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Today: 64 articles and 152 comments as of 11:43.
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Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Bitcoin firm CEO found dead
It appears bitcoin's recent turmoil has claimed its first life.

Autumn Ratke a 28-year-old American CEO of bitcoin exchange firm First Meta was found dead in her Singapore apartment on Feb. 28.

Local media are calling it a suicide, but Singapore officials are waiting for toxicology test results. Ratke formerly worked with Apple and other Silicon Valley tech firms on developing digital payment systems.

Ratke's death brings the number of questionable financial sector deaths this year to eight.
Posted by: Weather Vane || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Former senior KGB agent nominated for Nobel Peace Prize.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 19:53 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


App lets bacon-lovers wake to their favorite smell

For a lot of people, the smell of bacon cooking on the stove is one of the best things about waking up in the morning.

There's always been a problem, though - someone has to be up to cook it.

The folks at Oscar Mayer have found a way around that, though - an iPhone app and dongle that will make sizzling sounds and release a bacon scent when your alarm goes off.

The aroma comes from a diffuser made by Scentee, which uses high-frequency waves to release the aroma of a bacon scent capsule.

The setups won't be for sale, but you can win one by taking a quiz on the website of the Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon, which we're absolutely sure is a real thing.

Mashable reports that the dongle and app are a real thing - they're a little iffy on how much the scent really smells like bacon, and spilling the concentrated bacon scent on your hands is definitely not recommended.

But for a bacon lover, what could be better? Tom Bick, senior director of integrated marketing and advertising at Oscar Mayer, said in a statement that the company was thrilled to give "bacon aficionados a new reason to welcome their morning alarm clocks."
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2014 16:05 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  smell-o-vision has been miniaturized. What next?!
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 20:39 Comments || Top||


But Can It Take Out The Trash?: Scientists Build Orgasm Machine For Women
"Meloy explained that the idea is that orgasms could happen at the push of a button when the implant could be triggered by a hand-held remote control."

..as long as she doesn't start talking (or looking) like Rachael Maddow..
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 08:17 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It comes free if you buy one of those scooters on tv with your medicare money.
Posted by: airandee || 03/06/2014 10:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Give it a few years, the device will become as common as tattoos. Also add to this sign, Your Orgas-ma-tron

Posted by: Black Bart Gurly-Brown3574 || 03/06/2014 10:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Science from a Woody Allen movie - who would have guessed?
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2014 11:05 Comments || Top||

#4  So this does for women what the wide screen tv remote control does for men?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2014 11:11 Comments || Top||

#5  Now that there is a "portable model of the orgasmatron" its useful to see how we got here.

HT- to Glenmore

Posted by: Sheng Uneater2325 || 03/06/2014 11:56 Comments || Top||

#6  Somewhat unrelated, but I was particularly impressed with this.

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 13:39 Comments || Top||

#7  That reminds me of a limerick about a guy from Racine.....
.....which I will not print here...
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/06/2014 15:15 Comments || Top||


North Texans Sound Off On Yelling Vs. Spanking Study
[DFW.CBSLOCAL] How to discipline or punish children is always a hot topic.
Give the little darlings lots of love and attention...
Questions always arise over what is effective and when is the line crossed? Yelling, shouting, and raising your voice...may feel natural.
If they get out of line, knock them into next Thursday.
But a new study says those actions should only be used to get a child's attention.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  those actions should only be used to get a child's attention.

Some kids are pretty stubborn that way - kind of mule-like - & you can't get their attention with much less than a 2 x 4 upside the head.
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2014 11:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Just use the police approved method...Tazer. I'll bet you get their attention then.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 03/06/2014 11:43 Comments || Top||

#3  These are not adults, they don't have judgment to be argued with. A swat on the backside is what they are capable of understanding, if I do this, I get spanked, Therefore I don't do this. Versus son, electricity can hurt you because you're grounded and when you stick a fork into that wall socket you'll complete the circuit which will cause an over current to short out your nervous system. Yeah right.

