Cold War // Current

Ex-KGB Spy Gunned Down in Moscow

"A Russian businessman who was convicted in Israel as a KGB spy has been shot dead in... more

rodstradamus
added this
14 days ago
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1 comment

Stalin's grandson sues newspaper

Joseph Stalin's grandson has launched a court action claiming a liberal Russian... more

franksalot
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1 month ago
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2 comments

Soviets Built a Doomsday Machine; It's Still Alive

a story in Wired introducing us to the Doomsday Machine built by the Soviet Union in... more

Tyrannous
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1 month ago
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7 comments

Twelve years later

In 1989 the fall of the Berlin Wall seemed to many an exciting event. The end of the... more

hyperion74
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1 month ago
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0 comments

Obama challenged by Russian prime minister again?

When Russian Prime Minister Viadimir Putin crossed into Georgia without permission on... more

ladybugaz
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3 months ago
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1 comment

USA vs. USSR for .eco domain supremacy

The United States crosses sabers with Russia again, not in the name of nukes, but for... more

Greenpointer
added this
3 months ago
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2 comments

10 Fascinating Cases of Mind Control

Controlling the minds of other living creatures is simply the stuff of science fiction... more

TheRealEdwin
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3 months ago
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0 comments

Beauty Trend: Say "Da" For Russia!

It’s all about Russia this season and that includes your beauty wardrobe too. In... more

jrn
added this
3 months ago
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0 comments

Assessing the Threat of a Nuclear Holocaust

Was the threat during the Cold War worse than the threat now?

JaminDime
added this
3 months ago
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0 comments

Russian submarine off the Eastern Coast of U.S.

Two Russian submarines were found off the eastern coast of the U.S. The government is... more

Alexander_Supertramp
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3 months ago
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8 comments

Obama and Medvedev: the usual?

On the eve of discussions between Dmitri Medvedev and Barack Obama, that will take... more

Ishtar56
added this
5 months ago
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0 comments

25 years of Tetris

How Tetris conquered the world, block by block. It even raised the suspicion that it... more

Mr_Costello
added this
6 months ago
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2 comments

Spy Fired Shot That Changed Germany. The shot that changed the republic.

This is just mind-blowing: Spy Fired Shot That Changed Germany. Why is it... more

TheRealEdwin
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6 months ago
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0 comments

The New Nuke Porn (There was an old one?)

Ron Rosenbaum writes, "I love airport best-sellers because I see them as our Nostradamuses, the literary canaries in the dark coal mines of our paranoia. They sniff out and serve up fictionalized but "realistic" prophecies of coming doom of one sort or another. Perhaps it's that in their visions of total world immolation they diminish in the mind of said traveler the possibility of something so trivial as a 757 engine malfunction.

The nature of the doom these books threaten us with has recently undergone a subtle shift, especially in the realm of what I've called in the past "nuke porn." I coined the term (in a Harper's article) at the height of the Cold War to characterize the way nuclear war novels and films from Fail-Safe to Strangelove and the like adapted or imitated the techniques one could find in conventional porn: the excitement of arousal and buildup, the finger on the trigger as the world was brought to the trembling brink of a consciousness-obliterating climax. And the post-coital tristesse of "survivor novels" like On the Beach, where the onrushing end of the species licensed a doom-inflected licentiousness.

The new nuke porn is hard-core, more graphic and full-frontal than the Cold War version of the genre. Instead of the anticipatory excitement (Fail-Safe, Strangelove) or the post-coital tristesse (On the Beach) of First Era nuke porn, we get real-time blast-burns and melting flesh. There was always an erotic component to apocalyptic literature—those end-of-the-world sects were notorious for their doom-fueled orgiastic behavior—but I always wondered why most nuke porn was about looking forward to the approaching act or looking back on its consummation but rarely about looking directly at it. Yes, Strangelove ended with a suite of stock footage of mushroom clouds exploding (to the strains of "We'll Meet Again"), but while we saw the explosions there, we never confronted face to face—in the way film and fiction can—the actual experience of being inside a nuclear blast. (The most notable exception being, of course, the few seconds of—did it happen or was it averted?—nuking footage in Terminator 2. Remember the playground scene where the nuke turns the frolicking moms and kids into scary X-rays?* It's a key transition between the old nuke porn and the new.)

