#radio tajikistan

[apptworadioapps]

Radio Tajikistan FM & AM + Radio Online - (Radio Android Application 🇹🇯📻)

Sure, here is an article about radio stations in Tajikistan:

Radio is a powerful medium that has the ability to bring people together and disseminate information. Tajikistan, a country in Central Asia, has a number of radio stations that serve its diverse population.

One of the most popular radio stations in Tajikistan is Radio Ozodi. This station is a part of the U.S. government-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and broadcasts in Tajik and Russian languages. It covers a wide range of topics, including news, current affairs, sports, and entertainment.

Another popular radio station in Tajikistan is Radio Dushanbe. This station broadcasts in Tajik language and covers news, current affairs, and music. It has a wide reach and is popular among both urban and rural audiences.

Radio Khovar is another well-known radio station in Tajikistan. It is the official radio station of the government of Tajikistan and broadcasts in Tajik language. The station covers news, current affairs, and cultural programs.

Radio Navruz is a privately owned radio station that broadcasts in Tajik and Russian languages. It covers news, music, and cultural programs and is popular among younger audiences.

Radio Varzish is a sports-focused radio station in Tajikistan. It covers local and international sports events, including football, basketball, and tennis. The station broadcasts in Tajik language and has a wide reach in the country.

Radio Avicenna is a health-focused radio station in Tajikistan. It covers health and wellness topics, including nutrition, exercise, and mental health. The station broadcasts in Tajik language and is popular among health-conscious audiences.

In conclusion, radio stations in Tajikistan serve a diverse population and cover a wide range of topics. From news and current affairs to sports and entertainment, these stations play an important role in informing and entertaining audiences across the country.

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[council-of-beetroot]

Any headcanons on how the soviets moved out of Ivan's house in the 90s? like did they take any luggage away, any arguments, immediately leaving or scheduled?

I go to answer these kinds of asks and then it becomes hours of reading about Kazakhstan smh.

Alright so I think Ivan was somewhat more lenient about things due to government policy of glasnost and perestroika. However certain things like outright declaring your independence in the case of say Tolys are a step too far. This leads to conflict.

I definitely see Ivan cracking down on Tolys for a bit before they both slowly come to a consensus as Ivan can see that the house is falling apart

As the union fell and nations reemerged so too did the spirit of national identity. This is often a good thing but unfortunately can teeter into nationalism and without the forced friendships and working under a common goal or bad things will happen to you of the Soviet Union tensions do break out. Liet Lat and Est are relatively on the same page but get into disagreements about the right pace and plan of action.

These three have each other in the end which I think makes the difference between them and the other Republics.

Interesting fun fact while Lithuania was the first Republic to declare independence, Estonia was the first to declare state sovereignty which is basically like this: In the U.S federal law trumps state law and for example, In Michigan its legal to buy weed, however federal law still has weed illegal. Technically The US government could if they wanted to arrest those selling weed in Michigan even though it's legal here. Now in 1988 Estonia made a declaration that said okay Estonian law is above Soviet Law, so if we make weed legal you can't stop us. (Okay so weed was not at all a part of this) I guess my point is that this definitely fits Eduard's methodology in pursuing his goals

There were definitely conflicts over what belonged to who both in the household as they were all leaving as well as the new borders.

its funny to imagine though say Latvia and idk Tajikistan both laying claims to some beat up radio

[mariacallous]

Hundreds of Tajikistani citizens are currently stuck in Moscow airports, according to the country’s foreign ministry. As of Saturday night, the agency reported, 954 people from Tajikistan were being held “in unsanitary conditions” in Vnukovo Airport’s temporary detention zone, including people studying at Russian educational institutions under the Russian government’s foreign student quotas. Meanwhile, dozens of other Tajikistanis are reportedly stranded in the city’s other airports.

On Sunday, the ministry reported that 322 of the people held at Vnukovo had been released “after many hours of waiting” and that the Russian authorities planned to “put 306 people on a so-called deportation list.” Twenty-seven people have reportedly been deported already. “Such restrictive measures are being applied exclusively to citizens of Tajikistan,” the agency said. That evening, it released a recommendation for its citizens to “temporarily refrain from traveling to Russian territory by all types of transport unless absolutely necessary.”

On Saturday, Tajikistani Foreign Ministry representatives met with Russian Ambassador to Tajikistan Semyon Grigoryev. According to the ministry’s report on the meeting, the officials discussed “difficulties” that Tajikistani citizens have faced when crossing the Russian border in recent years. On April 29, the Tajikistani ministry said it had sent an official note expressing its “serious concern over the widespread cases of emphatically negative treatment” of Tajikistani citizens on Russian territory as well as “widespread violations of their rights and freedoms.”

According to Tajikistan’s Radio Europe/Radio Free Liberty affiliate, Radio Ozodi, several Tajikistani citizens said on April 26 that they had been held in Vnukovo for three days and that 500 of their compatriots were still stuck there.

On April 25, the outlet Asia-Plus reported that approximately 180 vehicles with Tajikistani license plates had been stuck at the Russia-Kazakhstan border for three days and were not being permitted to enter Russia.

“Other citizens are being allowed [into Russia] — it’s only Tajiks that aren’t. There are about 180 cars, most of them with Tajikistani plates. Each car has between five and 10–12 passengers, most of them women and children,” one traveler told journalists.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Sunday that the situation at the border is linked to “increased security measures” in response to the Crocus City Hall terrorist attack last month and the “continuation of the terrorism threat.” She claimed the border checks were being conducted “regardless of the citizenship of the individuals crossing the border.”

Central Asians in Russia have faced increased scrutiny from law enforcement since the Crocus City Hall attack, in connection with which four Tajikistani citizens have been charged. In late March, Tajikistan’s Labor Ministry reported an outflux of labor migrants from Russia. Deputy Labor Minister Shakhnoza Nodiri said the situation was “less about complaints of persecution than about our citizens’ fears and panic,” though she added that there had also been a spike in recorded harassment incidents against Tajikistani citizens.

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 9.11

Holidays

Battle of Tendra Day (Russia)

Benghazi Remembrance Day

Bitter Orange Day (French Republic)

Cerrado Day (Brazil)

Day of Remembrance

Day of Sobriety (Russia)

Eleven Days of Global Unity, Day 1: Unity

Emergency Number Day

Evening of Destiny (Tunisia)

Fiesta Nacional de Cataluña (Catalonia, Spain)

Gun Cleaning Day

Harley Quinn Day

Hoover Dam Day

I Want to Start My Own Business Day

Jinnah Day (Founder’s Day; Pakistan)

Kababens Day

Liberation Day (Dijon, France)

Liberatrix Asteroid Day

Libraries Remember Day

Make Your Bed Day

Marcos Day (Ilocos Norte, Philippines)

National Day (Belize)

National Day of Catalonia (Spain)

National Day of Service and Remembrance

National Emergency Responders Day

National Forest Martyrs Day (India)

National Hug Your Boss Day [also 4th Friday]

National 911 Emergency Day

National Radio Day (Indonesia)

National Tricky Handshake Day

9/11 Remembrance Day

No News Is Good News Day

Odd Day

Paryushana Parva (Jainism)

Patriot Day

Pohnpei Liberation Day (Micronesia)

Porsche 911 Day

Queen Paola’s Birthday (Belgium)

Remember Freedom Day

Sustainable House Day

Teachers’ Day (Argentina, Latin America)

Texas First Responders Day (Texas)

Whiskey Rebellion Day

Women’s Baseball Day

World Wildlife Fund Day

Wrench in the Works Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Dairy Day (UK)

Hot Cross Buns Day

Kababens Day (Sweden)

Independence & Related Days

Tajikistan (from USSR, 1991) [observed]

New Year’s Days

Coptic New Year

Enkutatash (Ethiopia, Rastafari) [Day of Mäskäräm]