And more than anything else, you are not your child's friend, you are his parent. The so called experts are quacks.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/06/2014 11:50 Comments || Top||

#4  I got excellent results by reducing my son's (8) computer access time.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/06/2014 12:39 Comments || Top||

#5  ..still OK betwixt consenting adults.?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 13:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Spanking?
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2014 15:06 Comments || Top||

#7  ..a-firm gorb. Ecouteurism doesn't do it for me anymore.. ;>
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 15:48 Comments || Top||

#8  LOL Phester.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2014 15:53 Comments || Top||

#9  I haven't spanked my son (7yo) and yell at him rarely. For him, quiet explanation on what is happening and why works well. If he does act up, I will yell briefly and since I do it so rarely you would think I just beat the kid with a belt.

Now for a kid like I was.... a switch might have been the better discipline tool. I'm glad my son is not like that!
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/06/2014 16:14 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm glad my son is not like that! -- yet!

FIFY

I think what is effective depends on the kid in question. Some require a whack upside the head (or spanking). Others more. With some a quiet explanation or expression of disapproval would do.

Funny when my 7YO (autistic) son gets in trouble and we yell at him he runs off to his room shouting 'Don't Kill Me!'. I have no idea where he picked that up - I don't think we killed him before and swatted him on the butt only once.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/06/2014 16:31 Comments || Top||

#11  ..I have heard it said that yelling at monkeys makes them even less likely to perform as desired. The presented alternative is, therefore, in this specific case, more likely to result in more satisfying and quieter results..
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 21:36 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
While Gore and the Left Preaches Global Warming, God Freezes Niagara Falls
Spectacularly beautiful pictures at the link.
Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's not generally realized that they turn Niagra Falls off at night to generate Hydro. Which facilitates overnight freezing.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2014 3:20 Comments || Top||

#2  Deara Rantburgers. In this times of global warming I send you this piece of Siberian wisodom. "If you spit and ut freezes before it reaches ground it means it is minus 55 Celsius and you definitely need a thick coat."
Posted by: JFM || 03/06/2014 12:01 Comments || Top||

#3  jfm

that same 'spit' information was also in Jack London's short story, "To Light A Fire"
Posted by: lord garth || 03/06/2014 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Phil, I am a bit "knowy knowy" on Niagara Falls as I once did my Westinghouse Science Fair project on it when gas was still under .50 a gallon... They divert about 70% of the flow after the lights go out both for Hydro electric purposes over the Horseshoe Falls, but also to preserve the rock structure of Niagara itself. The tourist come to see Niagara Falls and not the Buffalo rapids!
My dad also grew up there and he told me when he was a teen in the 30's it froze over and you could walk out to the edge. This was before the diverter dams were built I think.
Posted by: Capsu78 || 03/06/2014 17:44 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
"Dear soldier: My dad was a soldier. He is in heaven now."
And there's an update at the link. Sometimes the news is good... but you'll need two hankies anyway. I have a new heroine.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Ten vie for Algeria presidency
[MAGHAREBIA] Former Algerian premier Ali Benflis on Tuesday (February 14th) officially filed his candidacy for the April 17th presidential election, Liberté reported.

Ten candidates had registered to run before the deadline expired midnight Tuesday, AFP reported. Moussa Touati of the Algerian National Front (FNA), Abdelaziz Belaid of the El-Moustakbel Front (FM), Algerian Rally head Ali Zaghdoud and Workers Party leader Louisa Hanoune are among those in the race.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age...
dropped off his papers and also confirmed his candidacy on television, the first time he has spoken in public since returning from hospital treatment in Gay Paree last year after suffering a mini-stroke.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Subsaharan
Zim judge tells owners of former white farms to farm or risking losing it
[The Telegraph] Ruling could be turning point for white farmers seeking to regain land.
A near koffee-nasal moment. Such regal naiveté could only be uttered in perfidious Albion.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ..I'd be watching salt transactions until this this shakes out..
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 10:28 Comments || Top||

#2  The new 'landowners' haven't been making timely donations to Zim-Bob & pals?
Posted by: Glenmore || 03/06/2014 11:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey! I'ma war vetrin!!
Posted by: Farmin B. Hard || 03/06/2014 14:05 Comments || Top||


