AP Exclusive: Arrest of Iranian scientist, like covert struggle with Iran, shrouded in secrecy | StarTribune.com:
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Life takes us in many strange directions and wonderful discoveries. It never turns out the way we thought it would.
Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Azerbaijan: A Jumping Off Point For An Israeli Attack On Iranian Nuclear Facilities?
7:25 AM (13 minutes ago)  | | |||
  Azerbaijan’s Arms Deal with Israel February 29, 2012
After the Russo-Georgian war in 2008, the United States realized it was not in a position to defend Georgia. Washington's preoccupation with the Islamic world prompted Russia to use Georgia to impart a lesson to the rest of the former Soviet states -- in effect announcing Russia's return as a regional power. The United States could have armed the Georgians after the war, but this would have heightened tensions with the Russians, something Washington at the time could not afford. Moreover, the Russians might have resumed war with Georgia before the weapons could be integrated. At the time, the United States and Russia appeared to have reached an understanding: Russia would refrain from further conflict with Georgia if the Americans restricted weapons sales. The United States was not alone in this. Every major weapons seller to Georgia, particularly Israel, broke sales out of fear that the Russians might sell advanced systems to Syria and Iran. The Azerbaijani issue is more complex. Domestic political pressure in the United States, particularly from Armenian-Americans supporting Armenia in its conflict with Azerbaijan over the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh, made sending an ambassador to Azerbaijan difficult. Substantial sales of weapons to the country were impossible. This added to the strategic problem the United States faced in the region. As with Georgia, Washington did not want to see Russian or, in this case, Iranian incursions into Azerbaijan, but it did not have available force to deter an incursion at the time. In an odd way, the security of Azerbaijan, like that of Georgia, was better served by avoiding large-scale weapons sales that might have increased Russia's or Iran's insecurity. The Israelis, while maintaining close ties with Azerbaijan, also did not make large-scale weapons sales. That is what makes the Israeli arms sale to Azerbaijan and the related high-level meeting so interesting. It is difficult to believe that the United States and Israel are not coordinating their activities in the Caucasus. The sale to Azerbaijan affects Iran, and Israel is not likely to undercut Washington's position vis-a-vis Tehran. Nor is Israel likely to go against U.S. policy in Moscow's regard, and the Georgian talks and the arms sale to Azerbaijan also affect Russia. It can be assumed that the United States has approved the initiatives. This would mark a change in U.S. regional policy since 2008. There would seem to be two triggers for this. The first is the Russian veto on Syria, which clearly infuriated the United States. The second involves the prior threat to Israel -- that maintaining close military relations with Georgia would result in weapons sales to Syria. The Syrian government is currently in no position to acquire and deploy advanced anti-aircraft systems from Russia, and what weapons it needs it gets from Iran. With that threat gone, the Israelis -- but not the Americans -- have a freer hand. Recent attempts to assassinate the Israeli ambassador to Azerbaijan and the identification of Iranian terrorist cells operating in Azerbaijan are also factors. The presence of Israeli, American and Iranian intelligence in Azerbaijan is nothing new, but Tehran's increasingly aggressive posture toward Baku (motivated by increased Iranian fears of an attack facilitated by Azerbaijan) creates a sense of insecurity there, and neither the United States nor Israel wants to see Azerbaijan turn to Russia for weapons. The Israeli sale not only provides immediate weapons to Baku, but it also implies that further supplies will be provided as needed. That delivers a message to Iran and reassures Azerbaijan. Whatever private collaboration might exist, public arms sales represent a political commitment on the part of Israel, which Baku will interpret as an implied U.S. obligation. Nothing has been sold to Georgia yet, but the Russians have been put on notice regarding the potential price of their veto on the Syria issue, and the fact that chaos in Syria frees Israel to deepen its relationship with Georgia. In the meantime, Georgians have allowed Russians to enter Georgia without visas, signaling that they are not seeking to increase tensions with Russia again. This maneuvering is important because it shows Israel and the United States re-evaluating their policy toward Russia in the Caucasus. At the same time, it warns Iran that its northern frontier with Azerbaijan could turn from a place Tehran uses to place pressure on Baku, to a place from which the United States and Israel could pressure Iran. With talks of strikes against Iranian nuclear facilities, this capability is not trivial. None of this is spoken, of course. But as we consider the calculations that have led to these moves, this is likely how they are viewed in Moscow and Tehran. For now, the Russians have lost their options in Syria, while the Iranians face an increasingly hostile Azerbaijan potentially backed by Israel -- and eventually, the United States. Washington has not yet joined the game, but the option is now there. | ||
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Jack's Africa: Progress In Crack Down On Boko Haram In Nigeria
Jack's Africa: Progress In Crack Down On Boko Haram In Nigeria: Nigeria: Progress in the Crackdown on Boko Haram February 27, 2012 AMINU ABUBAKAR/AFP/Getty Images An explosives expert examines defu...
