Russia and Ukraine in Intensifying Standoff

Russian seamen marched during a military parade in late July in Sevastopol, a port city in Ukraine where Russia has long maintained a naval base and much of the population has Russian ties.

A library question

A youngster, likely 15, 16 years of age, came to the Information Desk seeking information on a little town in (he thought) Poland. Afer several tries, I got the correct spelling: Suchostaw. Couldn't find much information: two entries in Worldcat.org, one for a book owned by Cambridge University Cambridge, CB3 9DR United Kingdom, the other unspecified.

I then googled the town name, showed the youngster how to go to google books to search, and finally told him to call the Jewish Theological Seminary. He'd never heard of it.

US charges Russian 'arms dealer'

As comic relief to primary fatigue, here is an item that is not really light fare, but does have it comic angles.

The US has charged an alleged Russian arms dealer, Viktor Bout, with four counts of terrorism, saying he tried to sell weapons to Colombia's Farc rebels.

Okay. There are people in this world that make a living in such scuzzy ways. No surprise there. I've seen this before.

The US wants to extradite Mr Bout, who has been called the world's biggest illegal arms dealer.

Now it begins to get interesting.

Mr Bout's lawyer says his client is innocent and that he runs a legitimate air transport and logistics business.

What'd I say? My client is a legitimate businessman, says the solicitor. Just as Tom Hagen said about Don Vito Corlenoe.

Mr Bout has been labelled the "Merchant of Death" for allegedly supplying weapons to some of the world's worst conflicts.

I wonder who his supplier is; that is, where does this man get so many arms to sell? Some surreptitious, fallen-off-the-truck, grabbed whilst the garage door was open doesn't fit the bill here.

Mr Bout, 41, is said to have graduated from Moscow's military institute in the early 1990s and was a major in the Soviet KGB.

Ah, here we get some details; but, what does is said mean? Sez whom? Well, the US government, but not only it. A 2005 report by the human rights group, Amnesty International, said Mr Bout was "the most prominent foreign businessman" selling arms to UN-embargoed nations from countries such as Bulgaria, Slovakia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan.

Now, I ask: is this a face only a mother could love? Or a father? Oy.

Mr Bout denies he is an arms dealer and says he runs a legitimate business

Another view of NATO-Ukraine

This is a great picture. The man's views are quite clear.

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YOUR PICTURE GALLERY IS NOW LOADING... Pope Benedict XVI blesses the faithful after celebrating a mass in St Peter's Square, Rome, to mark the third anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II. Police try to drag protesters away as Tibetans protest outside the Chinese Embassy in Katmandu, Nepal. Demonstrators at the Dutch consulate in Indonesia protest against a film on Islam by a Dutch MP. A service of thanksgiving for the life of late New Zealand-born climber Sir Edmund Hillary is held at St. George's Chapel, Windsor, England. A Palestinian man stands in the remains of his house, which was demolished by bulldozers on the outskirts of Jerusalem. A man stages an anti-Nato protest in Kiev. More than half of Ukrainians oppose membership in the Western military alliance.

Yulia Tymoshenko

Ukranian Prime Minister has a website. W Bush is in Ukraine today.

Ms. Tymoshenko's motives in tackling the endemic corruption that cripples Ukraine have become a central question for this strategic, Texas-size country sandwiched between Russia and the European Union.

Its location is strategic, and motivates both Ukraine and the US to make nice.

Bush endorses NATO expansion

An interesting geopolitical item.

Ukraine Gets Support From Bush Bush is putting his full weight behind the desire by Ukraine and Georgia to join NATO, and declared that Russia won't be able to veto former Soviet states joining the trans-Atlantic military alliance.