Geez New Year (Keddus Johannes)

New Year’s Day and Anniversary of the Reunion of Eritrea with Ethiopia (Ethiopia)

New Year's Day (a.k.a. Nayrouz; Coptic Ethiopia)

Pohnpei Liberation Day (Micronesia)

2nd Wednesday in September

Hump Day [Every Wednesday]

International Quiet Day [2nd Wednesday]

National Quiet Day (UK) [2nd Wednesday]

Wacky Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Watermelon Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Website Wednesday [Every Wednesday]

Workout Wednesday [2nd Wednesday of Each Month]

Weekly Holidays beginning September 11 (2nd Full Week of September)

Eleven Days of Global Unity begins [thru 21st]

Festivals Beginning September 11, 2024

Bienal de Flamenco (Seville, Spain) [thru 10.5]

CityFolk Festival (Ottawa, Canada) [thru 9.15]

Hancock County Fair (Kiln, Mississippi) [thru 9.14]

Morton Pumpkin Festival (Morton, Illinois) [thru 9.14]

MTV Video Music Awards

Murphysboro Apple Festival (Murphysboro, Illinois) [thru 9.14]

Ocean City Bikefest (Ocean City, Maryland) [thru 9.15]

Oldenburg International Film Festival (Oldenburg, Germany) [thru 9.15]

Oxford County Fair (Oxford, Maine) [thru 9.14]

Feast Days

Andre Dubus III (Writerism)

Casey (Muppetism)

Daphne Odjig (Artology)

Day of Queens (Ancient Egypt Festival celebrating Hatshepsut, Nefertiti & Cleopatra; Everyday Wicca)

Day of Thoth (Ancient Egypt)

Deiniol (Christian; Saint)

D.H. Lawrence (Writerism)

Discontinued Thoughts Exhibition (Shamanism)

Felix, Regula, and Exuperantius (Christian; Saint)

Francesco Bonifacio (Christian; Blessed)

Halegmonath (Anglo Saxon Holy Month; Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Harry Burleigh (Episcopal Church)

Jean-Claude Forest (Artology)

John Gabriel Perboyre (Christian; One of Martyr Saints of China)

Leudinus (Bobo; Christian; Saint)

Meditrinalia (Pagan)

Monkey King Festival (Hong Kong) [16th Day of 8th Lunar Month]

Moreto (Positivist; Saint)

O. Henry (Writerism)

Our Lady of Coromoto (Christian; Saint)

Paphnutius of Thebes (Roman Catholic Church)

Patiens of Lyons (Christian; Saint)

Peter of Chavanon (Christian; Saint)

Protus and Hyacinth (Christian; Martyrs)

Sacrifice to Zeus Epoptes (Ancient Greece)

Sperandia (Christian; Saint)

Stephen Etnier (Artology)

Theodora of Alexandria (Christian; Saint)

Thomas Hill (Artology)

Tinfoil Hat Day (Pastafarian)

Vincent of Leon (Christian; Saint)

Virgin of Coromoto Day (Colombia)

Werewolf Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Butsumetsu (仏滅 Japan) [Unlucky all day.]

Historically Bad Day (Massacre of Drogheda, Twin Towers & Pentagon terrorist attack & 10 other tragedies) [9 of 11]

Uncyclopedia Bad to Be Born Today (because of something to do with crazy people and planes.)

Premieres

The Adventures of Paddy the Pelican (Animated TV Series; 1950)

Air-Sea Battle (Atari Video Game; 1977)

The American Way of Death, by Jessica Mitford (Science Book; 1963)

Better Bait Than Never (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Big Bomb at Frostbite Falls or the Exploding Metropolis (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 54; 1960)

Big Sur, by Jack Kerouac (Novel; 1962)

Blade Runner: The Final Cut (Film; 1992)

Brave New World Revisited, by Aldous Huxley (Novel; 1958)

Busy Prepositions (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1993)

The Carol Burnett Show (TV Series; 1967)

Combat (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Contagion (Film; 2011)

Dialectic of Enlightenment: Philosophical Fragments, by Theodor W. Adorno (Philosophy Book; 1944)

The Farthest Shore, by Ursula Le Guin (Novel; 1972) [Earthsea #3]

Gogo Bordello Non-Stop (Music Documentary Film; 2009)

Guards! Guards!, by Terry Pratchet (Novel; 1989) [Discworld #8]

Huey’s Ducky Daddy (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Indy 500 (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Is This It?, by The Strokes (Album; 2001)

The Jackson 5ive (Animated TV Series; 1971)

Just Desserts or Operator, We’ve Been Cut Off (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 160; 1962)

Lady Chatterley's Lover, by D.H. Lawrence (Novel; 1928)

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel (Novel; 2001)

Little House on the Prairie (TV Series; 1974)

Love Me Do, recorded by The Beatles (Song; 1962)

Minima Moralia: Reflections on a Damaged Life, by Theodor W. Adorno (Critical Theory; 1951)

Oh! Susanna, by Stephen Foster (Song; 1848)

Porky’s Garden (WB LT Cartoon; 1937)

Queens Messenger (TV Series; 1928) [1st TV Drama]

The Rake’s Progress, by Igor Stravinsky (Opera; 1951)

The Saint and the Fiction Makers, by Fleming Lee (Novel; 1968) [Saint #41]

Saint Louis Blues, by W.C. Handy (Song; 1914)

Scooby-Doo! And the Gourmet Ghost (WB Animated Film; 2018)

The Seapreme Court (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, by Ann Brashares (Novel; 2001)

Slums of Beverly Hills (Film; 1998)

Sneakers (Film; 1992)

Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (Novel; 1977)

Squeeze Play or Glad We Could Get Together (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S4, Ep. 159; 1962)

Stagger Lee, recorded by Lloyd Price (Original Uncensored Song; 1958)

Star Ship (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Street Racer (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Surf Bored (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1959)

Surround (Atari Video Game; 1977)

Swiss Tease (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1947)

Swooning in the Swooners, featuring Farmer Al Falfa (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1945)

The Tale or Mr. Morton (Grammar Rock Cartoon; Schoolhouse Rock; 1993)

Upsidaisium, Part 1 (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S2, Ep. 53; 1960)

Video Olympics (Atari Video Game; 1977)

A Wanted Man, 17th Jack Reacher book, by Lee Child (Novel; 2012)

Wendell & Wild (Animated Film; 2022)

The Wild, the Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, by Bruce Springsteen (Album; 1973)

Today’s Name Days

Felix, Helga, Maternus, Regula (Austria)

Bonaventura, Feliks, Hijacint (Croatia)

Denisa (Czech Republic)

Hillebert (Denmark)

Aalo, Aleks, Aleksander, Sander, Sanno, Sass (Estonia)

Ale, Aleksandra, Aleksanteri, Ali, Sandra, Santeri, Santtu (Finland)

Adelphe, Glenn, Vinciane (France)

Felix, Helga, Louis (Germany)

Efrosynos, Evanthia, Evanthis, Theodora, Theodora (Greece)

Teodóra (Hungary)

Diomede, Fausto, Felice (Italy)

Ģirts, Nansija, Signe, Signija (Latvia)

Augantas, Gytautė, Gytė, Helga (Lithuania)

Dag, Dagny (Norway)

Feliks, Jacek, Jan, Naczesław, Prot (Poland)

Bystrik (Slovakia)

Teodora (Spain)

Dagny, Helny (Sweden)

Fialka, Theodora, Violet (Ukraine)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 255 of 2024; 111 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 3 of Week 37 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Muin (Vine) [Day 11 of 28]

Chinese: Month 8 (Guy-You), Day 9 (Wu-Yin)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 8 Elul 5784

Islamic: 7 Rabi I 1446

J Cal: 15 Gold; Oneday [15 of 30]

Julian: 29 August 2024

Moon: 54%: Waxing Gibbous

Positivist: 3 Shakespeare (10th Month) [Guevara]

Runic Half Month: Ken (Illumination) [Day 5 of 15]

Season: Summer (Day 84 of 94)

Week: 2nd Full Week of September

Zodiac: Virgo (Day 21 of 32)

[head-post]

Airlines fly over Afghanistan as Middle East gets more dangerous

Singapore Airlines, British Airways, and Lufthansa boosted flights over Afghanistan after years of avoiding, as the Middle East conflict made it a relatively safe option, Reuters reported.

