Hot On The Heels Of Its China Breakthrough, Russia Set To Build Eight Nuclear Power Plants In Iran | Zero Hedge

Another foreign policy coup for the crack diplomatic team we have here in the U.S.  Way to go ‘Bama, Kerry, Clinton.  We are so glad to have you on our side.  It would be funny were it not sad, pathetic and inept.

…. Before anyone suggests that all Russia is focusing on is China at any and all costs, consider that as we have been saying since 2012, perhaps just as important to Russia and China strategically is Iran which has already lashed out against the Petrodollar on numerous occasions in the past, not only for its vast oil reserves, but for its even more strategic location in the heart of the Persian Gulf.

To be sure, the Eurasian crescent of Russia and China would be made all that much stronger if the two nations had a toehold on the Straits of Hormuz, and were able to shut traffic – either tanker or military, with the US Fifth Fleet located in Bahrain – into the Gulf at their bidding. Which is why it was not surprising that not even 24 hours after Russia and China announced the “holy grail” energy deal, that RIA reported Russia is already preparing to lock in the Tehran regime with a deal to build not one but 8 ! more nuclear power plants in the country… go here

Russia Warns Kerry’s “Threats Are Unacceptable” As Europe Weighs Sanctions | Zero Hedge

Russia has lashed out following comments from US Secretary of State John Kerry:

• RUSSIA SAYS KERRY THREATS ARE `UNACCEPTABLE’
• RUSSIA SAYS KERRY ISN’T ANALYSING SITUATION IN UKRAINE
• KERRY IS USING COLD WAR SLOGANS, RUSSIA FOREIGN MINISTRY SAYS

In comments on the Russian foreign ministry website, Lavrov added:

• RUSSIAN MEASURES IN UKRAINE ARE `REASONABLE,’ `LEGAL’: FOR.MIN.
• U.S., ALLIES IGNORED VIOLENCE, RUSSOPHOBIA IN UKRAINE PROTESTS
• G-8 HALT OF PREPARATIONS FOR SUMMIT IS UNCONSTRUCTIVE: RUSSIA

In addition, EU ministers debate freezing the assets of Ukrainians responsible for corruption and “targeted measures” against Russia if no change of course is undertaken.

• EU Ministers Debate Freezing Assets of Ukrainians Responsible for Corruption – Draft Text
• EU Debates Calling Russian Crimea Actions “Invasion” – Draft Text
• EU Commends Ukraine’s Response to Russia Actions – Draft
• EU Will Suspend Visa Negotiations with Russia – Draft Text
• EU Debating Placing Arms Embargo on Russia If No Change of Course
• EU Could Prepare Future “Targeted Measures” vs Russia If No Change in Course – Draft

Perhaps most notable though this morning was the following headline:

• RUSSIA DEP FORMIN KARASIN SPOKE ON UKRAINE W/ CHINA COUNTERPART
• RUSSIA: CHINA EXPRESSED UNDERSTANDING OF ITS UKRAINE ANALYSIS
• RUSSIA, CHINA DISCUSSED UKRAINE’S INTERNAL POLITICAL CRISIS

In other words, China was well aware of the plan and appears comfortable taking sides.

via Russia Warns Kerry’s “Threats Are Unacceptable” As Europe Weighs Sanctions | Zero Hedge.

China’s Quiet Christian Explosion: The Middle Kingdom’s Problem with Religion | Standpoint

Missing missionary: Ma Daqin, Auxiliary Bishop of Shanghai, has not been seen since he declared he was leaving the officially approved Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association

While church attendance continues to fall in the West and Christians are being driven out of the Middle East under Islamist pressure, China is moving in the opposite direction. In 2011 the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think-tank, estimated that there were 67 million Chinese Christians, about 5 per cent of the total population. Of these, 58 million were Protestant and nine million Catholic. Their number exceeds that of members of the Communist Party (CCP)…

via The Middle Kingdom’s Problem with Religion | Standpoint. h/t Real World Politics

Michelle Obama’s August 2010 Vacation in Spain Cost American Taxpayers $467,585 | Judicial Watch

 

…. Michelle Obama’s August 2010 Vacation in Spain Cost American Taxpayers $467,585 According to Records Obtained by Judicial Watch… see here: Judicial Watch.

 

 

 

The Alarming Results of IEA’s Latest World Energy Outlook Oil prices to reach $210 per barrel by 2035 | Cris Sheridan | FINANCIAL SENSE

The Alarming Results of IEA’s Latest World Energy Outlook Oil prices to reach $210 per barrel by 2035 | Cris Sheridan | FINANCIAL SENSE.

The International Energy Agency just released their World Energy Outlook for 2011.

Here’s a quick summary

China Fires Back At US Senate Which May Have Just Started The Sino-US Currency Wars | ZeroHedge

China Fires Back At US Senate Which May Have Just Started The Sino-US Currency Wars | ZeroHedge. Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/03/2011 21:55 -0400

“A few hours ago, the maniac simians at the Senate finally did it and fired the first round in the great US-China currency war, after they took aim at one of China’s core economic policies, voting to move forward with a bill designed to press Beijing to let its currency rise in value in the hope of creating U.S. jobs. As Reuters reports, “Senators voted 79-19 to open a week of Senate debate on the Currency Exchange Rate Oversight Reform Act of 2011, which would allow the U.S. government to slap countervailing duties on products from countries found to be subsidizing their exports by undervaluing their currencies…”