You are heremilitary-power

military-power


Germany says no to Iraq war, no to Libya war, but takes lead in wind and solar, turning renewable energy vision into reality

left: Germany leading world in solar power; right: French fighter planes soar over Libya
Choice for mankind sharing one planet - where to spend big? To make our only Earth greener, or grayer?

(quote)
Upper left: Germany Launched "5M" wind turbine, which is designed and built by Germany's REpower Company.
Center left: Germany has considerably increased the number of windfarms on off-shore locations.
Lower left: For the first time in the Solar Decathlon, a home that has produced twice the amount of energy as it used, won the first prize. And it did so in a very unusual way.
Upper right: French fighter jets soared over Libya.

Center right: French Mirage 2000 jet fighters are lined up awaiting a mission to Libya, at Solenzara 126 Air Base, Corsica island, France.
Lower right: Smoke billows as seven explosions rocked the Libyan capital Tripoli earlier this week. New air strikes have reportedly claimed at least 40 civilians.

Renewable Energy is a Reality and not a Vision. Germany gains more energy from solar technology than Japan gains from all its nuclear reactors. Development in this area occurred much faster in the last years than many expected. Ten years ago no one would have believed we could gain 17 percent of our electricity supply from renewable energy.

“RENEWABLE ENERGY IS A REALITY AND NOT A VISION”  read more »

Aug 15'45: V-J Day but Korea divided; Aug 15'10: US-S Korea military drills..Korea-South-North tension increased

Victory over Japan Day, WWII ends, celebrating peace
Top: 15 August 1945. American servicemen and women gather in front of "Rainbow Corner" Red Cross club in Paris to celebrate the unconditional surrender of the Japanese. Bottom: 14 August 1945. Residents of Oak Ridge (one of the three main sites of the Manhattan Project), TN, fill Jackson Square to celebrate the surrender of Japan.

Japanese surrender ceremonies on USS Missouri, September 1945
Surrender of Japan, Tokyo Bay, 2 September 1945: Japanese representatives on board USS Missouri (BB-63) during the surrender ceremonies. Standing in front are: Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu (wearing top hat) and General Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the Army General Staff.

U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier leaves for joint naval and air drills with South Korea
The U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS George Washington leaves for joint naval and air drills with South Korea at a naval port in Busan, South Korea, July 25, 2010. South Korea and the United States on Sunday began their large-scale joint military drills off the east coast of the Korean Peninsula as scheduled.

South Korea has launched its biggest-ever anti-submarine exercises despite warnings from the North
Tensions between North and South Korea are boiling.  read more »

Top 5 arms exporters: who feels secure? Weapons piling up, enough to blow up Earth many times over rather than defend it

Top L: US President Barack Obama and South Korea's President Lee Myung-bak; Bottom R: U.S. Air Force C-17A Globemaster III
The United States of America remains the largest exporter of conventional weapons in the world, according to the latest study by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). The U.S account for 30% of global arms sales, or about $7 billion per year, for the period 2005-2009, SIPRI statement says. From 2005 to 2009, the U.S. sold one-third of its arm exports to South Korea (15%), Israel (13%) and the United Arab Emirates (11%). The top U.S. military equipments included JDAM guided bombs and RGM-84L Harpoon-2 anti-ship missiles, delivered to South Korea, in 2008.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev holds a Kalashnikov gun
Russia remains the second largest supplier, with 23% of the global arms exports, or about $4.5 billion per year, the SIPRI data indicates. Russia’s main clients are China (40%) and India (20%), which belong to the top five of the largest conventional weapons importers from 2005 to 2009, SIPRI says. Russian exports of fighter planes included 82 Sukhoi fighters for India and 24 MI-17 helicopters for China.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel
Germany, whose exports doubled over the past five years, has become the world’s third-largest arms dealer, SIPRI reports. Germany now makes up 10% of the global volume. Most of Germany’s arms are sold to other European countries, such as Turkey (15%) and Greece (13%). German Leopard 2A4 tanks delivered to Turkey cost over 365 million Euros.  read more »

Napoleon III declared war on Mexico, attacked on May 5, 1862 - Cinco de Mayo, defeated by General Ignacio Zaragoza

Left: General Ignacio Zaragoza (1829-1862) - born at Bahía del Espíritu Santo, Texas, Zaragoza was educated in Matamoros and the Seminary at Monterrey.  Commanding the Mexican army opposing the French invasion, he defeated French General Count de Lorencez at the battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862; Right: In 1861, Napoleon III plotted to carve out a French empire in Mexico. The French marched on Mexico City, and were defeated at the battle of Puebla (May 5, 1862), setting back Napoleon III’s plans for a year.

