Puppet MastersS


Quenelle

BREAKING! Crimean parliament votes to join Russia, hold referendum in 10 days on ratifying


RT.com
Thu, 06 Mar 2014 05:15 UTC
Image
A referendum on the status of Crimea will be held March 16, the region's deputy prime minister announced. Crimeans will be asked to decide if the autonomous republic stays part of Ukraine or joins Russia.

"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.
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Cowboy Hat

Putin's rating at two-year maximum for second week


ITAR-TASS
Thu, 06 Mar 2014 12:17 UTC
Image
© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Klementyev
Russian President Vladimir Putin's rating has remained at a two-year maximum level for the last two weeks, according to the data published by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (WCIOM) on March 6.

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.
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Bullseye

NATO Confirms "accidentally" killing Afghani troops

BBC
BBC.com
Thu, 06 Mar 2014 04:11 UTC
picard riker double facepalm
© UnknownWhen the fail is so strong, one facepalm is not enough
At least five soldiers from the Afghan army have been killed in a Nato air strike in eastern Afghanistan.

They were killed in the early hours of Thursday in the Charkh district of Logar province.

Nato confirmed the "unfortunate incident" and said it was investigating the circumstances behind the attack.

Correspondents say it is likely to anger President Hamid Karzai, who has been deeply critical of international air strikes that have killed civilians.

Comment: Yet another Drone Killing! You'd think with the increase in technology, they would be less prone to error? Apparently not, the trigger happy U.S. Drone Gamers just couldn't resist.

This is likely to send some serious ripples through the international community as the U.S, EU, and NATO are trying to project a holier-than-thou image as they try to strong arm Russia over America's FAILED Coup d'Etat in the Ukraine.

I can't see how these yahoos could have any credibility left.

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Eye 1

UK Police State: Changes to stop and search delayed


BBC News
Thu, 06 Mar 2014 01:59 UTC
Image
© BBC NewsOne man told Newsnight's Laura Kuenssberg he had been stopped and searched by police ''at least 100 times''
Plans to limit police stop and search powers in England and Wales have been held up by "regressive" attitudes in Downing Street, senior Conservatives have told BBC Newsnight.

The home secretary wrote to cabinet colleagues in December seeking approval to "reduce significantly" one type of stop and search, Newsnight has learned.

Despite setting a 12 December deadline, the changes are yet
to be announced.

Downing Street said the prime minister accepted reforms needed to take place.

However, officials have refused to say when any decisions might be taken.

Critics say stop and search unfairly targets the black community.

In November, the Equality and Human Rights Commission said that, overall, black people were six times more likely than white people to be stopped, with Asian or other ethnic minority groups two times more likely to be stopped.
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Bomb

NATO Airstrike kills 5, wounds 17 in Afghanistan

Associated Press
The Globe and Mail
Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:10 UTC
A U.S. F-16, F16 fighter jet
© AP Photo/Burhan OzbilichScurry Scurry NATO bombing and shoosting.
A provincial government official says an early morning NATO airstrike in Afghanistan's central Logar province killed 5 Afghan National Army soldiers and wounded another 17.

The official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to talk to the media, says the strike occurred at 2 a.m. Thursday.

Comment: Great Job NATO: Sign the Pact or we'll withdraw! Then they kill a bunch of people? Wow, what a great way NOT to get what you want. Something smells fishy about this story though.

It may be a scheme to push Afghanistan into the arms of Russia. Or it could just be shortsighted psychopathy at work.

UPDATE:

NATO has just confirmed that it "accidentally" killed 5 soldiers from Afghanistan. Wow. With these kind of friends, who needs enemies?

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Arrow Down

Watchdogs or dogs of war? "Presstitutes" follow Obama on Ukraine

Margaret Kimberley
Global Research
Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:35 UTC
The corporate media are a key component of the U.S. imperial machine. Although styling themselves as watchdogs, they are in fact the dogs of war, whose mission is to hide Washington's aggressions behind a fog of lies. War "crimes are committed with impunity in part because presidents get a helping hand from their corporate media partners."
Press
© Global Research
"Their behaviors are an effort to diminish any debates or arguments against the United States government."

Prominent journalists in the United States may as well be on the White House payroll. They are consistent cheerleaders for whoever occupies the oval office and the corporate corner office. They make no attempt to hide their allegiance to power and their lack of interest in informing the public.

The rotten state of affairs becomes all too obvious whenever a president threatens action against another country. Reporters act more like press agents and spring into action shielding and protecting the aggressors.

