Located near the town of Sheki, this abandoned fortress was actually one of my favorite sites in Azerbaijan (and by “this” I am including the hike in as well as Gelersen-Gorersen itself)… A fragment of the fortress now almost lost to the forest: Although the fortress dates back to the 8th or 9th century, the … Continue reading
Tag Archives: Justin Ames
AMBER Alert: The Kaliningrad Amber Museum…
Amber, that lovely fossilized tree resin, that is found in the Baltics and Kaliningrad is particularly noted for its quality… There is also a lot of it. Therefore, it should probably not come as a large shock that amber mining and the sale of amber is a big part of the economy in Kaliningrad. Given … Continue reading
The War in Donbass
Good material on Ukraine coming soon… Continue reading
Salem And Its Witches
Salem, Massachusetts is undoubtedly best known for its relation to witches and its deadly witch trials… Such a history, naturally, calls out to The Velvet Rocket team and so when two of us recently found ourselves in Massachusetts, it was perhaps inevitable that we would pass through this infamous town. I shall not bother to … Continue reading
What Happens In Heavily Militarized North Korea After The Fall?
This is the English version of our short article that recently appeared in Italy’s LiberoReporter: North Korea has been busy recently… Early in September North Korea conducted its fifth (and most powerful to date) test of a nuclear weapon. Then, just days ago, North Korea tested a high-powered rocket engine that could be used on … Continue reading
Yemen: Another Middle Eastern Proxy War Drags On
This is the English version of our article just published in Italy’s Il Giornale newspaper… Although largely out of the headlines now, Yemen continues to be battered by a conflict initiated in 2014 when Shiite Houthi rebels formed an alliance with loyalists of ousted President Ali Abdullah Saleh to seize large swaths of the country, including … Continue reading
Europe’s Largest Hotbed Of Support For The Islamic State May Not Be Where You Think
Updating one of our Kosovo features… This is the English version of our recent article in Italy’s LiberoReporter: Kosovo, the predominantly Muslim land severed from Serbia by US and NATO military intervention, finds itself today in the curious position of being officially one of the most pro-Western Islamic countries in the world while simultaneously holding … Continue reading