Two phone conversations have recently been intercepted by "parties unknown" (thank you Spetssviaz & 6th GRU!) which are truly revealing of the true nature of the folks put in power by the CIA.

The first one is a conversation between Igor Kolomoisky, mega-oligarch, Mafia don, dual Ukrainian-Israeli citizen and "junta governor" of the city of Dnepropetrovsk in southeastern Ukraine and Oleg Tsarev, ex-candidate in the Presidential election (ex Party of Regions, now independent), the one who was brutally assaulted in Kiev after participating to a show called - I kid you not - "free speech". This is the machine translated transcript of the conversation (slightly corrected by me):

Kolomoysky: Hi.
Tsarev: Hi.
Kolomoysky: Where are you? Same place?
Tsarev: Same place.
Kolomoysky: How are you?
Tsarev: Good.
Kolomoysky: There's big trouble happened . A Jew of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish community was killed.
Tsarev: What happened there?
Kolomoysky: Well, a Jew got killed, one of the Dnepropetrovsk Jewish community . I am right now in the synagogue.
Tsarev: What was he doing there?
Kolomoysky: Well , no matter what he did. They said that they would put a contract on your life, fuck, big money.
Tsarev: For my life?
Kolomoysky: Million dollars. For your life. Yes. Moreover , they said that will be looking everywhere. Well, I just say that this so you say in Moscow, don't travel anywhere.
Tsarev: Let me tell you something . In Africa, there are ...
Kolomoysky: Tomorrow they will go after your people (family) here.
Tsarev: In Africa, there is such a ... such a poison ...
Kolomoysky: Look, I don't give a fuck about Africa. I don't care about this. I am telling you that in the synagogue on the eve of the Sabbath there was a prayer. They prayed for the slain fellow Jew, comrade Shlemkevich, who was killed in Mariupol, fuck!
Tsarev: So ...
Kolomoysky: And they said that Tsarev is to blame for it all, fuck. And tomorrow, fuck, the first thing they will do is look for all your loved ones, fuck. You better tell them to get the fuck out of here. Because we will hang them right on the public square, fuck ... And tell Markov not to come here. Well, in the Ukraine. Under any circumstances . You hear me?
Tsarev: Do not call me . Do not call me , Igor.
Kolomoysky: Not to call you? Ok. So long Tsarev
Tsarev: Come on. Bye.

Charming no?

Vietnam insists that China stops offshore oil exploration in the South China Sea within Vietnam's territorial waters, the country's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh told Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on the phone on Thursday.

The Vietnamese Foreign Ministry said on Friday the Minister had criticized Beijing's installation of the oil rig Haiyang Shiyou 981 in early May near the Paracel Islands, which the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea defines as part of Vietnam's 200 mile exclusive economic zone. Such actions contravene all earlier agreements between the two countries about the settlement of South China disputes, said Pham Binh Minh.

The Vietnamese Minister confirmed Hanoi's adherence to peaceful settlement of the new turn in relations with the northern neighbor as "Vietnam remains moderate and is guided by good will to ease tension in the two countries' relations". Binh Minh has sent his deputy to Beijing as a special representative and hopes for China's positive reaction.

A former general is accusing the U.S. military of not even trying to save the Americans under attack at Benghazi in 2012.

A high-ranking officer in the U.S. Africa Command on the night of the Benghazi attacks is now saying that the U.S. military did not try and was never even ordered to save the Americans under attack at the U.S. diplomatic outpost on the September 11, 2012 attack.

In explosive testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, retired Air Force Brigadier General Robert Lovell said bluntly about the military's response on the night of the Benghazi attack: "The discussion is not in the 'could or could not' in relation to time, space and capability, the point is we should have tried."

The death toll in Iraq shows no signs of decreasing as the country suffered one of its deadliest months in April with 1,009 people killed, according to the country's Interior Ministry.

Civilians were the biggest casualties with 881 deaths, while 128 law enforcement members were also killed. Terrorist attacks were the biggest cause of loss of life, with these attacks killing in the region of 750. During April, 1375 Iraqi's were injured.

The figures could have been even higher but data from the restive region of Anbar in the west of the country was not included. The province borders Syria and has seen heavy fighting between government forces and Islamist terrorist groups.

