Two Years

source: Agence France Presse 05.02.2019

translation: doxa-louise

RUSSIA GIVING ITSELF TWO YEARS TO DEVELOP NEW MISSILE

MOSCOW | Russia gave itself two years Tuesday to develop a new kind of 

land-based missile following the suspension by Washington and Moscow of the nuclear 

disarmament treaty INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces), leading to fears of a new 

arms race.

With the suspension of adhesion to this crucial treaty (announced Friday by Washington and the day after by Moscow) the two rival powers are thus free to develop land-based missiles with a range between 500 and 5500 kms, up until then forbidden by the document.

The signature of this treaty at the end of the Cold War, in 1987, had ended the euromissile crisis caused at the deployment of the soviet SS-20 with nuclear warheads aimed at Western capital 

cities.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had warned they might adapt intermediate-range machines up until then deployed from the sea or airborne (as permitted by the INF treaty) so that they could also be used from the ground if ever America quit the treaty.

Without any waste of time, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergueï Choïgou

made public Tuesday his intention: it will be the Kalibr system, used for the first time 

operationally by Russia in the autumn of 2015, which will be adapted in a land-based 

variant with a 2019-2020 target delivery.

‘During this time, we must also build a long-range land-based missile system’. added 

Mr Choïgou, happy to see the Kalibr had ‘proven itself in Syria’.

Moscow had for the first time on October 7 2015 launched a salvo of 26 missiles from 

a cruise ship in the Caspian Sea to hit the ground held by Syrian rebels at 1500 kilometers 

from there. Up until then a mere prototype, this equivalent to the american Tomahawks, 

thus has a radius of action that could cover all of Europe.

‘Unbeatable’ Arms

‘We thus find ourselves near to a new arms race’, remarked to the

AFP Konstantin Makienko, pointing out that the conversion of the Kalibr to land-based 

missiles would be quick.

According to Mr Choïgou, the United States are also at work ‘actively for

the creation of a land-based missile with a range superior to 500 kms’, thus the reason 

why ‘ the Russian President has ordered our taking reciprocal action’. 

Already the United States and russian are accusing each other of violating the terms of t

he INF. Washington points to the Russian missile system 9M729, while Moscow complains o

f the american antimissile defense system Aegis Ashore, used in Poland and Romania.

The head of Russian diplomacy, Sergueï Lavrov raised concern Tuesday about the acquisition 

by Japan of this intercept system.

Vladimir Putin had unveiled in March 2018 new armed capacities that are ‘unbeatable’ developed 

by his country, of which a new generation of hypersonic missiles, called Avangard, where trials 

last December attested to a range of 4000 kms according to the Kremlin.

The new American nuclear posture, made public in 2018, for its part calls for the arrival a 

new less powerful  nuclear missile or a cruise missile that would transgress the terms of the INF treaty.

The Russian ministry of defense had accused Saturday the United States of having made the 

decision to abandon this treaty as early as 2017 by initiating ‘preparations’ for the production 

of new missiles.

Russia has often accused the United States of trying to break existing treaties to achieve its ‘economic exhaustion’ through  ‘a new arms race’, all the while stating it wants no part of.

On the heels of the suspension of the INF treaty, the future of the START (Strategic Arms 

Reduction) treaty for the reduction of nuclear arsenals, coming to term in two years’ time, 

is also in question. Friday, the Russian vice-minister for Foreign Affairs, Sergueï Riabkov 

stated it might well ‘simply expire on February 5, 2021 without prolongation’.

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2019/02/05/russie

TBlair

Tony Blair, former Prime Minister of the UK offers
some sensible advice on Brexit in the Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/05/brexit-closure-theresa-may-deal-eu

Perso, I would take the high road. It's like leaving the
neighborhood gang without joining a new one. What
are the chances of getting one's teeth kicked in: darn good.
On fishing rights, and on everything else. That's a given.
That's why the gang was formed to begin with, yes to enforce
discipline but also to be able to stand up to other gangs. Like
when the USA worries about its own jobs, and turns protectionist.
Which is why Canada wants to trade with the EU : useful and
predictable, we like the same food, have some maple syrup
cookies!

Geographically, Britain is the gateway to Europe. Once freed
up, it does need to get on with it.