Monday, February 27, 2012
Dinner With A Wonderful Friend of 38 Years
Elena and I had a wonderful dinner with Pablo Gallyas last night at an Italian restaurant (Giovanni's) in Berkeley, California. Pablo finally got to meet my wife Elena. We talked about trekking adventures including climbing high mountains. We talked about our experiences of living through military dictatorships in Latin America. We talked about our children. It was a wonderful evening and great to be with a good friend whom I had not seen in 4 years.
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Friday, February 24, 2012
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
The Awful Tragedy At Once Train Station In Buenos Aires
nside the front two carriages of the train.
At least 40 people were killed and 550 were injured following a train crash at Once station, officials confirmed. A 7-year-old boy was amongst the first reported fatalities as he remained trapped inside one of the front carriages for almost three hours.
The head of the SAME emergency services Alberto Crescenti said that the amount of people injured had increased to "at least 550," while rescue workers confirmed around 30 passangers were still trapped inside and underneath the train.
After the crash at least 70 people were pulled out of the wreckage and taken to nearby Ramos MejÃa Hospital and Durand Hospital to be treated.
Sources at the scene said that rescue activities were non-stop and that there were many injured passengers sat in the station hall waiting to be moved to hospital.
Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi was present at the scene and earlier described the accident as "terrible."
The train crashed when it was moving into the station, as it failed to stop at the lights and collided into the platform. Schiavi told reporters "it was moving at a speed of 26 kilometres per hour when entering the station, however when it crashed, it had slowed down and was travelling at 20 kilometres per hour."
He went on to say “the impact of the crash caused the second carriage to be pushed 6 metres into the first carriage of the train."
Once station, located in the heart Plaza Miserere is one of Buenos Aires' central train stations. The state-run TBA Sarmiento train line runs from Moreno to Once station, and was filled with passengers on their daily commute.
The head of the SAME emergency services Alberto Crescenti said that the amount of people injured had increased to "at least 550," while rescue workers confirmed around 30 passangers were still trapped inside and underneath the train.
After the crash at least 70 people were pulled out of the wreckage and taken to nearby Ramos MejÃa Hospital and Durand Hospital to be treated.
Sources at the scene said that rescue activities were non-stop and that there were many injured passengers sat in the station hall waiting to be moved to hospital.
Transport Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi was present at the scene and earlier described the accident as "terrible."
The train crashed when it was moving into the station, as it failed to stop at the lights and collided into the platform. Schiavi told reporters "it was moving at a speed of 26 kilometres per hour when entering the station, however when it crashed, it had slowed down and was travelling at 20 kilometres per hour."
He went on to say “the impact of the crash caused the second carriage to be pushed 6 metres into the first carriage of the train."
Once station, located in the heart Plaza Miserere is one of Buenos Aires' central train stations. The state-run TBA Sarmiento train line runs from Moreno to Once station, and was filled with passengers on their daily commute.