Air carriers largely stopped transiting Afghanistan, a major route between Asia and Europe, three years ago when the Taliban came to power and shut down air traffic control services. Ian Petchenik, a spokesperson for flight tracking organisation Flightradar24, stated:

As conflicts have evolved, the calculus of which airspace to use has changed. Airlines are seeking to mitigate risk as much as possible and they see overflying Afghanistan as the safer option given the current tensions between Iran and Israel.

According to an analysis of FlightRadar24 data, the number of flights over Afghanistan increased more than seven times in the second week of August compared to the same period last year. The shift began in mid-April during retaliatory missile and drone attacks between Iran and Israel.

However, the main surge came after the assassination of senior Hamas and Hezbollah members in late July raised concerns of a major escalation. Otjan de Bruin, a commercial pilot and head of the European Cockpit Association, expressed a common fear among pilots operating in the region.

You’re depending on the analysis of your airline. Every time I fly out there, I don’t like the feeling of flying over a conflict area where you don’t know, actually, what is happening. It’s always safe enough, until proven otherwise.

Relatively safe

In early July, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that aircraft could fly at lower altitudes over the Wakhan Corridor, northeastern Afghanistan. The corridor is used to cross the border between Tajikistan and Pakistan, opening the route to more flight options.

A year earlier, the FAA lifted a ban on overflights over the entire country but said aircraft must remain above 32,000 feet (9753.6 metres), where surface-to-air weapons are considered less effective. In the absence of air traffic control, pilots crossing Afghanistan communicate with neighbouring aircraft by radio, according to a protocol developed by the UN aviation body ICAO and Afghanistan’s Civil Aviation Authority.

Airlines are under pressure to save money after losing many shorter routes through Russian airspace from 2022 and as they recover from the pandemic. If an airline cannot operate via Russia, Ukraine, or Iran, central Afghanistan offers a more direct route to South Asia from Europe.

This route saved us a fair chunk of time and fuel.

Read more HERE

[cyberbenb]

Tajikistan recommends its citizens refrain from traveling to Russia

The Foreign Ministry of Tajikistan recommended its citizens refrain from traveling to Russia, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on April 27. Racial discrimination, particularly targeti Source : kyivindependent.com/tajikista…

[yumiflys-blog]

[warningsine]

"No one is writing about this."

Yes, they are.

A lot of other newspapers have it in their front pages. Please stop guilt-tripping people.

Tajikistan invaded Kyrgyzstan to take its territory (with the help of R*ss*a it seems), of course nobody outside of the local news will write about it since neither of the sides is white or well-known in the western world, but you should at least learn that it's happening.

[argumate]

The Kremlin has almost certainly drained a large proportion of the forces originally stationed in Russian bases in former Soviet states since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February, likely weakening Russian influence in those states. A Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) investigation reported on September 14 that the Russian military has already deployed approximately 1500 Russian personnel from Russia’s 201st Military Base in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to Ukraine since the full-scale invasion began and plans to deploy 600 more personnel from facilities in Dushanbe and Bokhatar, a southern Tajik city, in the future. RFE/RL additionally reported on September 13 that Russia has likely redeployed approximately 300 Tuvan troops from the Russian Kant Air Base in Kyrgyzstan to fight in Ukraine at varying points since late 2021.

The withdrawals from the Central Asian states are noteworthy in the context of border clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. Tajik and Kyrgyz border guards exchanged fire in three separate incidents on September 14, killing at least two people. The uptick in violence between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, both of which are members of the Russian-controlled Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), comes alongside renewed aggression by Azerbaijan against CSTO member state Armenia. Russian forces also withdrew 800 personnel from Armenia early in the war to replenish losses in Ukraine, as ISW has previously reported.

hollowing out the Russian near abroad to fight in Ukraine

[malikaburieva]

The Curse of Cotton in Uzbekistan

my links | my tiktok account

this event is still running until dec 11th, get your tickets now!

Last weekend, I went to the news of Central Asia exhibition at the NYC Jewelry Library curated by Aida Sulova. It was an amazing experience and it felt like I was in Central Asia. It showcased jewelry and cultural pieces of post-soviet countries of Central Asia such as Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan, with a backstory of its significance. These pieces were meant to represent the political and historical background of each country.

I went with my mother and when it came to the piece that represented Uzbekistan, she started crying. I realized why, it was because she was looking at the Curse of Cotton piece by Dilyara Kayipova and Timur Karpov.

Cotton (or “paxta” in Uzbek) is notorious in Uzbekistan. The design is commonly seen in plates, teapots, and teacups. However, it was worked for through forced labor during the Soviet Union period, unlike today.

Cotton’s ready by late August. By September, students, from the 3rd grade to college, are sent to pick cotton by their schools.

Uzbekistan, or the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic at the time, was ranked top tier when it came to cotton. Cotton picking was one of the ways that helped keep the economy stable during the Soviet Union. When cotton was in season, the entirety of Uzbekistan went crazy because 6 million tons of cotton needed to be picked by January. If successful, it would be notified through television and radio mediums that that certain amount of cotton was picked for that year.

Students picked cotton for every year that they attended school. College students would be at campus for only a week and then it’s off to cotton picking for 4 months. They’d come back home before the new year. Until then, they had to sleep in quarters with 30-40 people of the same gender and have limited lunch breaks consisting of 30-45 minutes having bread, tea, and macaroni soup. Hours were long, ranging from 7 am to 7 pm (12 hours). With high school students, because they were minors, they stayed for half the months that college students stayed at the field and their hours weren’t as long. With elementary school students, their hours weren’t long either and they went home after their hours were up.

College and high school kids were required to pick 100 kg (220 lbs) of cotton while elementary kids were allowed to pick 5 kg of cotton (11 lbs).

Cotton picking would commence no matter the weather conditions. If it was snowing, cotton was picked. If it was raining, cotton was picked. If it was windy, cotton was picked. Hands would become bruised, blistered, and bloody.

High school and college students, excluding elementary school students, were paid through a stipend. If the student didn’t pick enough cotton, the stipend wouldn’t pay enough. For college students, you’d be kicked out of college and wouldn’t receive a stipend if you were caught taking an unauthorized break or refused to pick the cotton. The same went for high school students, once again excluding elementary school students.

Some students that come from higher class families would have their parents buy phony medical excuse papers so their kids wouldn’t pick cotton. It worked for them but, even then, they still had to work a light job doing something else.

With the students at the field, some parents were allowed to see their kids hard at work, it’s not like they weren’t allowed to. But even then, the parents had to pick cotton through their job so they didn’t have time to see their kids, anyway.

Some cotton fields would be notified that at a certain time, within a day of the week, pesticides would be sprayed through a plane that passes by the field. But sometimes, those planes would pass by spraying the pesticides even while people were on the field. If they weren’t notified, some died of pesticide poisoning.

After all that cotton picking, no one in Uzbekistan had the chance to wear cotton-made clothes since it was exported to other republics of the Soviet Union.

But, if you wanted to serve your country, you had to pick cotton.