HKH

The big news today, in both French and English,
is a climate study on the glaciers of the Himalaya
(HKH).

From the Guardian:

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/feb/04/a-third-of-himalayan-ice-cap-doomed-finds-shocking-report


From Le Monde:



https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2019/02/04/la-fonte-des-glaces-de-la-region-hindou-kouch-himalaya-menace-les-grands-fleuves-d-asie_5419162_3244.html

Just Guess

Yesterday, I braved the icy drizzle to go to Canadian Tire
to buy plumbing stuff because it's going to be days to clear
weather. To up my quality of life, I also bought a new sink
strainer for the kitchen. Oh, and a Kinder Bueno bar for Valentine's
Day breakfast. You'll never guess what happened next.

BOTH plumbing pieces were beyond me! Turns out a fancy strainer
only strains and doesn't seal on twist and turn. And my expensive
easy-to-install toilet handle is security packed with a clear plastic piece
which stops it from turning. House water runs very cold in winter.
It was a moment from Titanic every time I plunged my arm to retrieve
the chain.

Today, everything works but that Kinder bar is gone. I ate it after dinner, and
unwrapped it like an addict. It was ...words fail me. I would like to buy one
for Lyse but don't trust myself. I'll wait.

Today, it's freezing rain. I might go to a near-by pharmacy for Kleenex. Maybe
some make-up...

Leptin

Been reading about leptin, the so-called satiety hormone. It
is coded for on the 'ob' gene, chromosone 7. Yes, the (in)famous
obesity gene. I am lucky to be able to read about it not only in English,
but in French and German. This adds vital elements, and gives a better
perspective.

Fom English I garner that leptin is a cytokine, produced from adipose
tissue. Its discovery occured in mice with genetic mutations that
made it ineffective, hence those mice became obese. These mutations
do not occur in humans. It targets the hypothalamus, the part of
the brain that regulates appetite.

Studies have shown that leptin regulation could be down after fasting, from
that could be used to aid weight loss. In the intestinal track, it favors protein absorption
at the expense of fat. It can be considered an antagonist to ghrelin, the appetite hormone
which is felt during waking hours so, not surprisingly, we find low leptin
with lack of sleep. It is a useful marker for the progression of osteoarthritis, in
overweight people.

From the German: leptin is a protein hormone (as opposed to a steroid one).
It activates certain processes in the blood such as thermogenesis. It reduces
the production of the harmful Alzheimer-inducing substances. It is a finer regulator
of glucagon than insulin and can be used in the treatment of diabetes-1.

Medical leptin is a 'rekombinantes Analogon'.

Interestingly, women produce three times as much leptin as men, from an otherwise
equal amount of subcutaneous fat.

Il semble qu’il existe une différence sexuée dans la sécrétion en leptine puisqu’à quantité de tissu sous-cutané égale, les adipocytes féminins sécrètent trois fois plus de leptine que les adipocytes masculins. 

https://www.news-medical.net/health/What-is-Leptin.aspx

source: English, French, German Wikipedia.

Yellow

It goes on...Acte XII tomorrow.

https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2019/01/31/avec-leurs-tags-les-gilets-jaunes-redeviennent-souverains-en-sappropriant-lespace-public_a_23656142/?utm_hp_ref=fr-homepage

                                         *     *     *

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/names-of-brexit-amendments_uk_5c5082a0e4b0f43e410b570d

                                          *     *     *

Replacement

We are surrounded on all sides with folks prepared
to share with us what sensible eating is, but an equally
necessary exercise might be considering what sensible
aging might look like. The extreme case is obvious: dude
who drinks wine leaves Kool-Aid to children, and if he
doesn't, we are all allowed to call him out for this. Maybe,
just maybe, the 'thin friend' - for example, Matt Stonie - is
someone who has managed this replacement exercise
smoothly all along. Like seeing chips as kids' food when he had
his first beer...

It's an exercise worth engaging in because one can't just add
pleasure foods to the list indefinitely. A baby might enjoy a few
bites of ice cream for dessert from its high chair; a 45 year-old
male digging in after dinner could well down half the quart. As
I said, moving on...

I am including a YouTube video presenting the ideas of Carl Jung
(1875-1961), (historically, an alternative view to that of Sigmund Freud). It's
all about working on self.