Britain
Army commander bans sandwiches in attack on 'barbaric habits'
[The Telegraph] The letter penned by Maj Gen Cowan, who should be in charge of nothing is in charge of 20,000 soldiers and 2,500 officers in 3 UK Division, mostly based at Bulford, also criticised poor grammar and writing, advising against the "wanton use of capitals, abbreviations and acronyms" because they can leave the reader exhausted.
Joseph Mendiola you have been forewarned !
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  With a brain three sizes too small, all he can focus on is the minutiae!
SWIDT
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/06/2014 11:13 Comments || Top||

#2  " Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action."
Posted by: charger || 03/06/2014 11:37 Comments || Top||

#3  "Each message sent to me ends with &GFY...I'm simply tired of trying to figure out what that means."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/06/2014 14:19 Comments || Top||

#4  He's a secret correspondent for the Onion.
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2014 15:12 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Venezuela breaks ties with Panama over "conspiracy"
[UK.REUTERS] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with the Panamanian government due to a "conspiracy" against him.

"We're not going to let anyone get away with interfering with our fatherland, you despicable lackey, president of Panama," Maduro said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's death.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  State oil company should have fun shipping their oil to China around one of the Capes.
Posted by: 3dc || 03/06/2014 2:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Chinese state maritime firms are set up pretty well on either end of the canal, so transferal to a Middle Kingdom tanker wouldn't be a huge issue.
Posted by: Mullah Richard || 03/06/2014 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  We're not going to let anyone get away with interfering with our fatherland, you despicable lackey,

Venezuela = KCNA farm system?
Posted by: Raj || 03/06/2014 11:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Chinese state maritime firms are set up pretty well on either end of the canal, so transferal to a Middle Kingdom tanker wouldn't be a huge issue.

China-Vzla oil is shipped CNF terms. Cost 'n Freight. :) PDVSA and Vzla are being taken to the cleaners.
Posted by: Shipman || 03/06/2014 15:57 Comments || Top||

#5  How much per barrel Ship?
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/06/2014 19:47 Comments || Top||

#6  PDVSAand Vzla are being taken to the cleaners.

Because China threw in a bunch of financial support back when Chavez was in power.

They also received 'some' land, a significant portion of which has oil deposits.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/06/2014 20:54 Comments || Top||

#7  Read, USA.

NICARAGUA = PROPOSED NOT-PANAMA ALTERNATE CANAL, I'M A'LOOKIN AT YOUSE!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/06/2014 22:11 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Various Photos of Russian soldiers in the Ukraine
The Russians began moving military troops into the Ukraine during the Winter Olympics. Apparently, they stayed--more moved in. Here are some photos of troops in the Ukraine. See photos here

The on-the-ground troops are wearing black tactical masks. Their uniforms lack any insignia. Does that not go against Geneva Convention requirements?
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2014 10:55 || Comments || Link || [12 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Does that not go against Geneva Convention requirements?

Noticed that too, but the lawyer in chief didn't earmark that for public consumption. Pointing it out is too aggressive I'd guess, brackets to fill and all.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/06/2014 11:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Why no insignia? Cold WX gear covering it up? Best excuse. They are not military, they are police, contractors, DHS, KGB, or some other agency that does not fall under the Geneva code. Badges? We don't need... You know the rest.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 03/06/2014 12:32 Comments || Top||

#3  "See photos here" - linky brings me to a page with Bill Murray and Nicole Ritchie (?!).

Here's a link to some "selfies" that will cost some Cossack wanna-be some time digging latrines, though: <LINK>

Fixed. Sorry for the delay, but at least it will work for those perusing the archives.

tw
3/7/2014

Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 13:16 Comments || Top||

#4  Speaking of uniforms, here at the buffalo airport this morning are at least 2 guys in khaki cargo pants black t shirts with 'Department of Homeland Security POLICE' across the back with automatics strapped to the hip. First time I have seen this. Anybody else seen these?
Posted by: USN,ret || 03/06/2014 14:06 Comments || Top||

#5  Speaking of these badges, Geneva Conventions, etc. anyone know where I can get a copy of that "International Law" to which our president repeatedly refers?
Posted by: Sherry || 03/06/2014 14:52 Comments || Top||

#6  I'll give it a try again. Link.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2014 15:31 Comments || Top||

#7  There was some going back and forth here about who were the fascists in the Ukraine. Jim Hoft found a diamond of a pic. It shows three masked vigilantes, one has a huge swastika on his chest and his buddy on the left has a hoodie that says, "I'm am Russian."