[mariacallous]

Following a series of high-profile failures and mass expulsions of uniformed “diplomats,” Russian intelligence has turned to more subtle methods, including leveraging scientific organizations with international ties. One such espionage “front” is the National Research Institute for the Development of Communications (NIIRK), which is led by ex-SVR and FSB officers. In Europe and neighboring countries, the institute organizes numerous conferences and internships. Here, intelligence officers and pro-Kremlin propagandists, under the pretense of promoting good neighborly relations, spread the notion that the West is an enemy, and that prosperity lies in friendship with Russia. The main targets are promising students and young scientists, who are ultimately groomed for espionage activities.

On June 19, 2023, Moscow’s usually quiet Korobeinikov Lane was unexpectedly closed off. Athletic-looking men with radios were bustling around its perimeter. Soon, an honor guard and official cars with flashing lights appeared. People carrying carnations gathered in front of the building that houses the National Research Institute for the Development of Communications (NIIRK). The last to arrive for the festivities was SVR head Sergey Naryshkin, who presided over the installation of a memorial plaque for former SVR director Vyacheslav Trubnikov. Speeches followed: “Vyacheslav Ivanovich worked here for two years,” “an outstanding intelligence officer and diplomat,” “a legend of intelligence,” “a knight of the Cold War,” and so on.

Before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the house was home to actors Alexander Lensky and Alexander Yuzhin-Sumbatov of the Maly Theatre. Later, it was occupied by the NKVD, MGB, and KGB; the mansion hosted clandestine meetings with agents. After 1993, several businesses were based there, but over time, the place fell into disrepair, and homeless people took over the vacant premises. In April 2020, the restored mansion became the new home of NIIRK. Cars belonging to the embassies of Central Asian and Transcaucasian republics began appearing outside.

What kind of institute is this? According to its website, NIIRK’s primary mission is “the development of multilateral dialogue among peoples, cultures, religions, states, international scientific and educational organizations, and civil society to strengthen peace and harmony.” The institute’s expert research and analysis are utilized by the Presidential Administration's Office for Interregional and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreign aid and cultural exchange agency Rossotrudnichestvo, the FSB's 5th Service, and the SVR.

The institute’s first official director was Irina Zavesnitskaya, co-founder of the PoiskSidelki LLC. A year later, she was succeeded by her husband, former FSB general and overseer of the Transcaucasian region, Vladislav Gasumyanov.

Friends of the Kremlin

As per The Insider's findings, over the past eighteen months, NIIRK has organized a total of twelve off-site conferences, forums, and roundtable discussions across various countries including Armenia, Georgia, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Transnistria, Tajikistan, and Slovakia. Moreover, NIIRK has welcomed several delegations from these nations to Moscow for internships, with plans to host approximately ten more this year.

The institute primarily targets young scientists — aged 20 to 40 employed in research or academia. As one Armenian student shared with The Insider, “Throughout the internship, we were constantly reminded that without Russia, we would be doomed to become slaves to the West. Once, they casually asked me if I had relatives in Europe. Upon hearing my negative response, they lost interest in me.”

Key speakers at these conferences include General Gasumyanov, former SVR Academy head Nikolay Gribin, and former Slovak Prime Minister Jan Černogurský, who chairs the “Friends of Crimea” association. Černogurský frequently appears on Russian propaganda TV shows, where he advocates a pro-Kremlin agenda for his country of citizenship while predicting the imminent collapse of the dollar and the subsequent disintegration in the United States.

[brookston]

Holidays 11.16

Holidays

Birth of the Blues Day

Calliope Asteroid Day

Clarinet Day

Charles Bonnet Syndrome Day

Dagur Islenskrar Tungu (Icelandic Language Day; Iceland)

Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)

Day of Radio, Television and Communication Workers (Ukraine)

Day of the Palestinian Keffiyeh

Esme’s Umbrella Day

Flag Day (Benin; St. Eustatius)

Guinness World Record Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

Hungerford Revels Day (Ancient Wiltshire, England)

Icelandic Language Day

Intergenerational Fairness Day

International Check Your Wipers Day

International Day For Tolerance (UN)

International Day of Flamenco

International Selfie Day

International UNESCO World Heritage Day

Mother’s Day (North Korea)

National Andy Day

National Black Marketeers Day

National Button Day

National Charles Day

National Check Your Wipers Day

National Doctors’ Day (South Africa)

National Indiana Day

National Information & Referral Day

National Moms and Dads Day

National Press Day (India)

National Sarah Day

National Slobber Appreciation Day

Pistachio Day (French Republic)

President’s Day (Tajikistan)

Quirino Day (Ilocos Sur, Philippines)

Rage Against the Machines Day

Red Cup Day

Remembrance of Things Past Day

Resident Aliens' Day

Revolution Day (Mexico)

Statia Day (Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba)

World Acupuncture Awareness Day

World Chocolate Day

World Clarinet Day

World Falconry Day

World Historical Motors Day

World Horse Appreciation Day

World Idea Day

World mRNA Day

World Sanfilippo Awareness Day

World Vasectomy Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Famous San Diego Chicken Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

National Fast Food Day

World Chocolatine Day (France)

Independence & Related Days

Adamburg (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Estonia (Sovereignty Declared; 1988)

Havana Foundation Day (Cuba; 1519)

Oklahoma Statehood Day (#46; 1907)

3rd Saturday in November

Bobunk (Celebration of cats, food, liquor, food with liquor in it and food shaped like cats, from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) [3rd Saturday]

Buddhist Elephant Festival (Thailand) [3rd Saturday]

Family Volunteer Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

Guinness World Record Day [3rd Saturday]

International Games Day [3rd Saturday]

International Games Day @ Your Library [3rd Saturday]

International Restaurant Day [3rd Saturday] (also Feb, May & Aug)

National Adoption Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

National Day of Play [3rd Saturday]

National Survivors of Suicide Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sentimental Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Steak Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Surin Elephant Round-Up begins (Thailand) [3rd Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning November 16 (2nd Full Week of November)

Sherlock Holmes Weekend (thru 11.17) [also 11.23-24]

Tie One On For Safety Weeks (thru 12.31)

Festivals Beginning November 16, 2024

Atlanta Chili Cook Off (Dunwoody, Georgia)

Beignet Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Camerimage (Torun, Poland) [thru 11.23]

Cheese and Chocolate Weekend (Stillwater, Minnesota) [thru 11.17]

Fall Harvest & Cane Grinding Festival (Savannah, Georgia)

Gobble Up Seattle (Seattle, Washington)

Gothenburg Christmas Market [Christmas at Liseberg] (Gothenburg, Sweden) [thru 12.29]

Holiday Fare Wine Trail (Hermann, Missouri) [thru 11.17]

Junior Eurovision Song Contest (Madrid, Spain)

National Dog Show (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) [thru 11.17]

Olive and Olive Oil Festival (Baena, Spain) [thru 11.17

Owen Sound Festival of Northern Lights (Owen Sound, Canada) [thru 1.5.2024]

Riverfest Seafood Festival (Ormond Beach, Florida) [thru 11.17]

Tuileries Garden Christmas Market (Paris, France) [thru 1.1.2025]

Union Square Holiday Market (New York, New York) [thru 12.24]

Vienna Christmas Market (Vienna, Austria) [thru 12.26]

White Truffle Fair (San Miniato, Italy) [thru 12.1]

Winefest (Kemah, Texas)

Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade (Winnipeg, Canada)

Feast Days

Afan (Christian; Saint)

Africus (Christian; Saint)

Agnes of Assisi (Christian; Saint)

Chinua Achebe (Writerism)

Darwyn Cooke (Artology)

Depoma Heklates (Night of the Crossroads; Pagan)

Dodo Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Edmund of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Elfric of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Eucherius of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Festival of Lights (India; Everyday Wicca)

Francis Danby (Artology)

George S. Kaufman (Writerism)

Gertrude the Great (Roman Catholic Church)

Giuseppe Moscati (Christian; Saint)

Gobrain (Christian; Saint)

Hecate Night (Wicca)

Herschel Gordon Lewis Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hugh of Lincoln (Roman Catholic Church)