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Monday, February 20, 2012
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Travel Agencies Still Offer Better Prices Than On Line Booking Services
Is the Best Travel Search Engine Around the Corner?
By SETH KUGEL
I remember the days when it wasn’t faceless online search engines that helped me find the best deals on flights, but real live people called travel agents. Ivica got me a great bargain to Croatia. Alla helped me maneuver domestic flights within Russia, with an unbeatable price. And Fanny planned my dream trip to China with expert ease.
Actually, it’s pretty easy to remember those days: they were just last month. Those trips were actually only tests — tests of the real-life niche travel agencies in New York City and elsewhere that serve specific immigrant communities, pitched against the popular Web sites — like Expedia, Kayak,Vayama — that have become go-tos for travelers.
The result: Nearly every time, travel agents bested the Internet big boys on both price (the objective part of the test) and service (what you might call the essay question). In other words, the agents suggested alternate routes, gave advice on visas and just generally acted, well, more human than their computer counterparts. (All research was all done in mid-January for trips in March.)
In some cases, the agents trounced the competition. The best bargain I found was for an imagined two-week jaunt to Croatia, visiting Zagreb, the inland capital, but with the bulk of my time spent along the Dalmatian coast and in the coastal city of Dubrovnik. I tested online search engines for flights to both cities, checking various dates and paying attention principally to price, but keeping an eye on the number and length of layovers.
I first tried Travelocity, which gave me an astonishingly high $2,923 round-trip fare to Dubrovnik. Orbitz came up with $1,313, and allowed me to sort the results by travel time, a nice touch. Kayak’s price, $1,008, was better; Vayama — which frustratingly doesn’t add up total trip time — came up with $862; and Expedia, after much shuffling of dates, was the online winner with a quote of $798.
Then I called Pan Adriatic Travel, a Croatian-owned agency in Astoria, Queens, recommended by Sandra Ribicic Ballabio, a Croatian New Yorker who gained the unwieldy Italian part of her name only recently when she married my friend Frank.
“John” answered — he was really Ivica Glavinic, the owner, using an English-friendly name — and asked what I was planning to do in Croatia. I told him, noting that I could fly into and out of either Dubrovnik or Zagreb.
“You don’t want to go to Zagreb and come back from Zagreb!” he practically shouted — common knowledge to him, apparently. “You want to go to Zagreb, go down the coast, come back from Dubrovnik. I’ll send you an e-mail in five minutes.”
“You don’t want to go to Zagreb and come back from Zagreb!” he practically shouted — common knowledge to him, apparently. “You want to go to Zagreb, go down the coast, come back from Dubrovnik. I’ll send you an e-mail in five minutes.”
His fare: $480, taxes included. That’s 40 percent off the cheapest online flight I had found. The catch: I had only an hour to commit. But if I had really been planning the trip, I certainly would have.
When I called Mr. Glavinic later and revealed that I was a journalist, he said those deals don’t always pop up — I had been lucky. “But I can always get you a better deal” than online sites, he added. I don’t think his boast was an idle one. In years of booking trips to Brazil through BACC Travel, a Brazilian agency based in New York, which I retested this time around while helping a friend book a trip from Boston, I can’t remember a time they couldn’t at least slightly beat the online price.
Other tests of Chinese, Russian, Brazilian, Ecuadorean and Indian agencies resulted in victories or virtual ties with my invented travel scenarios. Only in one case — a straight New York to Manila round-trip request — did the Web score a definitive victory over an agent at a Filipino storefront in Woodside, Queens, and then only by about $50.
But as my itineraries got more complicated, the search engines had even more trouble keeping pace with the agencies. At Delgado Travel, an Ecuadorean-owned agency with branches around the city (as well as across the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe), I asked about a trip that included Quito and Cuzco, Peru, the jumping-off point for visits to Machu Picchu. An agent quoted me $1,213, beating (albeit just barely) the $1,294 route I found using ITA Software by Google, a site that finds the cheapest flights but does not book them. Vayama was second at $1,386.