(quote)

In Mexico, the various factions that fought their civil war had borrowed large sums of money from foreign creditors. The fighting devastated Mexico’s economy, and the country had to suspend payments on its debts. Taking advantage of the relative weakness of the United States during the US Civil War, in December of 1861 the governments of France, Great Britain and Spain landed an allied military force at Vera Cruz to protect their interests in Mexico and to try to collect the debts owed to their citizens. Juárez negotiated with the allies and promised to resume payments, and the British and Spanish troops began to withdraw from Mexico in April, 1862.  read more »

On Mar 2, 1969 world's first supersonic jetliner Concorde took flight, feat of collaboration eng. & work of beauty

A cluster of Concordes gather nose-to-tail at London's Heathrow airport. Air France and British Airways ran a regular transatlantic service to New York with an average flight time of just 3 and a half hours.

(quote)

It was a feat of engineering and a work of exceptional beauty and grace. It won the hearts and minds of millions of people.

Forty years ago today the supersonic Concorde took its first test flight, and a design paragon flashed across the skies over Toulouse. With its droop nose and delta wing, the Concorde was a high point of 20th century engineering (its maiden flight came three months before the first moon landing) and the kind of cooperative effort that now seems beyond us. As we enter a period of infrastructure spending, it’s worth noting what kept the Concorde aloft for 27 years.

Capable of twice the speed of sound, Concorde remains an object of aesthetic streamlined beauty. The long nose and swept back wings were made for speed. It was a design so distinctive that it turned heads whenever it flew and it flew so high you could see the curvature of the earth from within the sleek interior.  read more »

France condemns Israeli offensive against Gaza revealing sharp difference in tone from official line in Washington

Israeli artillery guns fire towards the Gaza Strip from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border on January 4, 2009. Israeli troops pushed deeper into Gaza and clashed in fierce battles with Hamas fighters today as Israel upped its deadly offensive on the Islamist

(quote)

AFP - France spearheaded alarmed reaction from European nations as Israeli tanks and troops pushed into the Gaza Strip, revealing a sharp difference in tone from the official line in Washington.

At least 460 Palestinians have been killed and thousands wounded in an eight-day bombing campaign, according to Gaza medics, as Israeli tanks clashed overnight with Hamas fighters who fired back with mortars and rockets.

a Palestinian man tries to get his family to safety

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the decision to send ground forces into Gaza after a week of air strikes was a "dangerous military escalation", while Britain called for an immediate ceasefire.

The European Union's new Czech presidency said Israel did not have the right to take military actions "which largely affect civilians," though its launching of land operations in the Gaza Strip was no surprise.  read more »

History sees sharp turn: 1st time since WWII, German troops to station in France; France to withdraw from Germany

German troops to be stationed in France

(quote)

German troops to be stationed in France

11.27.2008

German soldiers are set to be deployed on French soil for the first time since the end of World War II in 1945, the two countries decided this week. President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on the deal during a meeting in Paris earlier this week, government spokesman Thomas Steg told a press conference on Wednesday in Berlin.

The two countries share a joint army brigade of some 5,000 soldiers - 2,800 of which are German. Until now, they have been stationed only in south west Germany. "Germany has agreed in principle to transfer members of the Franco-German Brigade to France, that includes German troops," Steg said, calling the move "highly symbolic and historically significant".

A handful of German officers are already based in Strasbourg, east France, directly engaged with the NATO mission Eurocorps. However, no German military unit has been stationed in the country since the end of hostilities in World War II.

French President Jacques Chirac kisses the hand of German Chancellor Angela Merkel upon his arrival at the Chancellery May 3, 2007 in Berlin, Germany  read more »

Russia sends long-range strategic bombers, nuclear warships, 1k troops to Venezuela for joint military exercises

Russian Tu-160 strategic bomber

(quote)

Two Russian strategic bombers have landed in Venezuela as part of military maneuvers, the Interfax news agency reported today, at a time when US-Russian relations are at their most strained since the cold war. Interfax cited a Russian defense ministry statement as saying the two Tu-160 strategic bombers landed today to carry out training flights over neutral waters in the next few days before returning to Russia.

flagship of Russia's Nothern Fleet, heavy nuclear missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky (Peter the Great)

The arrival of the Russian strategic warplanes in what the US considers its backyard followed a statement at the weekend by the Venezuelan government saying that four Russian ships would participate in joint exercises in the Caribbean this year. Venezuela said a taskforce including four Russian naval ships and 1,000 Russian military personnel would take part in mid-November exercises with Venezuelan frigates, patrol boats, submarines and aircraft. Confirming a visit would be made, Russia said its ships would include the heavy cruiser Peter the Great and the anti-submarine ship Admiral Chabanenko. Anti-submarine planes would also be sent to Venezuela temporarily, it said.