They make it clear to those few who gain access that questions, criticisms or anything else that smacks of independent thought will not to be tolerated.

The American decision to use Ukraine as a means of attacking Russian influence is the latest effort to prop up the empire, and the corporate media obligingly show their approval.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour was so eager to fly the American foreign policy flag that she pointedly took a colleague to task on air when he was guilty of nothing more than doing his job. Wolf Blitzer is a corporate media stalwart himself so he and everyone watching was surprised when Amanpour jumped down his throat when he quoted a Russian official.
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Bomb

Turncoat Obama knew of CIA shenanigans

RT
RT U.S. News
Wed, 05 Mar 2014 23:10 UTC
jefferson quote
© UnknownRemember, all that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good people to do nothing.
A US senator who has become one of the most vocal opponents of the US intelligence apparatus has claimed that US President Obama was aware the CIA monitored computers used by staffers who prepared reports on the agency's use of torture in interrogations.

Comment: You cannot have democracy in the dark. Half of the truth is still a lie.

You remember how Obama made all those promises about stuff like this. All that "change". Here is the proof that he is a dirty turn coat. A flat out traitor.

trai·torˈtrātər/noun
  1. 1.a person who betrays a friend, country, principle, etc."they see me as a traitor, a sellout to the enemy"synonyms:betrayer, backstabber, double-crosser, renegade, fifth columnist;


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Mr. Potato

Hypocritical U.S. Sends Warship to Black Sea


Russia Today
Wed, 05 Mar 2014 22:51 UTC
uss taylor black sea
© RTThe USS Taylor, Conventienly in the black sea undergoing "repairs" after running aground. That's like saying it hit a telephone pole, or backed into a tree. Who the hell is driving these things?
Turkey has given a US Navy Warship the green light to pass through the Bosphorus within the next two days as tensions in Ukraine's Crimea region continue to divide world powers.

Turkish sources, speaking with the Hurriyet Daily News on Wednesday, declined to elaborate on the name of the US warship. The same officials told the daily on condition of anonymity that the ship in question was not the USS George H.W. Bush nuclear aircraft carrier as suggested in some news reports, as it did not meet the standards specified by the 1936 Montreux Convention in terms of weight.

Comment: So here's how you know something is up. 1) Useless details. 2) Childishly Coy about Useful Details, 3) The American's Are Doing It.

Russia is like RIGHT next to the Ukraine. They actually lease a Navy Base from the Ukraine. America is really far away from the Ukraine. Like almost 5,000 miles away. They have no business, at all sending a Warship to the Black Sea, ever. If they wanted to De-escalate, as they claim, this situation, sending a Warship was the last thing that would help.

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Alarm Clock

Private license plate scanners amassing vast databases open to highest bidders


RT
Thu, 06 Mar 2014 01:58 UTC
cars
© Reuters / Seth Wenig

Automated license plate readers used by car repo companies, for example, collect billions of personal records per year, which contribute to vast databases that can be used by law enforcement, insurance companies, banks, and the like, with few limits.

BetaBoston, working with the Boston Globe, detailed one Boston repo company's data collection abilities, reporting that New England Associates Inc. can collect $200 to $400 for each vehicle found by an automated reader attached to an unmarked car. The company says it can typically add 8,000 license plate scans to its database in Texas each day.

Digital Recognition Network, which works with New England Associates, says it collects plate scans of 40 percent of all US vehicles per year.

According to the company's own disclosures, Digital Recognition Network operates in conjunction with around 400 repossession outfits across the US, has increased tenfold its plate scans since September 2010, and adds 70 million scans a month.
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Bad Guys

Obama wants projects in parks, more onshore drilling

Clare Foran
National Journal
Tue, 04 Mar 2014 19:37 UTC
Yosemite National Park in California
© Justin Sullivan/Getty ImagesA view of Half Dome and the Yosemite Valley at Yosemite National Park in California.

President Obama's budget proposal for fiscal 2015 highlights conservation as a priority while laying the groundwork for expanded oil and gas drilling on public lands, reflecting an administration belief that it can promote energy development without sacrificing environmental protection.

The budget blueprint unveiled Tuesday by the White House would provide permanent funding for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, a federal program that diverts revenues from offshore oil and gas production to conservation initiatives. The program has been around since 1964, but as Interior Secretary Sally Jewell pointed out during a press call on Tuesday, "ever since the fund has been around, with the exception of one year, it has been shorted in the appropriations process."

Obama's conservation requests follow an announcement by the president during his State of the Union address that he would "use [his] authority to protect more of our pristine federal lands for future generations."
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