What's funny as hell, it was a Russian backed thinktank who published the pic to twitter. Doh!
Posted by: mossomo || 03/06/2014 19:01 Comments || Top||


Europe
Russia Sinks Ship to Block Ukrainian Navy Ships
The Russian Navy Ochakov Kara-class cruiser was sunk last night to block the Ukrainian Navy ships deployed in Novoozerne, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said in a press release today.
Nice trick: block the shipping channel and pin the Ukrainian ships to their docks.
The information was confirmed by the Ukrainian military of the South Naval Base who were observing the operation.

The RF ships blocking the Ukrainian ships in Donuzlav lake in the Crimea left the zone at 23.30 p.m. (March 5). Then, the Russian military towed their ship Ochakov to the navigating channel and filled her with water. Then, there was an explosion. The depth in this area is 9-11 m, it is possible now to observe the upper part of the ship. Therefore, the ships cannot leave the Donuzlav lake.
Pic at the link. Looks like the Russians put a cork in the bottle alright...
Ochakov was stationed in the Russian Black Sea Fleet as of 2011, however it has not been operational since the early 2000.
That sounds like much of the Russian navy...
In 1961 the Donuzlav Lake was connected to the Black Sea by inlet, in fact turning the lake into the bay of the Black Sea. It is the largest lake of Donuzlav Tarhankut group of lakes and the deepest lake in the Crimea and in Europe.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/06/2014 10:36 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Classic.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/06/2014 10:55 Comments || Top||

#2  not bad at all...

Posted by: Yosemite Sam || 03/06/2014 11:21 Comments || Top||

#3  And here we've been mocking the Russian Navy for their collection of rusting hulls. Well played, comrades.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/06/2014 12:32 Comments || Top||

#4  ..I'm not a Military Strategery guy, and I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it is, I believe, not a far stretch to see this Ukraine thing blow up into something really bad. Although I am sure the P-gon Brass Hats are doing their best to keep a lid on it, President Ego and the Minions (TM) could push this beyond controllable (but, hey, at least it will get O-Care and the other scandals off the above-fold, eh?).

In a past life, I was required to be very aware of the price of precious metals and I have an empirically-founded belief that their prices represent, to a large degree, the confidence the world has in the ability of the US to keep things reasonably sane. Of recent, said prices seem to be saying "maybe not so much"..
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 13:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Wonder if they completed an environmental impact statement before they sunk it?
Posted by: USN,ret || 03/06/2014 14:16 Comments || Top||

#6  Wonder if they completed an environmental impact statement

To misquote some guy, you go to war with the paperwork you have.
Posted by: SteveS || 03/06/2014 14:26 Comments || Top||

#7  Hey, Ukrainians! You sank a Russian ship and didn't lose any of yours! You won!
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/06/2014 14:48 Comments || Top||

#8  Ukrainians should counter by threatening to sink a ship blocking the Bospurus in some way. Spite, its what's for dinner.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 03/06/2014 15:30 Comments || Top||

#9  OTOH - perhaps the views are changing - what does Russia want and how will they get it? Is this simply blockading their own port? And that is defined as success how? Tactically? Strategically?

Sure, The Ukraine could go nuts and do something stupid, but every day which passes without violence makes Russia look sillier. More importantly, every day which passes makes the next violent incident more certainly Russian.

And if Czar Putin thinks he dealt with the Caucasus efficiently, wait until he faces fellow Slavs under like conditions.

If Germany and Turkey hold bilateral meetings, he's completely boxed himself in. Could happen by this weekend.
Posted by: Halliburton - Mysterious Conspiracy Division || 03/06/2014 16:40 Comments || Top||

#10  This signals Putin intends to take more than Crimea.
Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/06/2014 18:39 Comments || Top||

#11  Another sign of Putin NOT backing down agz the Bammer.

