Puppet MastersS


Airplane

Russia says intercepted US drone over Crimea: arms group

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© AFP Photo/John MooreA US predator drone takes off for a surveillance flight near the Mexican border on March 7, 2013
A United States surveillance drone has been intercepted above the Ukranian region of Crimea, a Russian state arms and technology group said Friday.

"The drone was flying at about 4,000 metres (12,000 feet) and was virtually invisible from the ground. It was possible to break the link with US operators with complex radio-electronic" technology, said Rostec in a statement.

The drone fell "almost intact into the hands of self-defence forces" added Rostec, which said it had manufactured the equipment used to down the aircraft, but did not specify who was operating it.

Quenelle

Poll: Vladimir Putin is stronger than President Obama (and John Kerry)‏

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Maybe it is the photos of him posing shirtless on horseback, or his military push into Ukraine, but Americans in a new poll believe Russian President Vladimir Putin is a much stronger leader than President Obama.

A YouGov/Economist survey of 1,000 adults interviewed March 8-10 found that 78 percent view Putin as somewhat to very strong leader. Just 45 percent see Obama the same way. Worse, more Americans, 55 percent, view Obama as a weak leader.

The poll comes as the president is struggling with a response to Putin's push into Ukraine and expectations that Crimea will break off and join Russia.

Quenelle

Pusillanimous John Kerry: Russia has until Monday to reverse course in Ukraine

John Kerry
© AP Photo/Charles DharapakSecretary of State John Kerry pauses while testifying on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 12, 2014, before the House Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs Budget hearing.
Secretary of State John Kerry warned of serious repercussions for Russia on Monday if last-ditch talks over the weekend to resolve the crisis in Ukraine failed to persuade Moscow to soften its stance.

Kerry will travel to London for a Friday meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov ahead of a Sunday referendum vote in the Crimea region to secede from Ukraine and join the Russian Federation.

Comment: Every time this guy opens his mouth a little piece of the truth is murdered in broad daylight. When a man who belongs in a padded cell is Secretary of State, you know politics has become a total freak show.


Light Sabers

More empty, hypocritical talk from politicians as Russia deploys 10,000 troops near Ukraine border


Ukraine's prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk has accused Russia of demonstrating unacceptable "military aggression" which has "no reason and no grounds".

Moscow has deployed 10,000 troops along its border with Ukraine, deepening the crisis in Crimea ahead of a last desperate effort by the US secretary of state, John Kerry, to broker a deal with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, in London on Friday.

Bad Guys

Ousting of Libyan PM Ali Zeidan brings threat of civil war thanks to US "regime change"‏

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© Esam Omran Al-Fetori/REUTERSRebels at Es Sider port in Ras Lanuf, Libya.
The ousting of Libya's prime minister, who fled to Europe this week, has triggered fighting between eastern and western regions that threatens to divide the country.

Ali Zeidan, a popular figure with western diplomats, was sacked by the Islamist-led congress on Tuesday after failing to prevent a North Korean tanker loading oil from a port controlled by rebels in the eastern region of Cyrenaica.

Fearing arrest following his dismissal, Zeidan made a late-night escape from Tripoli aboard a private jet, leaving behind a fractured government and a country in turmoil, fighting over its rich oil resources.

Radar

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Conflicting claims in the media

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© He Jingjia/REXDirector general of Malaysia's department of civil aviation Azharuddin Abdul Rahman, left, and acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein face the press.
The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 - and the 239 people onboard - has been marked by media coverage rife with rumors, false reports, ambiguous information and a general lack of clarity about what we know and which leads are more substantial than others.

The confusion has in part been due to the number of factors at play: the 12 nations participating in the search; the menagerie of officials telling stories that don't necessarily align; the complicated way airlines run systems and safeguards; the complicated way in which airplanes function; the vast area in question; the fallibility of search technology; and, finally, the inevitable torrent of speculation by all parties, including the public.

Penis Pump

Poland wants fracking gas fast and offer tax incentives to spur shale investment

Drilling rig in Poland
© Reuters / Kacper PempelA drilling rig is seen at sunset at Grabowiec 6 near the village of Lesniowice, southeast Poland
The Polish government said it will offer 6-year tax breaks for shale gas companies in an effort to fast track investment and exploration. The announcement comes as energy tension with Russia run high over Ukraine.

The new tax break is aimed at helping Poland attract foreign companies to explore and invest in the country's shale oil reserves, believed to be the largest in Europe, according to data by the US Energy Information Administration.

The tax break will be "a huge incentive" to get investors interested and on the ground, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday, adding that by 2020 taxes "shouldn't exceed 40 percent of extraction income."

Between 2020-2029, the new incentives will contribute up to $5 billion in revenue, according to Tusk.

The proposal will be sent to parliament within two weeks, and the prime minister hopes it will pass without any hiccups.

