Puppet Masters
The agreement was signed by Crimean Prime Minister Sergei Aksionov and Rustam Minnikhanov, the head of Tatarstan.
After the document was signed in the Crimean Council of Ministers, Aksionov thanked members of Tatarstan's delegation for taking the time to come to Crimea "at this difficult time and plan steps for further cooperation."
Minnikhanov told reporters that more specific areas of cooperation will be determined within the next month by experts from the two governments.

Such leg-spreading can be very bad for your (and your country's) health at this age Mr president... or your imperial highness... it's really hard to keep up these days!
Vladimir Putin and Hugo Chávez had a lot in common: both leaders managed to convince people of the legitimacy of their corrupt governments, oppressed all dissidence and ran their overly resource-reliant countries into the ground. It is thus fitting that Mr. Putin should remember a tyrant of equal standing so fondly.
"Remembering this exceptional man, I cannot help but admire his strength of will, his courage, his indefatigable energy and his personal charm," wrote the Russian leader.
Nothing seems to be tempering the zeal of the elements managing the growing global octopus of U.S. covert intelligence operations, notwithstanding the revelations of astonishing excesses that have come to light in the last year.
The contempt that these operatives have demonstrated for the transparency that is required in a democracy has been met by lukewarm, at best, bleats of protest in the official corridors of power, going further to prove the impotence of our Congress than any gridlock on other issues could show.

The conversation featuring EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton was posted on YouTube.
A leaked phone call between the EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton and Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet has revealed that the two discussed a conspiracy theory that blamed the killing of civilian protesters in the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, on the opposition rather than the ousted government.
The 11-minute conversation was posted on YouTube - it is the second time in a month that telephone calls between western diplomats discussing Ukraine have been bugged.
In the call, Paet said he had been told snipers responsible for killing police and civilians in Kiev last month were protest movement provocateurs rather than supporters of then-president Viktor Yanukovych. Ashton responds: "I didn't know ... Gosh."
Comment: What the salaried U.S. government person is trying not to say is that the phone calls that were leaked to the press reveal uncomfortable truths that point towards his government's involvement in the crisis in Ukraine. So how to put the worms back in the can? Blame it on Russia! It's in fashion anyway now that the Cold War posters have been out of the old dusty closets and reused.
BREAKING! Kiev snipers hired by new coalition, not Yanukovych - Estonian FM to EU chief Ashton
Note that, to date, the above Guardian article is the ONLY Western mainstream media report on this bombshell leaked phone call between Ashton and Paet. Clearly an order came from on high to 'bury it'.
Maduro had three other diplomats expelled in September, including the charge d'affairs, Kelly Keiderling, after the government accused them of plotting with opponents.
The leader of the opposition, Leopoldo López Mendoza, has challenged the government to arrest him. Student-led protests have posed a serious challenge to Maduro's government.
The new Constitution of Ukraine must be adopted in a referendum, but the decision rested with the future legitimate authorities, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.
"A new Constitution must be adopted, and this must be done through a referendum so that all citizens of Ukraine could feel involved in that process, the process of shaping the main principles of their state system," he said. "It is no business of ours, but the business of the Ukrainian citizens and its authorities, who are the ones to decide," Putin added.
According to the document, Vitko "has committed crimes under Part 2, Article 27 and Part 1, Article 111 (incitement to treason), Part 3, Article 27 and Article 113 (engineering act of sabotage) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine".
"For committing the named crimes, the offender may face imprisonment for 3 to 15 years," the prosecutor's office reports.
Addressing the audience at the building of the Supreme Council, one of the deputies said: "Firstly, we've taken a decision to be part of the Russian Federation as Russia's subject. Secondly, the referendum will take place on March 16."
"Crimean residents will be asked: 'Are you for Crimea's being part of the Russian Federation?'," the deputy said, adding that the Supreme Council had also decided to address the Russian leadership to start a procedure for Crimea's being part of Russia.
Several thousands of people have gathered at the building and have Russian and Crimean flags in their hands.
"The referendum will take place March 16," said the autonomous region's First Deputy-Premier Rustam Temirgaliev, according to ITAR-TASS.
The new date is two weeks earlier than the one announced last week.
There will be two questions on the ballots.
"The first one: Are you in favor of Crimea becoming a constituent territory of the Russian Federation. The second one: Are you in favor of restoring Crimea's 1992 constitution," Temirgaliev said.
According to the 1992 constitution, the autonomous republic is part of Ukraine but has relations with Kiev, defined on the basis of mutual agreements.
Researchers believe that Putin's growing rating is the direct effect of the Sochi Winter Olympic Games and the situation around Ukraine and Crimea.
The poll conducted by WCIOM on March 1-2 indicated that 67.8% of respondents approve of Putin's work.













Comment: It must be very hard for those 'journalists' who happily spread the U.S. drivel against Vladimir Putin and the late Hugo Chavez, to understand the depth and quality of sentiment which the former took the time to express for a man whom he admires.
Of all the above, only the bolded parts contain any truth, but also that "it is getting lonely in the Kremlin", yet not in the way the 'journalist' indented.
Chavez's death - nefarious indeed! - means that there are very few heads of states left in the world, with true understanding and courage in their purpose to care for their people, who can stand up to the U.S. psychopathic imperial machine and its allies. Losing one, is a loss for all of us who can See.