Chavez, right, supported Russia in its recent conflict with Georgia  read more »

RSS feed

Subscribe to WcP Blog RSS feed

Twitter

WcP Blog on Twitter

Facebook

WcP Blog on Facebook

Custom Search



Random image

Weekly Planner - Snapshot of MIT

Search the Web

Custom Search

Archive Calendar

February 2012
SunMonTueWedThuFriSat
1234
567891011
12131415161718
19202122232425
26272829

Featured Videos

Latest Quote

What is evil? Killing is evil, lying is evil, slandering is evil, abuse is evil, gossip is evil: envy is evil, hatred is evil, to cling to false doctrine is evil; all these things are evil. And what is the root of evil? Desire is the root of evil, illusion is the root of evil.

— Founder of Buddhism

Featured Ads & Links

Recent comments

Reader Reviews

  • "It must be very rewarding to have a long term project like this and too see the progress being made! Thanks for sharing it." - Mika (Jan. 18, 2012)
  • "This was a very eye opening video. It's made an impact on me. We're so unaware of the things that we do every day can destroy our ecosystem. The statistics are mind blogging especially the fact that 90% of big fish are gone. We need to stop this somehow. I'm going to spread this page to my mutual friends. Thanks for this." - Joseph (Jan. 15, 2012)
  • "I enjoy this blog a lot." - Liz (California, USA; Oct. 17, 2011)
  • "Keep up the good work you're doing." - Casper (Melbourne, Australia)
  • "Thanks for sharing some great content through your blog. It has been a sincere pleasure to read." - Anonymous
  • "Always fresh and fascinating." - Anonymous
  • "Cool bio[mission statement]." - Darin (California, USA)
  • "You have some beautiful images. Love your site!" - Susan (Washington DC, USA)
  • "I love your Blog." - Kate (Ireland)
  • "A great site highlighting many important issues." - Bob (New Zealand; Feb. 20, 2010)
  • "Love the images on this blog..there are some interesting articles about health I noticed...we tend to run a 50/50 risk of a heart attack...I noticed when in the USA recently everyone seemed huge..they ate massive meals...I reckon that is one cause of heart failure...just my opinion..but yeah these articles can be worrying to some folk so just heed the advice...I know I will." - Mick (The Sunshine Coast, Australia; Aug 29, 2009)
  • "Excellent blog." - Bill (Vancouver Island, Canada)
  • "Fantastic blog and educational articles, much enjoy visiting...Thank you!" - Lotus1150 (Alberta, Canada; Aug 28, 2009)
  • "Great site and awesome photos." - David (Washington DC, USA)
  • "I loved your website. Even finding some news about Turkey made me surprised." - Anonymous (Turkey)
  • "Gorgeous site ... the kind of place you could lose yourself for hours (suppose that was intentional?). Also, cartoons, commentary on the events of the times, etc. Great stuff." - Daniel (Nevada, USA; Jan. 03, 2009)
  • "...may your blog, ideas and efforts help many more people." - Anonymous (New Mexico, USA)
  • "Very cool site..." - Anonymous
  • "Amazing site, worth the visit every time... enjoy." - Sam (Saudi Arabia)
  • "Easy to read and well-designed." - Colin (Arizona, USA; Apr. 22, 2009)
  • "Unique mix of news, photos and poetry." - Frasier (Virginia, USA)
  • "Worldculturepictorial.com/blog is an extremely interesting collection of news articles. It calls itself "A Window On the World". The site contains a wide variety of topics, all very informative and pertinent to life in today's world." - Cynthia (Massachusetts, USA; Aug. 07 2008)
  • "Wow. Cool." - Christopher (Melbourne, Australia; Dec. 10 2008)
  • "An interesting way to check out the wonders of our world." - Anthony (Ohio, USA)
  • "Nice site, especially the rss icon." - Daniel (California, USA; Sep 10, 2008)
  • "Good blog - Everything from news to photography. Very informative." - "explicitmemory" (Texas, USA)
  • "Very informative site by prose and picture..." - Jeff (Michigan, USA)