José Saramago (Writerism)

Luciano Bottaro (Artology)

Margaret of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Matthew the Evangelist (Eastern Christianity)

Mechtildis (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Media Autumnus III (Pagan)

Mr. and Mrs. Slop (Muppetism)

Night of the Hecate (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Othmar (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Christian; Saint)

Roch Gonzalez, Juan de Castillo, and Alonso Rodriguez, SJ (Christian; Saint)

Ruyter (Positivist; Saint)

Tlachtga, Goddess of the Thunder-Bolt-Spear (Celtic Book of Days)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [29 of 32]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alias St. Nick (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1935)

Amélie (Film; 2001)

Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick (Philosophy Book; 1974)

Anna Karenina (Film; 2012)

Beaned by a Blossom or The Petal Pushers (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 319; 1964)

Beowulf (Film; 2007)

Billboard Frolics (WB MM Cartoon; 1935)

Blue Cat Blues (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1956)

A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 1998) [A Song of Fire and Ice #1]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Film; 1977)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Film; 1990)

Doctor Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Donny & Marie (TV Variety Series; 1975)

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, recorded by The Animals (Song; 1964)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Film; 2018)

The 400 Blows (Film; 1959)

The Friendly Ghost (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1945)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Film; 2001) [Harry Potter #1]

Heavenly Creatures (Film; 1994)

Home Alone (Film; 1990)

House M.D. (TV Series; 2004)

I Don’t Scare (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1956)

I Fall to Pieces, recorded by Patsy Cline (Song; 1960)

Imagination (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1943)

Jingle All the Way (Film; 1996)

Just the Way You Are (Film; 1984)

Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.! (WB Animated Film; 2004)

Lincoln (Film; 2012)

Little Women (Film; 1933)

The Lost Weekend (Film; 1945)

Love the One You’re With, by Stephen Stills (Song; 1970)

The Menu (Film; 2022)

More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon (Novel; 1953)

Mouse-Taken Identity (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Film; 2007)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Film; 1984)

Night of the Comet (Film; 1984)

The October Country, by Ray Bradbury (Short Stories; 1955)

Papillon, by Henri Charrière (Memoir; 1969)

The Prince and the Pauper (Disney Cartoon; 1990)

Punch and Judo (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1951)

The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1982)

Reel Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1965)

The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Animated Film; 1990)

Rocky V (Film; 1990)

Scotch Highball (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1930)

Silver Linings Playbook (Film; 2012)

The Sound of Music (Broadway Musical; 1959)

Stephen Stills, by Stephen Stills (Album; 1970)

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Novel; 1958)

Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1934)

Twilight Saga: New Moon (Film; 2009)

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Film; 2012)

Vacation Daze or Visit to a Small Panic (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 320; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Margareta, Otmar (Austria)

Matei (Bulgaria)

Agneta, Gertruda, Margareta (Croatia)

Otmar (Czech Republic)

Othenius (Denmark)

Aarne, Arne, Arno, Arnold (Estonia)

Aarne, Aarni, Aarno (Finland)

Gertrude, Marguerite, Mégane (France)

Arthur, Margarita, Otmar (Germany)

Ifigenia, Mathaios, Matthaios (Greece)

Ödön (Hungary)

Margherita, Procolo (Italy)

Banga, Dzirkstīte, Glorija (Latvia)

Edmundas, Gerdvilė, Gertrūda, Vaišvydas (Lithuania)

Edgar, Edmund (Norway)

Aureliusz, Dionizy, Edmund, Gertruda, Leon, Marek, Maria, Niedamir, Otomar, Paweł, Piotr (Poland)

Matei (Romania)

Agnesa (Slovakia)

Edmundo, Gertrudis, Margarita (Spain)

Vibeke, Viveka (Sweden)

Matthew (Ukraine)

Gertrude, Iris, Chase, Chasen, Trudy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 321 of 2024; 45 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 46 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Hagal (Hailstone) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Yi-Hai), Day 16 (Jia-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 15 Heshvan 5785

Islamic: 14 Jumada I 1446

J Cal: 21 Wood; Sievenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 3 November 2024

Moon: 98%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 13 Frederic (12th Month) [William III]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 55 of 90)

Week: 2nd Full Week of November

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 24 of 30)

[brookstonalmanac]

Holidays 11.16

Holidays

Birth of the Blues Day

Calliope Asteroid Day

Clarinet Day

Charles Bonnet Syndrome Day

Dagur Islenskrar Tungu (Icelandic Language Day; Iceland)

Day of Declaration of Sovereignty (Estonia)

Day of Radio, Television and Communication Workers (Ukraine)

Day of the Palestinian Keffiyeh

Esme’s Umbrella Day

Flag Day (Benin; St. Eustatius)

Guinness World Record Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

Hungerford Revels Day (Ancient Wiltshire, England)

Icelandic Language Day

Intergenerational Fairness Day

International Check Your Wipers Day

International Day For Tolerance (UN)

International Day of Flamenco

International Selfie Day

International UNESCO World Heritage Day

Mother’s Day (North Korea)

National Andy Day

National Black Marketeers Day

National Button Day

National Charles Day

National Check Your Wipers Day

National Doctors’ Day (South Africa)

National Indiana Day

National Information & Referral Day

National Moms and Dads Day

National Press Day (India)

National Sarah Day

National Slobber Appreciation Day

Pistachio Day (French Republic)

President’s Day (Tajikistan)

Quirino Day (Ilocos Sur, Philippines)

Rage Against the Machines Day

Red Cup Day

Remembrance of Things Past Day

Resident Aliens' Day

Revolution Day (Mexico)

Statia Day (Bonaire, St. Eustatius & Saba)

World Acupuncture Awareness Day

World Chocolate Day

World Clarinet Day

World Falconry Day

World Historical Motors Day

World Horse Appreciation Day

World Idea Day

World mRNA Day

World Sanfilippo Awareness Day

World Vasectomy Day

Food & Drink Celebrations

Famous San Diego Chicken Day

Have a Party with Your Bear Day

National Fast Food Day

World Chocolatine Day (France)

Independence & Related Days

Adamburg (Declared; 2016) [unrecognized]

Estonia (Sovereignty Declared; 1988)

Havana Foundation Day (Cuba; 1519)

Oklahoma Statehood Day (#46; 1907)

3rd Saturday in November

Bobunk (Celebration of cats, food, liquor, food with liquor in it and food shaped like cats, from Sabrina the Teenage Witch) [3rd Saturday]

Buddhist Elephant Festival (Thailand) [3rd Saturday]

Family Volunteer Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

Guinness World Record Day [3rd Saturday]

International Games Day [3rd Saturday]

International Games Day @ Your Library [3rd Saturday]

International Restaurant Day [3rd Saturday] (also Feb, May & Aug)

National Adoption Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

National Day of Play [3rd Saturday]

National Survivors of Suicide Day [Saturday before Thanksgiving]

Sandwich Saturday [Every Saturday]

Sentimental Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Six For Saturday [Every Saturday]

Spaghetti Saturday [Every Saturday]

Steak Saturday [3rd Saturday of Each Month]

Surin Elephant Round-Up begins (Thailand) [3rd Saturday]

Weekly Holidays beginning November 16 (2nd Full Week of November)

Sherlock Holmes Weekend (thru 11.17) [also 11.23-24]

Tie One On For Safety Weeks (thru 12.31)

Festivals Beginning November 16, 2024

Atlanta Chili Cook Off (Dunwoody, Georgia)

Beignet Fest (New Orleans, Louisiana)

Camerimage (Torun, Poland) [thru 11.23]

Cheese and Chocolate Weekend (Stillwater, Minnesota) [thru 11.17]

Fall Harvest & Cane Grinding Festival (Savannah, Georgia)

Gobble Up Seattle (Seattle, Washington)