* TOPIX > OBAMA VERSUS PUTIN - WHO WILL BLINK FIRST?

* SAME > [WaPo] THE US RETREATS | AS THE US RETREATS, WHO WILL FILL THE VACUUM?

Lets ask the OWG Globalists shall we???

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Guardian] RUSSIA REFUSES TO ORDER CRIMEA SELF-DEFENSE FORCES TROOPS TO PULL BACK IN TALKS WID US.

versus

* TOPIX > [Daily Star] US GAINS FROM UPDATING THE LIBERAL INTERNATIONAL ORDER.

Once again, wid feeling, LETS ASK THE OWG GLOBALISTS, SHALL WE???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/06/2014 22:08 Comments || Top||


Ukraine: UN envoy Robert Serry threatened by armed men in Crimea as tension continues
[ABC.NET.AU] The United Nations
...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks...
special envoy to Crimea has been forced to abandon his mission to the tense region after he was threatened by pro-Russian gunnies and later heckled by protesters.

Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, there has been little progress on resolving the standoff between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean peninsula.

Seasoned diplomat Robert Serry had been sent to assess the situation for UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
.

He was confronted by between 10 and 15 gunnies outside the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Crimea's capital Simferopol, and warned he "should leave Crimea".

After he was prevented from returning to his vehicle, he took refuge in a café where he called his UN colleagues and tried to work out how to get back to his hotel.

A hostile group of activists shouting pro-Russia chants briefly blocked his exit.

Mr Serry then left on foot for his hotel after his safety was assured. He was then driven to the international airport, where he boarded the first flight out of the region - to Istanbul.

"He's fine. The self-defence militias in Simferopol have guaranteed his security," his assistant told AFP by phone from the car.

UN deputy secretary general Jan Eliasson said: "He is in good shape physically but he feels threatened."

Mr Serry is expected to travel on to Kiev.

Some initial reports had spoken of a kidnapping but the United Nations quickly denied that.

Sergei Aksyonov, the newly installed pro-Russian prime minister of Crimea, was quoted by Russian agency RIA Novosti justifying the threats made against Mr Serry.

"We did not send them an invitation. They did not warn us of their arrival. The usual procedure in these instances was not followed," he said of the UN mission.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  UN 'rats always forget they're not world government.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/06/2014 6:55 Comments || Top||

#2  UN 'rats always forget they're not world government.

Sure about that g(r)om?

Some people, including judges, seem to think that internations deals trump everything (see MaryJane story).
Posted by: AlanC || 03/06/2014 7:32 Comments || Top||

#3  Nice slam against Russia, claiming hey're Russians, prove it, or shut up.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/06/2014 8:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Can't we send Congress to the Ukraine?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/06/2014 9:35 Comments || Top||

#5  AC, it's a matter of experience. Russians lived under communists for 3 generations, so they learned to spot these types on the 4th word.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/06/2014 12:30 Comments || Top||