Iraq has been torn by a new wave of violent attacks since April 2013, with the numbers of dead jumping to its highest levels since the worst of the country's sectarian bloodshed in 2006-2008.

The approval rating of Russian President Vladimir Putin has reached 85.9 percent, a six-year high, according to polling data by the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM).

"The approval of the actions of the President of the Russian Federation has been growing for five consecutive months already. Since April, Putin's rating rose from 82.2 percent to 85.9 percent, and since the beginning of the year - by more than a third," the pollster said.

The United States plans to sell nearly $1 billion worth of warplanes, armored vehicles and surveillance aerostats to Iraq.

The deal includes 24 AT-6C Texan II light-attack aircraft, a turboprop plane manufactured by Beechcraft that has .50 caliber machine guns, advanced avionics and can carry precision-guided bombs, the Pentagon said.

The aircraft and related equipment and services are valued at $790 million.

The Pentagon's Defense Security Cooperation Agency informed Congress on Tuesday of the planned sale, which will go ahead unless lawmakers block the deal.

The following solicitation from the U.S. Department of Agriculture almost defies belief. We've seen this type of bizarre behavior before, but it has mostly originated from the American Gestapo, aka the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). I highlighted this trend early last year in my post: Department of Homeland Security to Purchase 7,000 "Assault Weapons".

Here's a screenshot of the solicitation from the Department of Agriculture:
What is so important to understand about the current war/civil unrest cycle that the world has now entered into is that it will affect different regions and nations differently.

Russia's foreign minister softened his tone toward Ukraine, saying his country "can do business" with any elected president and warning that fighting in the country's east risks undermining a ballot's legitimacy.


"If there is somebody who emerges as a figure with the support of the majority of Ukrainians, of course it's easier to have such an interlocutor than self-appointed people," Sergei Lavrov, Russia's top diplomat, said today in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Lavrov said he's well acquainted with the poll-leading candidate for the May 25 election, billionaire Petro Poroshenko, who isn't a "fascist" unlike some members of the current administration who took over after the ouster of Kremlin-backed President Viktor Yanukovych in February. "We can do business with anyone," Lavrov said.

Secretary of State John Kerry addressed the staff of the U.S. embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Thursday as part of a seven-day trip through Africa. During his remarks, Kerry recognized the work of the foreign nationals employed by the embassy, and he singled out two nationals who recently received awards for their work in the foreign service. Kerry then used the opportunity to give all the nationals who work for the embassy some welcome news: an enormous pay increase of 42 percent (though during his remarks the secretary misspoke and said 45 percent):

"It means a lot to me that you came in here today, I really mean that, so that I have an opportunity to say thank you to you. But I've also got something special for you. Since it's a holiday, I'm going to make you feel really good. All of the Foreign Service nationals are about to get a 45 [Footnote: 42] percent pay increase. (Cheers and applause.) And I want you to know - (applause) - it's long overdue. You deserve it, and I want to note that the biggest applause of the day was for you getting your money, I don't know. (Laughter.) Go figure. (Laughter.)"

Kerry went on to tell the remaining staff that they would also receive a pay raise, albeit significantly smaller than that being given to the nationals:

The United States Department of Agriculture is probably one of the last federal agencies you'd expect to request a substantial amount, if any, of firearms, but that's precisely what it did last week.

In a solicitation posted on the government's Federal Business Opportunities website on May 7, the Agriculture Department requested an unknown number of submachine guns. The department also states it wants to get its hands on weapons with night sights in the front and the rear and magazines with a 30-round capacity.

The solicitation, which also calls for the submachine guns to be lightweight and feature slings, says:

"The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of Inspector General, located in Washington, DC, pursuant to the authority of FAR Part 13, has a requirement for the commerical [sic] acquisition of submachine guns, .40 Cal. S&W, ambidextrous safety, semi-automatic or 2 shot burts [sic] trigger group, Tritium night sights for front and rear, rails for attachment of flashlight (front under fore grip) and scope (top rear), stock-collapsilbe [sic] or folding, magazine - 30 rd. capacity, sling, light weight, and oversized trigger guard for gloved operation."