Gothenburg Christmas Market [Christmas at Liseberg] (Gothenburg, Sweden) [thru 12.29]

Holiday Fare Wine Trail (Hermann, Missouri) [thru 11.17]

Junior Eurovision Song Contest (Madrid, Spain)

National Dog Show (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) [thru 11.17]

Olive and Olive Oil Festival (Baena, Spain) [thru 11.17

Owen Sound Festival of Northern Lights (Owen Sound, Canada) [thru 1.5.2024]

Riverfest Seafood Festival (Ormond Beach, Florida) [thru 11.17]

Tuileries Garden Christmas Market (Paris, France) [thru 1.1.2025]

Union Square Holiday Market (New York, New York) [thru 12.24]

Vienna Christmas Market (Vienna, Austria) [thru 12.26]

White Truffle Fair (San Miniato, Italy) [thru 12.1]

Winefest (Kemah, Texas)

Winnipeg Santa Claus Parade (Winnipeg, Canada)

Feast Days

Afan (Christian; Saint)

Africus (Christian; Saint)

Agnes of Assisi (Christian; Saint)

Chinua Achebe (Writerism)

Darwyn Cooke (Artology)

Depoma Heklates (Night of the Crossroads; Pagan)

Dodo Grieving Day (Pastafarian)

Edmund of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Elfric of Abingdon (Christian; Saint)

Eucherius of Lyon (Christian; Saint)

Festival of Lights (India; Everyday Wicca)

Francis Danby (Artology)

George S. Kaufman (Writerism)

Gertrude the Great (Roman Catholic Church)

Giuseppe Moscati (Christian; Saint)

Gobrain (Christian; Saint)

Hecate Night (Wicca)

Herschel Gordon Lewis Day (Church of the SubGenius; Saint)

Hugh of Lincoln (Roman Catholic Church)

José Saramago (Writerism)

Luciano Bottaro (Artology)

Margaret of Scotland (Christian; Saint)

Matthew the Evangelist (Eastern Christianity)

Mechtildis (Christian; Saint & Virgin)

Media Autumnus III (Pagan)

Mr. and Mrs. Slop (Muppetism)

Night of the Hecate (Starza Pagan Book of Days)

Othmar (Christian; Saint)

Our Lady of the Gate of Dawn (Christian; Saint)

Roch Gonzalez, Juan de Castillo, and Alonso Rodriguez, SJ (Christian; Saint)

Ruyter (Positivist; Saint)

Tlachtga, Goddess of the Thunder-Bolt-Spear (Celtic Book of Days)

Lucky & Unlucky Days

Perilous Day (13th Century England) [29 of 32]

Sensho (先勝 Japan) [Good luck in the morning, bad luck in the afternoon.]

Premieres

Alias St. Nick (Happy Harmonies MGM Cartoon; 1935)

Amélie (Film; 2001)

Anarchy, State, and Utopia, by Robert Nozick (Philosophy Book; 1974)

Anna Karenina (Film; 2012)

Beaned by a Blossom or The Petal Pushers (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 319; 1964)

Beowulf (Film; 2007)

Billboard Frolics (WB MM Cartoon; 1935)

Blue Cat Blues (Tom & Jerry Cartoon; 1956)

A Clash of Kings, by George R.R. Martin (Novel; 1998) [A Song of Fire and Ice #1]

Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Film; 1977)

Cyrano de Bergerac (Film; 1990)

Doctor Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1979)

Donny & Marie (TV Variety Series; 1975)

Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood, recorded by The Animals (Song; 1964)

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (Film; 2018)

The 400 Blows (Film; 1959)

The Friendly Ghost (Noveltoons Cartoon; 1945)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Film; 2001) [Harry Potter #1]

Heavenly Creatures (Film; 1994)

Home Alone (Film; 1990)

House M.D. (TV Series; 2004)

I Don’t Scare (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1956)

I Fall to Pieces, recorded by Patsy Cline (Song; 1960)

Imagination (Color Rhapsody Cartoon; 1943)

Jingle All the Way (Film; 1996)

Just the Way You Are (Film; 1984)

Kangaroo Jack: G’Day U.S.A.! (WB Animated Film; 2004)

Lincoln (Film; 2012)

Little Women (Film; 1933)

The Lost Weekend (Film; 1945)

Love the One You’re With, by Stephen Stills (Song; 1970)

The Menu (Film; 2022)

More Than Human, by Theodore Sturgeon (Novel; 1953)

Mouse-Taken Identity (WB MM Cartoon; 1957)

Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium (Film; 2007)

A Nightmare on Elm Street (Film; 1984)

Night of the Comet (Film; 1984)

The October Country, by Ray Bradbury (Short Stories; 1955)

Papillon, by Henri Charrière (Memoir; 1969)

The Prince and the Pauper (Disney Cartoon; 1990)

Punch and Judo (Fleischer/Famous Popeye Cartoon; 1951)

The Real Thing, by Tom Stoppard (Play; 1982)

Reel Pink (Pink Panther Cartoon; 1965)

The Rescuers Down Under (Disney Animated Film; 1990)

Rocky V (Film; 1990)

Scotch Highball (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1930)

Silver Linings Playbook (Film; 2012)

The Sound of Music (Broadway Musical; 1959)

Stephen Stills, by Stephen Stills (Album; 1970)

Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe (Novel; 1958)

Tom, Tom the Piper’s Son (Terrytoons Cartoon; 1934)

Twilight Saga: New Moon (Film; 2009)

Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, Part 2 (Film; 2012)

Vacation Daze or Visit to a Small Panic (Rocky & Bullwinkle Cartoon, S6, Ep. 320; 1964)

Today’s Name Days

Margareta, Otmar (Austria)

Matei (Bulgaria)

Agneta, Gertruda, Margareta (Croatia)

Otmar (Czech Republic)

Othenius (Denmark)

Aarne, Arne, Arno, Arnold (Estonia)

Aarne, Aarni, Aarno (Finland)

Gertrude, Marguerite, Mégane (France)

Arthur, Margarita, Otmar (Germany)

Ifigenia, Mathaios, Matthaios (Greece)

Ödön (Hungary)

Margherita, Procolo (Italy)

Banga, Dzirkstīte, Glorija (Latvia)

Edmundas, Gerdvilė, Gertrūda, Vaišvydas (Lithuania)

Edgar, Edmund (Norway)

Aureliusz, Dionizy, Edmund, Gertruda, Leon, Marek, Maria, Niedamir, Otomar, Paweł, Piotr (Poland)

Matei (Romania)

Agnesa (Slovakia)

Edmundo, Gertrudis, Margarita (Spain)

Vibeke, Viveka (Sweden)

Matthew (Ukraine)

Gertrude, Iris, Chase, Chasen, Trudy (USA)

Today is Also…

Day of Year: Day 321 of 2024; 45 days remaining in the year

ISO: Day 6 of Week 46 of 2024

Celtic Tree Calendar: Hagal (Hailstone) [Day 21 of 28]

Chinese: Month 10 (Yi-Hai), Day 16 (Jia-Shen)

Chinese Year of the: Dragon 4722 (until January 29, 2025) [Wu-Chen]

Hebrew: 15 Heshvan 5785

Islamic: 14 Jumada I 1446

J Cal: 21 Wood; Sievenday [21 of 30]

Julian: 3 November 2024

Moon: 98%: Waning Gibbous

Positivist: 13 Frederic (12th Month) [William III]

Runic Half Month: Nyd (Necessity) [Day 10 of 15]

Season: Autumn or Fall (Day 55 of 90)

Week: 2nd Full Week of November

Zodiac: Scorpio (Day 24 of 30)

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

If you’ve been watching television footage of the fall of Kabul, you have been watching the Afghanistan war in toto.  As pickup trucks and Humvees filled with Taliban fighters triumphantly drive into the city along streets crowded with Afghan civilians waving to them, sortie after sortie is being flown by American military helicopters from the Embassy compound to the airport, where whoever is on those helicopters will be airlifted out of the country.  By noon on Sunday, it was reported that Taliban fighters had occupied the presidential palace in Kabul and that Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had been flown out of the country bound for Tajikistan.