Hillary Clinton compares Putin moves to Hitler's
[Al Ahram] Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Richelieu ...
has compared Russian President Vladimir Putin
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
's recent steps in Ukraine to aggression by Adolf Hitler
...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days as a politician somebody doesn't like...
in 1930s Nazi Germany, a local paper reported.
To me, it looks a lot more like Hungary in 1956, or Dubček's Czechoslovakia.
Yes, but you know what a háček is, and how to use it. Clearly you oughtn't be trusted.
Clinton, speaking at a private event Tuesday in southern Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, said Putin's apparent deployment of Russian troops into neighboring Ukraine -- a former Soviet satellite state -- to protect Russian citizens and Russian-speakers recalls moves by Hitler to protect ethnic Germans living outside of Germany.
Or perhaps we might look at events leading up to the Crimean War in 1853. But that's probably too far back in a world where memories end sometime in 1943.
The Long Beach Press Telegram which reported the story said Clinton noted that Putin has sought to provide Russian passports to people in Ukraine with ties to Russia.
Kinda like, you know, Russia protecting Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule...
In the aftermath of the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych, Kiev's new authorities have accused Putin of inflaming tensions by sending troops into the Crimea, a majority-Russian peninsula in Ukraine.
Russia destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Sinope...
"Now if this sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the 30s," the Press Telegram quoted Clinton as telling attendees at a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,.
Tell 'em what happened in 1854, Hillary!
"The ethnic Germans, the Germans by ancestry who were in places like Czechoslovakia and Romania and other places, Hitler kept saying they're not being treated right. 'I must go and protect my people,' and that's what's gotten everybody so nervous," she added.
The Orthodox Christians who were groaning under the Ottoman yoke, were a pet concern of the Tsars.
Clinton is a potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, and she has generally shied away from much detailed public discussion of foreign policy since leaving the State Department early last year.
She's afraid somebody's going to say "Benghazi."
Her comments could be seen as offsetting her role in President Barack Obama's
I am not a dictator!...
much-publicized move to "reset" relations with Moscow in 2009 when she was chief US diplomat.
Tell 'em about the Confederation of Independent States in 1992, Hill...
With pro-Kremlin forces seizing control of the strategic Crimea, Clinton said Putin "believes his mission is to restore Russian greatness," in part by reasserting dominance over former Soviet states.
Perhaps he could start with Chechnya? Or Dagestan?
Clinton spoke of the hopes for a negotiation that will reduce tensions in what has become Europe's worst security crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kosovo is the parallel that comes to mind. Not much concern for territorial integrity there.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2014 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Putin compares Hillary to Baba Yaga?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/06/2014 6:56 Comments || Top||

#3  ..or the palace intrigues that got Catherine (yet to be Great) her throne.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/06/2014 8:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Who listens to Shrillary?

Not I.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/06/2014 8:42 Comments || Top||

#5  ..I'll believe it when she "unfriends" him..
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 10:21 Comments || Top||

#6  She knows something about which she talks. When Slick Willy was not fooling around (or maybe during), he had his DOJ go after the Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge.
Posted by: JohnQC || 03/06/2014 10:33 Comments || Top||

#7  And who is Chamberlain in this scenario, eh, Nevilla?
Posted by: regular joe || 03/06/2014 10:56 Comments || Top||

#8  Umm, madam Secretary, there is a cable from the US Embassy and Ambassador in the Ukraine warning that war was no longer unthinkable between Russia and the Ukraine. Even warned about it coming to a head before 2015, and specifically starting in the Crimea. This was October, 2009. Why did you leave the state department with no apparent contingency plans for the current Sec State, and no preparations, despite being warned by your ambassador more than 4 years prior to the event.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/06/2014 11:58 Comments || Top||

#9  ..nevermind <LINK>
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 13:50 Comments || Top||


Ukraine crisis: Russia warns of dropping US dollar as reserve currency if US imposes sanctions
[ST] MOSCOW (REUTERS) -- A Kremlin aide was quoted on Tuesday as saying that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow might be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off any loans to US banks.
Good luck with that, Sparky...
Mr Sergei Glazyev, who is often used by the authorities to stake out a hardline stance but does not make policy, was cited by RIA news agency as saying Moscow could recommend that all holders of US treasuries sell them if Washington freezes the US accounts of Russian businesses and individuals.

The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing legislation to provide support to Ukraine and consulting the Obama administration on possible sanctions against individual Russians, the committee's chairman said on Monday.

The committee was also consulting with President Champ's administration on possible sanctions against individuals ranging from visa bans and asset freezes to suspending military cooperation and sales, as well as economic sanctions.
Here comrade, please hold my horse while I shoot myself.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Even Zerohedge hasn't figured out that we are looking at the end of multi-lateral trade. At best, we are looking at currency zones of trade. With perhaps gold as the basis for inter-zone trade.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2014 3:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Our regime seems to be setting up the world for a melt-down that will make Chernobyl look like an ice cube in summer.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/06/2014 7:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Being the world's largest oil producer gives Russia a bit of leverage, even if they produce most of what they consume.
With or without the Great, Awesome and Most Admirable Obama, the world has been on the edge of a meltdown for almost 10 years now. Just when it'll happen and what will happen is uncertain. An impossible situation, such as the one we're in, won't go on forever. "Too Big to Fail" is a key part of our impossible situation.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/06/2014 8:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Dumping the dollar means selling your treasuries. Lots of them.

