary to protect America and its interests:
The US will not allow Russia to stop it from deploying anti-missile defenses in Europe, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has said in Moscow. "I don't think anyone expects the United States to permit a veto on American security interests," she said after meeting President Vladimir Putin.

On the other hand the Russians see the US plan as a direct threat to Russia. President Vladimir Putin put it this way:
"If a part of the strategic nuclear potential of the United States appears in Europe and, in the opinion of our military specialists, will threaten us, then we will have to take appropriate steps in response.

According to Putin "appropriate action" could include targeting nuclear weapons at Europe:

We will have to have new targets in Europe," Putin said, according to a transcript released by the Kremlin. These could be targeted with "ballistic or cruise missiles or maybe a completely new system" he said. And as if to prove the seriousness of his statements Putin announced the successful test firing of new Russian missiles calling it a response to U.S. plans to build missile defense sites across Europe, and suggested Washington is pursuing an imperialist policy that has triggered a new arms race.

In one of the tests, a prototype of Russia's new intercontinental ballistic missile, called the RS-24, was fired from a mobile launcher at the Plesetsk launch site in northwestern Russia and its test warhead landed on target 3,400 miles away on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far eastern part of the country, officials said.

The military also tested a new cruise missile based on the existing short-range Iskander missile. "It can be used at long range with surgical precision," according to the ITAR-Tass news agency. "Russia needs this weapon to maintain strategic stability." the new cruise missile, R-500, will have a range of up to 310 miles, the limit under a Soviet-era treaty that banned intermediate-range missiles.

"It wasn't us who initiated a new round of arms race," Putin said when asked about Russia's missile tests this week at a news conference in Moscow. In a clear reference to the United States, Putin harshly criticized "diktat and imperialism" in global affairs and warned that Russia will keep strengthening its military potential to maintain a global strategic balance.

As for the American assertion that the missile defense system was to protect against incoming missiles that Iran might launch. Mr Putin expressed skepticism:

“There are no such missiles – Iran does not have missiles with the range”. The US was insisting, he said, that the defense system was to be “installed for the protection from something that does not exist. Is it not sort of funny? It would be funny if it were not so sad.”


 


He speculated that the real motive was to provoke Russia’s retaliation and so “to avoid further closeness of Russia and Europe”.

The Chinese have also weighed in on the debate supporting the Russian position, saying it could shift the strategic balance of power.
"The Chinese side has always held that missile defense impacts the strategic balance and stability," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said when asked about the U.S. plan, which has drawn angry warnings from Russia. "It is not conducive to mutual trust between major powers and also regional security," Jiang told a news conference. "It can also bring new proliferation problems."

Both President Bush and President Putin are headed to the G8 conference in Germany where they will confront disagreements over Iran’s nuclear ambitions and Kosovo, as well as human rights and missile defense. Mr. Bush has also invited Mr. Putin to the Bush family compound in Maine early next month, in what American officials hope will be a more relaxed setting where the two can try to mend fences.

 


 


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Wednesday
May302007

Is Tinky Winky Gay?


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In the latest round of "I have nothing better to do" Ewa Sowinska, ombudsman for children's rights, in Poland, said that the purse-carrying character on the British Broadcastinhg Corp.'s "Teletubbies" children's show could promote homosexuality. She was of course referring to Tinky Winky. In an interview with the weekly Polish magazine Wprost she commented:
"I noticed that he has a purse, but I didn't realize he's a boy. At first I thought that must be a bother for him," Sowinska told the magazine in an interview her office approved before publication. "Later I learned that there could be some hidden homosexual undertones."
"It would be good for a group of psychologists to talk to children about this. We need to examine this. If inappropriate attitudes have been promoted, we need to react," said Ewa Sowinska.

Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa and Po - the four chubby luminous-coloured furry figures with aerials on their heads and television sets in their bellies - appeared on BBC television for the first time in 1997. The Teletubbies have since been screened in 120 countries and translated into 45 languages.

The rightest Polish government has drawn criticism in recent years from the European Union and human rights groups for discrimination against gay people.The Education Minister, Roman Giertych, has proposed laws similar to Section 28, which would involve sacking teachers who promote "homosexual lifestyle" and banning "homo-agitation" in schools.

However it does not seem like the Polish government sees the BBC as leading a homosexual plot to subvert children and has distanced itself from Sowinska's remarks. Parliamentary Speaker Ludwig Dorn said he had warned her against making public comments "that may turn her department into a laughing stock."

Ewa Sowinska's comments are reminiscent of the late Jerry Falwell who, in 1999, said that Tink Winky was "modeling the gay lifestyle". She had also previously said she would ask her office's psychologists to look into the allegations "and judge whether it can be shown on public television and whether the suggested problem really exists."

It now appears that she has had a sudden bout of sanity and has backed away from her previous statements. Sowinska's spokeswoman Wieslawa Lipinska told The Associated Press that Sowinska "hasn't asked and won't ask" psychologists to investigate whether "Teletubbies" promote homosexuality.
"They are fictional characters, they have nothing to do with reality, and the bag and scissors and other props the fictional characters use are there to create a fictional world that speaks to children," Lipinska said. "We are not going to deal with this issue any more."

In a statement, the BBC denied the allegations against the program.
"Children love to play with bags of all kinds and this fascination is reflected in Tinky Winky's favorite thing," the BBC said. "To suggest the series has a political agenda is simply not true."

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8rA3dIMq14]

 


 


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