But as my itineraries got more complicated, the search engines had even more trouble keeping pace with the agencies. At Delgado Travel, an Ecuadorean-owned agency with branches around the city (as well as across the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe), I asked about a trip that included Quito and Cuzco, Peru, the jumping-off point for visits to Machu Picchu. An agent quoted me $1,213, beating (albeit just barely) the $1,294 route I found using ITA Software by Google, a site that finds the cheapest flights but does not book them. Vayama was second at $1,386.
When I went to Kayak and reverse-engineered the specific dates and flights I got at Delgado, I could indeed match their price, meaning that with more hours spent online, I perhaps could have done just as well. But most of the time even reverse engineering couldn’t match the agencies’ prices. That’s because many of the agencies are consolidators, meaning they negotiate discount rates with airlines on specific routes in exchange for a promise of volume sales.
It is generally true that the online engines will find the best domestic coach fares — although even that can get complicated. Southwest flights don’t appear on most search engines. Travelers with very flexible dates or routes they fly frequently should sign up for alerts from sites likeairfarewatchdog.com to stay on top of special offers.
I took things up a notch with even more complicated itineraries in Russia and China. My Russian trip included stops in Moscow, Kazan and Irkutsk. My Chinese route was New York-Beijing-Chengdu-Hangzhou-New York. (Both are plausible, if ambitious, two-week trips.)
I took things up a notch with even more complicated itineraries in Russia and China. My Russian trip included stops in Moscow, Kazan and Irkutsk. My Chinese route was New York-Beijing-Chengdu-Hangzhou-New York. (Both are plausible, if ambitious, two-week trips.)
For the Russian plan, the search engine results varied widely, from a jaw-dropping $5,199 on Kayak to $1,373 on Vayama. I headed to Brighton Beach, the Russian enclave in Brooklyn, and learned how easy it was to find these niche agencies. Stepping out of the subway, I punched “travel agency” into the Google Maps app on my phone. Among the results was Bella’s Travel. Before sending me to an agent, the receptionist asked “Do you have a visa?” I hadn’t thought of that, and it turns out they are tricky to get — but Bella’s could help, for $70 in addition to the visa fee.
She then sent me over to a very pleasant agent named Alla, who quickly started tapping on her computer. When I stressed my dates were flexible, she conjured up a $1,301 fare. Total time spent: 15 minutes, much less than I spent online. (Though I had traveled to Brighton Beach, I could have just called — true of all the agencies I visited.)
And you don’t have to live in New York — just seek out the agents online. A clue you’ve come to the right place: the Web site looks as if it were designed a decade ago, does not have online searching, and directs you to call a phone number associated with a real address. It’s possible you may run into language issues, but every spot I tried had solid English speakers.
After testing several Chinese agencies in Flushing, Queens, I tried just that with an online search for Chinese travel specialists, and came uponUSChinaTrip.com. I e-mailed them with my dates and cities, and they got back to me within a few hours. Their price: $1,369. That beat out, though barely, a deal found by Fanny at Joy World Travel in Flushing. But it soundly bested the online search engines again, which would have charged me $356 more for the dubious privilege of dealing with a machine instead of a human.
THE AGENCIES
BACC Travel, 16 West 46th Street, New York; (212) 730-1010;bacctravel.com.
Bella’s Travel, 253 Brighton Beach Avenue, Brighton Beach, Brooklyn; (718) 332-1643; bellastravel.com.
Delgado Travel, various locations; (718) 426-0500 (in New York), (800) 335-4236 (elsewhere); www.delgadotravelusa.com.
Joy World Travel Inc., 135-20 39th Avenue, Suite HL 210, Flushing, Queens; (718) 460-5100; no Web site.
Pan Adriatic Travel, 34-08 Broadway, Astoria, Queens; (718) 777-0555;panadriatic.com.
USChinaTrip.com, (909) 895-8858.
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