Not only will you lose big if you do, China, which holds a lot more of them, won't be amused.

Not going to happen
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/06/2014 22:45 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Erdogan Bey 'ready to quit' if party loses local polls
[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan
... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet...
said Wednesday he was ready to step down if his ruling party, in power since 2002, loses key local elections later this month.

"I am ready to quit politics unless my party emerges winner in the elections" scheduled for March 30, said Erdogan, who is battling a damaging corruption investigation which poses the greatest challenge yet to his 11 years in power.

But the opposition slammed Erdogan's remarks as a "show of defiance".

"It is equal to taking hostage the will of people and disrespecting the society. Are the people obliged to vote for Erdogan?" asked Mehmet Sandir, the deputy head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).

The graft scandal broke last December with the detention of dozens of Erdogan allies on allegations of bribery, money laundering, gold smuggling and illicit dealings with Iran.

Erdogan has accused associates of ally-turned-opponent Fethullah Gulen, an influential Mohammedan holy man based in the United States, of concocting the probe.

But the scandal -- and his hardline response to it -- have done unprecedented damage to the premier's image at home and abroad.

Opinion polls show the scandal is hurting Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), which weathered mass street protests mid last year.

A January survey by the Metropoll research company showed support for the AKP at 36.3 percent, far below the 50 percent it garnered in 2011's parliamentary elections.

The Turkish strongman remained defiant, saying Wednesday the number of supporters filling election rallies suggested a backlash in his favour.

But Erdogan has come under increased pressure since last week, when audio tapes leaked online put him at the heart of the corruption allegations.

The recordings were purportedly of Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing how to hide large sums of money.

Erdogan denounced them as fakes, part of a "vile attack" by his political rivals ahead of this year's elections.

But the tapes prompted opposition calls for the beleaguered government's resignation.

And thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in protest, with police on occasion firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators.

The embattled premier has responded by sacking or reassigning hundreds of police and prosecutors believed to be linked to the Gulen movement, and tightened his grip over Internet and the judiciary.

Gulen himself denies any involvement in launching the scandal.

In the latest blow to so-called Gulenists, the Turkish parliament, where Erdogan's AKP has comfortable majority, passed a law last Friday to shut down a network of private preparatory schools most of which are run by the movement.

In remarks published in local media Wednesday, Erdogan vowed to take action against the Gulen group after the elections.

"We will promptly take several measures after the March 30 local elections," he said, without elaborating.

At its February meeting, Turkey's National Security Council discussed "organizations and structures" that threatened the country's national security interests.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  um, if you loose an election, what happens next is not normally referred to as "quitting".
Posted by: Nguard || 03/06/2014 10:32 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
37 Year Old George Bush Elected to Public Office in Texas
FORT WORTH, Texas -- George P. Bush took the first step toward continuing his family's political dynasty Tuesday, shaking off an under-funded primary challenger and securing the Republican nomination for the little-known but powerful post of Texas land commissioner.

The 37-year-old Fort Worth attorney is the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, nephew of former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and son of ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is frequently mentioned as a possible GOP White House hopeful in 2016.

He's also a Spanish speaker whose mother Columba was born in Mexico and who Republican leaders statewide long have toasted as key to wooing voters among Texas' booming Hispanic population.

"We don't have to change our conservative principles to win, we just need to change our tactics," said Bush, who spoke English and Spanish to the crowd at his victory party at a Fort Worth Mexican restaurant. His mother was among the attendees.

He noted that his campaign traveled to numerous heavily Hispanic areas, including making several trips to the Texas-Mexico border.

"You'll see that we have tea party friends, that we have mainstream conservatives, we have strong Latino support and a lot of younger voters," he said.
Even though he is another Bush, his philosophy is very much like another popular and articulate Texas Latino politician, US Congressman Ted Cruz.
As the Saudis found to their dismay, American sons cannot be guaranteed to follow their fathers' philosophies. Fascinating that this grandson continues that family tradition.
Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I met him in Colorado Springs in 2004 during W's reelection campaign. Very well spoken and seemed to be very genuine. Especially next to the politicians from the area that were there as well. P stood out and was the only one I didn't feel like washing after I shook hands.