But now the genre has entered a new era—an era of looking "directly at it"—a fact that didn't really register with me until I read Whitley Strieber's airport novel, Critical Mass, in which we get the nuke porn equivalent of the "money shot." You know Strieber, right? Mr. Airport Extreme. He's the auteur of what some might see as another strange form of porn, those alien-abduction fantasies that feature anal probes. He was among the first to bring UFO abductions complete with probes into the airport "bookstore.""Ron Rosenbaum writes, "I love airport best-sellers because I see them as our... more

St_Alia_10191
added this
6 months ago
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0 comments

Berlin Wall as a Piece of History: Good Riddance?

"Two decades after they triumphantly tore down the infamous wall that divided their city, Berliners are having some regrets.

The Germans did such a thorough job of demolishing the hated barrier that visitors to the capital have a hard time finding any trace of it. For years, residents were eager to move beyond a painful chapter in Berlin's history and focused on building a new metropolis for a new century.

But as Germany prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the wall's collapse on Nov. 9, many Berliners wish they had left more of the structure intact as a memorial.

"In Berlin, there is history under every stone out there. The most deadly mistake we could make is to get rid of it all or cover it up," said Burkhard Kieker, director of Berlin's tourism bureau, which has tried for years to persuade the city to do more to commemorate the wall. "One mistake was to take away too much of the wall. We did the job in a very German way -- very organized -- and we finished it off, almost completely."

After years of resistance, city officials are starting to embrace memories of the Cold War instead of repressing them. They are sprucing up two decrepit sections of the wall that escaped demolition, adding a visitors center and other exhibits. They also plan a new Cold War museum near Checkpoint Charlie, the border crossing where U.S. and Soviet tanks engaged in a tense standoff in 1961, shortly after the wall was built by communist East Germany to keep its citizens from fleeing to the West.

Under the surface, however, a raw civic debate continues to fester over how the Berlin Wall should be remembered.

Many former citizens of East Germany resent what they see as a cultural and political takeover of their country by West Germany. Westerners say they are fed up with the tendency of their eastern counterparts to wax nostalgic about communist times.

Despite the erasure of most of the wall, many Berliners are still affected by a malady commonly known as Mauer im Kopf, or wall in the head. According to a survey last year by the Free University of Berlin, 12 percent of residents in the East and 11 percent in the West said the city would be better off if the wall had never been torn down.

Leaders of the push to commemorate the wall have encountered stiff opposition. Alexandra Hildebrandt, owner of the House at Checkpoint Charlie, a private museum that drew 850,000 visitors last year, said the exhibits grate on the nerves of former East German politicians who don't like the way the wall is portrayed as an evil force.

"Some people have always tried to shut down our museum, using any means possible," she said. "I don't know why. Actually, I do know why. We show the truth, and they don't like the truth."""Two decades after they triumphantly tore down the infamous wall that divided their... more

St_Alia_10191
added this
6 months ago
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1 comment

quotes from Ronald Reagan-what would the 10 Commandments look like after congress ?

"Here's my strategy on the Cold War: We win, they lose." - Ronald Reagan... more

cyman01
added this
7 months ago
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4 comments

Bioterror?

mass out break of flu Terrorist attack???... more

ras_menelik
added this
7 months ago
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17 comments

Berlin Wall to get a facelift

"The concrete has been scrubbed, the graffiti removed, the metal de-rusted and now... more

St_Alia_10191
added this
7 months ago
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8 comments

Obama Offers Partnership...& 'Humor' at The Fifth Americas Summit in Trinidad

By Elias Nawas, Southern Methodist University Graduate Student, Dallas TX – Sat Apr 18, 9:28am CT

With all modesty, whilst still engrafting a delicate tone of humor, President Barack Obama reached out to the various United States' diversified neighbors, and to particularly one nation's president — who also happens to be an abrasive US critic — offering the fiery leftist Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, a once 'Cold War' opponent, with a speedy grasp and grin the hope of a "fresh beginning".