Earlier in February, Poland ditched plans to use a state company to explore for shale gas, instead deciding to auction off licenses to foreign companies. Exxon Mobil and Marathon Oil are both interested in the country's shale industry. Some state-controlled companies have also won licenses for exploration.

Maciej Grabowski, Poland's environment minister, expects the country's first commercial shale gas well to be drilled this year, and hopes to have over 200 wells in the next few years. The country wants to become an exporter, and not an importer of natural gas.

Comment: Poland has done their bit to stoke the fires of war in Ukraine and if the gas will be turned off now during a "gas war", then will only have themselves to blame.
For more on fracking:
Doctors call on President Obama for more regulation on fracking
Study says fracking chemicals interfere with endocrine functions, linked to heightened risks of cancer, low fertility rates and decreased sperm quality
New study links fracking to birth defects in heavily drilled Colorado
Opposed to fracking? Then the corporatocracy considers you to be a terrorist
Europe to ditch climate protection goals - make way for fracking
Investigation confirms evils of fracking
EPA will let frackers keep on dumping chemicals into the sea


Wolf

Ex-Ukraine security chief claims foreign mercenaries took part in Maidan violence

mercenaries Maiden Ukraine
© Agence France-Press / Sergei Supinsky
There is no doubt there were mercenaries at Maidan, the former head of Ukraine's security service, Aleksandr Yakimenko, says.

The violence on Maidan which caused almost 100 deaths was organized by some opposition leaders who poured Western money and resources into the coup, Yakimenko told the Russia-1 TV channel. Now Major General Alexander Yakimenko is in the top five of Maidan's hit list. He made it to that list while he was still in his office in Kiev.

Q: How did you manage to escape?

Aleksandr Yakimenko: I am a Security Service officer.

Q: Where did those snipers come from?

mercenaries Maiden Ukraine 3
© Agence France-Press/ Sergei Supinsky
AY: First shots were fired from the Philharmonic building. Maidan Commandant Parubiy was in charge of the building. On February 20, this building was used as a base by the snipers and people with automatic weapons. They basically covered those who were attacking the demoralized policemen running in panic, hunted down like animals. They were followed by armed people with different kinds of weapons. At that point, somebody opened fire at those who attacked the police, and some of them were killed. All this fire was coming from the Philharmonic building. After this first round of fire, about 20 people came out of this building - this was witnessed by many. These people wore special combat clothes and carried sniper rifle cases, as well as AKMs with scopes. There were witnesses, and not just our operatives, but also Maidan activists from Svoboda, Right Sector, Batkivshchyna, and UDAR.

The snipers split into two groups - 10 men each. The Security Service lost track of one of the groups. The other group took a position at the Ukraine hotel. Killings continued. In the beginning, when the shots were scattered, I was asked by Right Sector and Svoboda to mobilize a Special Forces unit and remove the snipers from the buildings.

Stormtrooper

Ukraine: How to Hide a Nazi Army

neo-nazis ukraine
Blanket denials have been made across the Western media regarding the presence of Neo-Nazis among the ranks of "Euromaidan" mobs that had rioted in Kiev for months before finally executing a coup, ousting the democratically elected government of Ukranian President Viktor Yanukovych. A prime example of this was the Daily Beast's article, "Putin's Crimea Propaganda Machine," which disingenuously twists reality by stating:
And of course, Crimea's streets are not full of Neo-Nazis, because the population of eastern Ukraine wholly rejects the abhorrent ideology of the "Euromaidan's" Nazi vanguard, and backs Russian forces who have been permanently stationed there for years under treaty and as a consequence, have deterred any abusive incursions by the far-right into the region.
Still, the impression the Daily Beast would like to get across to readers is that the concept of Neo-Nazis leading the so-called "revolution" in Kiev, is absurd. In fact, the truth that Kiev's Independence Square was full of Nazis, was right under the nose of the entire world - with a handful of Western journalists even admitting as much.

Eye 1

What's Sauce for the goose dept.: Feinstein: CIA searched Intelligence Committee computers

A behind-the-scenes battle between the CIA and Congress erupted in public Tuesday as the head of the Senate Intelligence Committee accused the agency of breaking laws and breaching constitutional principles in an alleged effort to undermine the panel's multi-year investigation of a controversial interrogation program.

Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accused the CIA of ­secretly removing documents, searching computers used by the committee and attempting to intimidate congressional investigators by requesting an FBI inquiry of their conduct - charges that CIA Director John Brennan disputed within hours of her appearance on the Senate floor.


Senate Intelligence Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) accused the CIA of breaking the law by searching her committee's computers. The Post's Karen Tumulty, Scott Wilson, Terence Samuel and Adam Goldman explain the impact in Washington.

. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) questioned whether a CIA search of congressional records might have undermined government oversight during a Senate floor speech Tuesday.

Feinstein described the escalating conflict as a "defining moment" for Congress's role in overseeing the nation's intelligence agencies and cited "grave concerns" that the CIA had "violated the separation-of-powers principles embodied in the United States Constitution."