Spies among Us!

Two suspects charged with having served as deep-cover Russian agents living in the United States have told investigators they are Russian citizens and have been living under false identities, according to a court document released Friday.

A letter from prosecutors opposing bail for the suspects said that the man known as Michael Zottoli is really a Russian named Mikhail Kutzik. The government also said the woman known as Patricia Mills is a Russian citizen named Natalia Pereverzeva.

Prosecutors said that the couple waived their rights to remain silent and made the admissions soon after being arrested at their Arlington, Virginia residence over the weekend. The two were living as a married couple and have two small children.

The government document also said searches of the couple's home and two safe-deposit boxes they rented revealed that they contained cash, passports and other identity documents bearing their false identities. Investigators said they found $80,000 in one of the safe-deposit boxes. It was divided into eight unmarked envelopes, each of which contained $10,000 in what appeared to be new $100 bills, they said.

The document said another safe-deposit box rented by the two held $20,000 along with passports and other documents bearing their fake identities. Prosecutors said a laptop found in the couple's home had been brought from Russia to the United States by a co-conspirator and given to Zottoli, as court papers referred to him, in March.

The revelations are contained in a letter from federal prosecutors opposing bail for the couple and for another suspect named Mikhail Semenko.

The pair and Semenko remain in custody in Northern Virginia. They waived their rights to ask for bail in hearings at U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia on Friday afternoon. Zottoli and Mills, as court papers called her, appeared in court wearing dark-green jail jumpsuits emblazoned with "prisoner" on the back of each. They did not speak to each other in court. They spoke only to give their assent when the judge asked if they realized they were waiving their rights to ask for bail.

Prosecutors had hoped to get the suspects moved quickly to New York to stand trial with seven others arrested in the case. But attorneys for the three requested a preliminary hearing a judge scheduled for July 7.

Semenko appeared at a separate hearing afterward. He too was dressed in a green jail jumpsuit. He spoke quietly with a slight Russian accent when asked if he understood he was relinquishing his right to ask for bail.

Magistrate Judge Theresa Buchanan ordered that the three continue to be held in jail and cited the government's contention they are dangers to the community and a flight risk.

Iran, Russia and a Mexican Hurricane

Why must I always write about Iran? They always seem to come up somehow. There was a fire on a plane in Mashhad, Iran today. Eigthy people died, none of whom were crew members. The plane was carrying 147 passengers. The plane in question is a Russian Tupolev 154. Incidents with planes, whether crashing or what not, are a common occurrance in Iran. Economic sanctions make it very difficult for the country to import the spare parts it needs.

Regions in Russia are making Russian Orthodoxy a subject in school. The Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga and Smolensk regions will make it compulsory while 11 other regions will make it an optional course. The curriculum stresses history rather than theology. However, opponents point out that the Russian constitution clearly states that there is a seperation of church and state. Moreover, the Muslim minority, who constitute at least 10% of the federation, are feeling slighted. They say that the same measure should be extended to Muslim students with Islamic history an optional subject.

The European Union apparently is growing faster economically than Japan or the good ole USA. However, their ability to create jobs is less than stellar. It is expected to lessen somewhat as we go into the end of the year. Another African country banning homosexual parties, Ghanian Information Minister Kwamena Bartels noted that since it is illegal to by gay in Ghana, there shouldn't be a conference for homosexuals there. The conference is set to take place next month. My question is why they choose Ghana, a place that does not accept Homosexuals in the first place, for that kind of party?

Tropical Storm Ernesto came ashore at Long Beach, North Carolina. It is now headed northward. Norfolk, Virginia better look out.

Hurricane John is a Category 3 storm and headed for Baja California. Cabo San Lucas is in the bull's eye.

I'll have more later.

Fascism? Surely you jest!

I've always wanted to live on the East Coast somewhere like around North Carolina or Virginia. I'm rethinking that dream right now. Tropical Storm Ernesto, which really isn't much of a storm anymore, may in fact move in a Northeasterly direction back out to the Atlantic Ocean. If it does mind you, the chances are it will reorganize and restrengthen. If it stays out there, say 24 hours, and then hits Virgina or Maryland, it could come onshore as a Category 1, possibly higher, hurricane. So, Ernesto is not finished with his meandering journey nor are we done with him.

And speaking of hurricanes, there's one out in the Pacific Ocean. One would think we'd call them Cyclones or something else but apperently in the East Pacific (by us), hurricane is still the name of choice. These storms form off the coast of Mexico. However, they have never affected us (meaning California. Wouldn't that be a great headline: "Hurricane targets Hollywood for destruction") and usually affect Mexico and Central America. Hurricane John has strengthened to a Category 4 storm. This means its packing winds of at least 130 mph. Areas affected by this storm range between Acapulco and Cabo Corrientes with Puerto Vallarta included.

According to CNN, the GOP have a new buzzword and that word is fascism. Normally I'd be applying it to them because of their dogmatic, nationalist worldview. But the unpopular war in Iraq means they need to sell us what they're shovelling in a different way. Fascism is an ideology focused on nationalism, militarism, corporatism, anti-anarchism, anti-communism, anti-liberalism and not to mention, authoritarianism and a ton of over-the-top propaganda. If you are thinking of Hitler and Mussolini then you'd be on target. It has never been popular like it was before and during World War II but it is out there as Nazi persist in existing.

Going so far now as to call Radical Islamic terrorists fascists may indeed be the right way to go. Terrorism in merely the method a faction or party chooses to demonstrate to the world that they mean business and want... whatever it is they want. Fascism is more palpable. One can remember what fascists have done especially Europeans. You tell Europeans they need to fight terrorists, they have to ask "Which ones?" and "Aren't they only terrorists when their on the other side? They're freedom fighters otherwise." But you'd never call the Nazis freedom fighters. They're evildoers which brings us right back to Bush's original label for terrorists. Kudos to Bush and his cronies for stumbling upon the old term. They must've heard the rest of us using it.