President Obama, during his 'Summit of the Americas' in the island capital of Trinidad — Port of Spain, also conveyed his readiness to engage in talks with Cuban President Raul Castro on matters that were completely off table for the Havana state — especially that including the communist governments' political prisoners' upholding.

This goodwill and friendly attitude was reciprocated with a gesture from President Chavez when he presented President Obama a book, "Open Veins of Latin America — Las Venas Abiertas de America Latina, written by Eduardo Galeano, a Uruguayan journalist in 1971.

To not only mention the positive feedback, but one also has to note that not all Latin American leaders have been impressed by the US President. Namely, Ecuadorian President 'Rafael Correa' as well as Bolivian President Evo Morales still remained skeptical (both about President Obama and US's foreign policy towards the Latin Neighbors).

My particular ideology relating to what I have previously delineated and outlined resides in what I am going to portray hereafter;

Although the Fifth Summit of the Americas during April can be regarded mostly as a failure, not only because Nicaragua, Bolivia, Dominica, and Honduras boycotted in protest of Cuba’s absence, but also because the participating Summit members “failed” to adopt an official declaration; the leaders of the participating 34 countries agreed to boost and encourage joint solutions to face the most pressing challenges and troubles facing the region, while promoting environmental sustainability, human prosperity etc...

Even though President Ortega, president of Nicaragua, delivered an acerbic and scalding fifty-minute speech denouncing US imperialism and capitalism as the root of much regional mischievousness, President Obama responded with "I'm grateful that President Ortega did not blame me for things that happened when I was three months old" to an applause and laughter from the other Summit-attending leaders, while stating that the journey “must be traveled” to make headway and overcome decades of mistrust – also, President Obama hoped to connect with Colombia, Chile, Canada, Haiti and Peru seeking individual sessions with their leaders.

Furthermore, President Obama added that he was disinterested in talking just for the sake of talking, but believed that the U.S.–Cuban relations can and ought to be moved in a new direction. Later, President Obama acted upon his words ordering ease-of-travel restrictions for Americans with relatives in Cuba, which President Castro, in return to such a step, offered his willingness to discuss ‘everything’ that divides the two countries.

To conclude, I believe that our time period right here and right now will be legendary.I base my say on this, solely on my conviction that diplomacy and open communication are good strategies for allies and enemies alike, but yet should be coupled with something deeper than casual diplomacy which primarily is, but not confined to, sincerity in these relations and talks.

To reinforce a positive mindset-approach towards foreign policy amongst all nations, I will finally quote President Obama by saying “I did not come here to debate the past, but I came here to deal with the future; we must learn from history but we can not and should not be trapped by it”.

— Elias NawasBy Elias Nawas, Southern Methodist University Graduate Student, Dallas TX – Sat Apr... more

Viper7
added this
7 months ago
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55 comments

The spies at the top of the world...and a new Cold War?

This radar station is so remote that it sees no sunlight for four months of the year.... more

Anyother
added this
7 months ago
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0 comments

tagged w/ Cold War

Ex-KGB Spy Gunned Down in Moscow

Stalin's grandson sues newspaper

Soviets Built a Doomsday Machine; It's Still Alive

Twelve years later

Obama challenged by Russian prime minister again?

USA vs. USSR for .eco domain supremacy

10 Fascinating Cases of Mind Control

Beauty Trend: Say "Da" For Russia!

Assessing the Threat of a Nuclear Holocaust

Russian submarine off the Eastern Coast of U.S.

Obama and Medvedev: the usual?

25 years of Tetris

Spy Fired Shot That Changed Germany. The shot that changed the republic.

The New Nuke Porn (There was an old one?)

Berlin Wall as a Piece of History: Good Riddance?

quotes from Ronald Reagan-what would the 10 Commandments look like after congress ?

Bioterror?

Berlin Wall to get a facelift

Obama Offers Partnership...& 'Humor' at The Fifth Americas Summit in Trinidad

The spies at the top of the world...and a new Cold War?

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