A Forgotten Battle in Siberia Between Japan And The Soviet Union Convinced The Japanese To Attack The USA

https://www.historynet.com/world-war-ii-soviet-and-japanese-forces-battle-at-khalkhin-gol.htm

A Nice Surprise On A Cold And Rainy Day

As some of you know, a 385 lb generator sits in front of our house. Its final resting place will be in the back yard near the kitchen. A 100-foot crane will come one Saturday and lift it into the back yard. Now we are in the middle of a very nasty storm. There is rain and high winds. I put a plastic cover over the generator. I secured it with logs and heavy stones. The high wind blew the cover off. As i slept this afternoon, someone put the cover back in place and properly secured it. To this unknown and kind person, a special thanks.

A Wonderful Surprise After 21 Years

21 years ago in 1998 I was broke and homeless. I slept on a concrete floor in a church each night. In those dark days, a non-profit agency helping the homeless bought me a black suit. The idea was to give me some nice clothes to go for job interviews. The suit has stayed with me all these years. I have not worn the suit for 8 years. I tried it on last night as my wife and I were going to a Christmas party. Much to my pleasant surprise, it still fit perfectly. How sweet it is!!! How many people can wear their clothes from 21 years ago? My daily 1.5 hours of swimming and walking 3-5 miles paid off!

HOW TO EAT HOT POT! (Chinese Hot Pot 101) - Fung Bros Food

Iran: Losing Friends

IRAN

Losing Friends

Russia’s state-owned nuclear fuel company announced Thursday that it has suspended operations in Iran’s Fordo nuclear facility because of Tehran’s decision last month to resume uranium enrichment, the Associated Press reported.

The company, TVEL, said it would be impossible to convert the facility in order to produce radioactive isotopes for medical purposes, despite previous assurances by Russian officials that the project would continue after Iran’s controversial decision.

The suspension is a sign that Moscow is trying to distance itself from Iran’s nuclear activities that violate the 2015 nuclear deal.

Iran agreed to stop uranium enrichment under the deal but restarted the process after the United States withdrew from the pact last year and imposed new sanctions.

Last month, Tehran announced it was recommencing its nuclear enrichment at the fortified Fordo facility, adding that it would reverse its decision if European signatories of the deal help Iran bypass US sanctions.

Earlier this week, three European ambassadors warned the United Nations that Iran is developing nuclear-capable ballistic missiles in violation of a UN Security Council resolution.

The letter was dismissed by Iran’s foreign minister, Reuters reported.

DI

A Cautionary Tale About Global Warming-You Can Spend Billions And Still Not Hold Back The Sea

ITALY

Selfies and Tears

There was a poignant irony to a viral video of a tourist falling into the water in Venice while taking a selfie.

The “Queen of the Adriatic” – one of the Italian city’s nicknames – is sinking. High tides and winds caused the November deluges that covered 80 percent of the city during a so-called “acqua alta,” or “high water,” that was six feet higher than usual. But the city was especially vulnerable. As the Conversation explained, its ancient foundations are collapsing slowly while the sea levels are rising steadily due to climate change.

Venice already had been working on a massive sea barrier to halt the onslaughts of water, but the Art Newspaper noted that the city hasn’t completed the project even after spending $6.6 billion on it over the past 16 years.

Accordingly, Italians terrified over their city disappearing under the waves understandably blame government negligence, incompetence, corruption and inaction for their woes, the Local wrote. “Venetians have just endured a deep wound,” an activist told Agence France-Presse. “The flooding … brought this city to its knees and revealed its extreme fragility to the world.”

Other locals worried about how flooding would push out the few remaining residents of central Venice. Life on the lagoon and amid the canals can be hard enough in normal times. Natural disasters make some want to give up entirely. NBC News wrote about how only 53,000 people live in the city now, compared to more than 120,000 in 1966, when another big flood struck.

A particular target of some Venetians’ ire were the cruise ships that they say have been eroding their buildings’ foundations. The Telegraph dismissed that idea. But the cruise ships do unleash millions of visitors – 32,000 a day – that critics quoted by CNN said have contributed to “overtourism” that has driven up the cost of living and indirectly forced natives out.

Venice has already taken some steps to restrict tourism by instituting an ‘entrance fee’ to the city, restricting the numbers of visitors on certain days and diverting some cruise ships to a nearby port. But millions still come.

The Weather Channel had some nice footage of life amid the flooding. It strikes one immediately how the tourist industry perseveres in Venice despite the natural disaster, with travelers walking on ramps above the waterline. St. Mark’s Square is a lake, the water smells of sewage, yet folks are sightseeing in rubber boots.

The Washington Post contrasted the tourists taking selfies with the residents in tears. “The toll of repeated inundation is mounting. … Life in one of the world’s most improbable and spellbinding cities is becoming unviable,” wrote the newspaper.

Desperately beautiful, Venice hopefully won’t turn out to be too precious to save.

W

Russia And China: The Contract Of The Century

RUSSIA

The Contract of the Century

Russian and Chinese leaders oversaw the launch of the Power of Siberia pipeline on Monday, Russia’s most significant energy project in almost three decades and a symbol of Moscow’s shifting diplomacy toward Beijing, the Financial Times reported.

The $55 billion project will provide China with 38 billion cubic meters in annual gas supplies via the 1,864 mile pipeline that crosses Siberia to the Chinese border in the southeast.

Dubbed “the contract of the century,” the deal will allow Russia’s Gazprom to increase gas exports amid declining demand from the traditional markets of Europe and Turkey.

Work on the pipeline began shortly after the United States and the European Union instituted sanctions on Russia following its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

The project will also increase China’s energy security and help combat air pollution in the coal-dependent northeastern regions.

China has become heavily involved in Russian gas projects in recent years and it’s currently in talks with Gazprom on two additional pipelines.