Please take careful note of the contrast here.  The people who won the war are driving and walking victoriously into Kabul.  The people who lost the war are flying away in defeat, proving that the grand technological and tactical advance that was supposed to be the military helicopter has finally been proved effective for something:  It’s really good at evacuating the losers in a rout.

All day, MSNBC and CNN have been showing footage of U.S. Army Blackhawk and twin-rotor CH-47 Chinook helicopters flying into and out of the American embassy compound.  Perhaps in a day or so – or even later today, the way things are going – we’ll get a new iconic image of that final lift-off from the American Embassy that we all recognize from the day Saigon fell in April of 1975.

Nothing is ever new when it comes to modern American wars because we never learn anything.  The helicopter was supposed to win the war in Vietnam for us.  Instead, military helicopters flew us into one battle after another that we “won” according to the American military but in actuality lost to the North Vietnamese.

The first major engagement between American forces and North Vietnamese regulars took place in November of 1965 in the battle of the Ia Drang Valley.  It was the first time that American “Huey” HU-1 helicopters were used in an entirely new military tactic, to carry troops from the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment in an “airmobile assault” on a force of North Vietnamese regulars that had been detected in the Central Highlands near a Special Forces camp that had recently been overrun.  The battle went on for four days.  Five hundred American soldiers were killed, wounded, or missing.  North Vietnamese forces suffered somewhere between 1500 and 1700 casualties, but nobody really knows. American forces collected the last of their dead and wounded and moved out of the area on the fifth day of the battle and did not return.  The North Vietnamese and their allies among the Viet Cong maintained their forces in the area.  The Central Highlands continued to be the scene of fighting over the next decade.

The battle of Ia Drang was and still is celebrated as the first big victory of the Vietnam war. Another battle with heavy casualties fashioned as a major American victory took place in May of 1969 at what became known as Hamburger Hill in the A Shau Valley near the border with Laos.  The American assault involved five battalions from the 101st Airborne Division and several units of the South Vietnamese army and was conceived initially as another “airmobile assault” intended to “seek and destroy” North Vietnamese army units facilitating resupply of enemy forces via the nearby Ho Chi Minh trail.

The battle went on from May 13 to the 20th.  More than 440 American soldiers were either killed or wounded, 320 of them alone from the 3rd Battalion of the 187th infantry, nicknamed the “Rakkasans,” the unit which over the years became synonymous with the battle.  Less than three weeks after the hill had been taken, it was abandoned by the 101st Airborne Division, which wrapped up its operations in the A Shau Valley and moved on.  The North Vietnamese units they had fought remained where they had been, and resupply of enemy forces continued along the Ho Chi Minh trail.

We had hundreds of helicopters in Vietnam carrying soldiers in “air assaults” all over the place, flying over the jungles and landing on “LZs” or landing zones and depositing troops and then flying them out again.  Down in the jungles, Viet Cong and North Vietnamese military units lurked, with their pouches of rice and their AK-47 rifles and their 60 millimeter mortars and their RPG grenade launchers, and ten years after the battle of the Ia Drang valley which was such a major victory, the last Huey ferried the last American soldier and the American ambassador  out of the Embassy in Saigon and it was over.  The North Vietnamese and the VC had zero helicopters, and who won?  They did.

You see where I’m going with this?  Flash forward to March of 2002 and the first big battle of the war in Afghanistan called Operation Anaconda, which was – wait for it – an attack by “air assault” involving -- are you still waiting? – the “Rakkasans” of the 101st Airborne Division, this time the 1st Battalion of the 187th Infantry.  The battle took place in the Shahi-Kot Valley in Paktia Province, the capital of which fell to the Taliban a few days ago.  The mission was to root out Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who had holed up in a complex of tunnels and caves in mountains surrounding the valley.  The battle went on sporadically over a period of ten days.  Eight American soldiers were killed and 72 were wounded.  Several Chinook helicopters were hit by enemy forces and destroyed and several more were damaged.  Estimates of enemy dead ran from 100 to 1000, depending on who was doing the estimating.

General Tommy Franks, commander of Central Command, declared Operation Anaconda “an unqualified and complete success.”  Reporter Seymour Hersch, writing in the New Yorker, said the operation was "in fact a debacle, plagued by squabbling between the services, bad military planning and avoidable deaths of American soldiers, as well as the escape of key al-Qaeda leaders, likely including Osama bin Laden."

That was 19 years ago.

Today we’re watching the same Chinook and Blackhawk helicopters ferry what we are told are American civilians and what we hope are their loyal Afghan employees to the relative safety of the Kabul airport, from which they will be airlifted by Air Force C-17 cargo jets to greater safety in Germany or whatever friendly country will permit them to land.

Here’s what I find astounding, yet oddly wonderful:  A report I read about the evacuation of Saigon said that American commanders knew that North Vietnamese forces surrounding Saigon were observing their helicopters from the ground yet chose not to shoot them down as they made their way first to the Tan Son Nhut American airbase and from there to ships of the American 7th Fleet offshore.  With armed Taliban fighters now on the ground in Kabul, you can be sure the same “courtesy” is being afforded the helicopters flying from the embassy to the airport.  A burst of fire from a Taliban .50 caliber machine gun or a single warhead from an RPG grenade launcher could take out any of those helicopters and bring an immediate end to the evacuation by air.  That’s how vulnerable are America’s almighty force of military helicopters.

But let me tell you what it feels like to ride in one:  you feel like you’re the king of the world.  I rode around northwest Iraq with the commander of – you guessed it – the “Rakkasans” while I was embedded with the 101st Airborne Division in 2003.  Because he was a Colonel and the commander of the 187th Infantry, he had not one but two Blackhawks, one to ferry him, and the other in convoy behind us as his backup helicopter and gunship.  Wearing headsets and microphones so we could speak to each other over the roar of the Blackhawk’s turbine engines, we sat on seats immediately behind the pilots.  M-240 machine gunners were to either side of us aiming their guns through open doors.  We flew at low altitude up to the border with Turkey and visited a Kurdish outpost that the 187th helped to supply and train. The day was loud and fast and glorious.

I had ridden in another two-helicopter convoy a week or so before with Major General David Petraeus, commander of the 101st, out to visit one of his units south and east of his headquarters in Mosul.  Suddenly it came over the radio that an Apache attack helicopter had been shot down by RPG ground-fire not far from where we were flying.  The pilot ordered the helicopter’s doors closed, pressurized the cabin and started to climb to a higher altitude.

Because another helicopter was shot down about five miles away, suddenly we were flying at 28,000 feet.  That’s how vulnerable the commander of the 101st Airborne Division was in his “command and control” helicopter. (I later discovered that the Blackhawk’s capability to avoid enemy fire by flying at such a high altitude was a military secret.)

I remember years before being herded into an old unused movie theater at Fort Benning, Georgia.  It was August of 1969, and they had a surprise for all of us newly-minted impressionable young lieutenants attending the Infantry School.  Lt. Col. Weldon Honeycutt, who had commanded the 3/187th Infantry battalion at Hamburger Hill was on a publicity tour intended to counter the bad press coverage the battle had been getting.  It seemed that suffering 440 casualties in a single battle and then walking away from the objective you had fought to achieve wasn’t going over very well with the American public, so Honeycutt was out there ringing the victory bell and promoting Nixon’s new policy of “Vietnamization” which he had announced earlier that summer, many said in reaction to the losses suffered in the battle of Hamburger Hill.  Honeycutt had made a special stop at Fort Benning to pump up the troops.