Best of luck to him and I really hope he is still the nice guy I met way back then.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/06/2014 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Ted Cruz endorsed him from what I hear. That carries a lot of anti-establishment credibility IMHO.
Posted by: OldSpook || 03/06/2014 17:03 Comments || Top||

#3  As per the MSM-Net, since the Commie Party USA repor wants to sue the Democrats for usurping = stealing their agenda, methinks I see an opportunity for Bro + alleged Commie Uncle NEIL BUSH???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/06/2014 21:23 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Lawyers booked for beating cop
[DAWN] FAISALABAD: Police registered two cases on Wednesday against five lawyers and one of their clerks on charges of thrashing a policeman on court premises.

On Tuesday, ASI Shakeel Ahmad along with his colleague stopped a man later identified as Irfan, clerk of lawyer Imtiaz Luna, and asked him for identification. Irfan exchanged words with the coppers and refused his body search.

Irfan informed Luna about the incident who rushed to the spot along with his accomplices. They allegedly thrashed the ASI and dispersed.

Security measures had been put in place following attack on the courts in Islamabad.

Civil Lines police on the complaint of the ASI started the paperwork but haven't done much else under section 353, 186, 147, 148 and 506 of the PPC against Luna and four others.

A case has also been registered with Kotwali police against Irfan on the complaint of Constable Mubashar Niazi under sections 353, 186 and 506 of PPC.

However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
no arrest was made.
Posted by: Fred || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Man bites dog.

Or maybe, lizard bites dog.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/06/2014 2:49 Comments || Top||

#2  It's Pakistan. At a profound level, the nation is a violent paranoid schizophrenic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/06/2014 6:46 Comments || Top||

#3  At a less profound level, Pakistan is a brawl.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/06/2014 8:22 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Raytheon Calls Its Tomahawk Cruise Missile The 'Transformer Of Modern Weapons'
..now with loiter capability.!
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 03/06/2014 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Tomahawks that circle for hours, take and send back pictures but cannot return but must be signaled to strike and explode. 1) The gps of the target is not known until arrival and the target is to be targeted visually remotely. 2) The target is a moving target (warship, military convoy, troop concentration) and to be targeted visually.
Posted by: Omavising Ebbemp9815 || 03/06/2014 12:31 Comments || Top||

#2  And this is something new?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 03/06/2014 12:56 Comments || Top||

#3  Apparently not.
Posted by: gorb || 03/06/2014 15:05 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
31[untagged]
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1Hezbollah
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1Ansar al-Sharia
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Abu Sayyaf

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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2014-03-06
  Drone Strike Kills 4 Qaida Suspects in Yemen
Wed 2014-03-05
  Israel Seizes Iranian Ship Packed With Advanced Rockets Bound For Palestinian Terrorists In Gaza
Tue 2014-03-04
  Egypt bans Hamas activities in Egypt
Mon 2014-03-03
  A day after Taliban ceasefire: jets bomb Taliban hideout; five killed
Sun 2014-03-02
  Blasts targeting polio team kill 11 in Khyber agency
Sat 2014-03-01
  ISIL Jihadists Retreat from Parts of North Syria after al-Nusra Ultimatum
Fri 2014-02-28
  PTI ends Nato supply blockade
Thu 2014-02-27
  Al Nusra jihadists declare war on ISIS jihadists
Wed 2014-02-26
  Jets pound militant hideouts in Waziristan; 30 killed
Tue 2014-02-25
  Gunmen Kill Senior Pakistan Taliban Commander
Mon 2014-02-24
  Zawahiri's Representative Killed in Syria Suicide Blast
Sun 2014-02-23
  Nine killed as gunships strike militant hideouts in Hangu
Sat 2014-02-22
  Gunmen storm Presidential compound in Mogadishu
Fri 2014-02-21
  40 killed as fighter jets bomb Taliban in Waziristan, Khyber
Thu 2014-02-20
  6 Dead as Qaida Claims Suicide Blasts in Beirut's Southern Suburbs


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