We were crowded into the seats of the World War II era theater, they dimmed the house lights, and there he was spot-lighted on stage, the hero of Hamburger Hill.  A rather squat figure in combat fatigues with a crewcut and a thick neck, Honeycutt strode purposefully to the microphone and began his practiced story of the glorious battle, punctuating his tale with bangs of his fist on the podium.  When he was finished, he stepped away from the podium and stood before us with hands on his hips and loudly barked, “QUESTIONS GENTLEMEN?”

The theater was silent.  It appeared that no one had a question for Lt. Col. Honeycutt. I could see a major in the wings pointing at his watch, signaling that it was time to go.  Then the guy next to me, whose name was Strosher, and who only months before had received a battlefield promotion in Vietnam from Sergeant to First Lieutenant, raised his hand.

“IN THE BACK!” barked the colonel.

Strosher stood up and called out his name and rank and asked, “Sir, where you were during the battle of Hamburger Hill?” He remained standing.

Honeycutt paused, looking momentarily confused, as if that question had never been asked of him before.  “Uhh,” he stammered, “I was in my C & C ship at my assigned altitude.”  He was referring, of course, to his “command and control” helicopter.  “Uhh, 2500 feet as I recall.”

Strosher lifted a hand and said “That’s all I needed to know, sir,” and sat down.

The theater erupted in laughter.  We had all read the coverage of the battle.  We knew it was yet another defeat masquerading as a great victory.  As the laughter died down, the major stepped out of the wings and whispered in Honeycutt’s ear, and guiding him by the elbow, escorted him off the stage.

Strosher, who had served two tours in Vietnam as an enlisted man, knew the answer to his question before he asked it.  He had just stuck a pin in the balloon of the entire war in Vietnam, and Colonel Honeycutt and his helicopter had shown him the way.

That’s why I can say with some certainty that what you’re seeing on your television screens right now is the story of America’s technological military folly in a nutshell. Those helicopters that “won” Operation Anaconda and “won” the battle of Ia Drang and “won” the battle of Hamburger Hill didn’t win the Afghanistan war any more than our remote piloted Predator drones and Air Force attack jets and B-52’s and smart bombs and super-secret satellite surveillance and electronic battlefield simulations and every other doo-dad we came up with. But at least we’ve finally found something we’re good at: air evacuation of the capital cities we lost.

[Lucian Truscott Newsletter]

[thotsonthebible]

An Army of 200 Million?

Revelation 9.13-16

Then the sixth angel sounded, and I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar which is before God, one saying to the sixth angel who had the trumpet, 'Release the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates.'  And the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour and day and month and year, were released, so that they would kill a third of mankind.  The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.

I was sitting at my desk one day, listening to the news at the top of the hour, when I heard this tidbit from ABC Radio News: 'China is now capable of fielding an army of 200 million.'  I perked up at that, because I recognized it as the exact figure mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

The number of the armies of the horsemen was two hundred million; I heard the number of them.  —Revelation 9.16 (NASB)

Though their army numbers only around 3 million, China claims to have a 'militia' numbering over 200 million.  Never before in history has any nation had the capability of fielding that large an army. In fact, at the time of John's vision, that figure was greater than the estimated population of the entire world. Does China have that capability, or is the Chinese militia largely an 'empty shell', as the CIA claims in its declassified, heavily-redacted report, 'Appraisal of Chinese Army Documents'?

But will China march alone?  Revelation 16.12 mentions 'kings [plural] from the east', indicating that a group of nations is involved.

In April 2018, the Shanghai Cooperative Organization, which was created in 2001 and now boasts an alliance of 8 member nations—China, Russia, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan—with a combined population of over 3.5 billion people, met at their headquarters in Beijing and agreed to hold joint military exercises.  Could this be the force mentioned in Revelation?

The Book says that the 200 million man army will march down the dry riverbed of the Euphrates.

The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river, the Euphrates; and its water was dried up, so that the way would be prepared for the kings from the east.  —Revelation 16.12 (NASB)

Is the Euphrates drying up?  According to multiple sources, it is, and has been for some time.

On July 13, 2009, the New York Times reported, 'The Euphrates is drying up. Strangled by the water policies of Iraq's neighbors, Turkey and Syria; a two-year drought; and years of misuse by Iraq and its farmers, the river is significantly smaller than it was just a few years ago. Some officials worry that it could soon be half of what it is now.'

A 2016 article at NASA/EarthData entitled 'Crisis in the Crescent: Drought turns the Fertile Crescent in a dust bowl' notes that the entire region is drying out due to water mismanagement and extensive drought.

On August 23, 2019, the Fair Observer proclaimed, 'The Middle East is Going to Run Out of Water' and called the Tigris and the Euphrates 'Rivers of Dust'.  The moniker may be a little premature, but because of dams and the diversion of the rivers to water crops, that will be their inevitable end.

And so we find that even the most preposterous-sounding aspects of John's vision are coming to pass.

I find it interesting—exciting, even—to watch world events fall into place in accordance with ancient prophecies that we will almost certainly see fulfilled in our lifetimes.

[aftaabmagazine]

The Romantic Sarban

By Farhad Azad

Years ago, a Western fan of Eastern folk music wondered why Kabuli folks loved Sarban's "syrupy" voice. I told him it was the sophisticated lyrics and the musical style rooted in Kabul Theatre, a favorite among cosmopolitan city dwellers.

Born Abdul Rahim in old Kabul in 1930, to a rice merchant, he loved singing from a young age. After primary school, he graduated from Kabul Mechanical School.

Spotted singing in a bathhouse, young Abdul Rahim was introduced to Kabul Theatre's director, Mohammad Nek'hat. Guided by Turkish-born music director Frough Afandi, Sarban refined his talents. The poetic stage name “Sarban” ساربان — caravan driver — was given.

His first song's lyrics were by the leftist, exiled Iranian poet Abdul Qasem Lahoti (ابوالقاسم لاهوتی). Yousef Kohzad, a young actor at Kabul Theatre, had smuggled Lahoti’s book from Tajikistan, where Lahoti once lived in exile. Since then, Radio Kabul vocalists have sung Lahoti’s works.

A notable song in Sarban’s hits is “Last Night.” The lyrics are by Yousef Kohzad يوسف كهزاد, with music by Salim Sarmast سلیم سرمست. Recorded in the mid-1970s by Music Center in Kabul, the suggested lyrics might not have passed Radio's strict censorship.

Here are the translated lyrics and the song itself (دیشب به خدا خمار بودم). The video features the Kabul Theater orchestra with Sarban—circa the early 1960s.

 Last Night 

By Yousef Kohzad يوسف كهزاد

Translated from Farsi by Farhad Azad 

Last night, by God I was intoxicated

I was enchanted by my lover's eyes

I'm a worshipper of roses, I'm inebriated without wine

Tonight my heart has fallen

I stepped towards you alley, through your fallen locks

I stole a glimpse of your beautiful face

Last night you gave me two kisses

You danced and fell into my arms

I became drunk, you affectionate

I firmly embraced you

Your red dress half open

Better than any rose garden

Your eyes like narcissuses, your hair like violets

Your red lips softer than rose petals - - -  دیشب بخدا خمار بودم سرگرم دو چشم یار بودم من گل پرستم بی باده مستم افتاده یک دل امشب زدستم چپ چپ به کویت از لای مویت دیدم ز شوخی مهتاب رویت دیشب که به من دو بوسه دادی رقصیدی و در برم فتادی تو نشه بودی من مست بودم تو چاک دامن من دل ګشودم با نازو عشوه آ در بر من قربان راهت چشم تر من پیراهن سرخ نیمه بازت بهتر ز گلاب بوستان است چشم تو نرگس زلف تو سنبل لب های سرخت نازکتر ازگل من عشوه کردم تو نازو کردی بستم ګریبان تو بازو کردی - يوسف كهزاد