Monday, July 21, 2014

The real grim reaper is Wall Street.

It would seem as though Wall Street is already picking over the bones of Malaysian Airlines. It is disgusting to say the least.

There is every indication there may have been people alive in their fall to Earth after the missile hit the Malaysian Airliner. The reports coming from the crash site describes people intact still strapped into their seats with clothing and jewelry.

No one could ever survive the fall. The person falling through the sky IF there was enough oxygen to support them at 33,000 feet when the initial missile exploded would have met death as soon as their seat hit the ground. The velocity alone may have proved too much for the human respiratory system to actually breath.

I was more than impressed that Russia has consented to a UN resolution regarding this tragedy. With all the anger leveled at Russia, it's current leadership is attempting to rise above the anger to bring about an understanding they are willing to be a part of the global consensus to resolve all there is to resolve.

Russia has sincere responsibility to bring about a reality to this event as they were monitoring their border with eastern Ukraine. But, Russia also has to realize the separatists that appear to be the people responsible for this tragedy identify themselves with an overthrow of a sovereign nation in Ukraine. The dissolution of the treaty was an impetus to the separatists current standing, buoyed by the Russian hubris regarding the Crimean Peninsula. Now, while that seems like an insult to Russia, the treaty was an international document.

Russia should build it's way back to status by recapturing the spirit of the treaty and return it's status to secure the borders and economy of Ukraine. If Russia willed the end of the separatist movement by returning an international treaty to it's status it would limit any legitimate reason for the continued conflict and would place Ukraine and Russia on the same side against any violence within Ukraine borders.


July 19, 2014

Red Reed Contributor

After two fatal crashes (click here) in five months, Malaysia Airlines faces a high barrier to continued operations, because history shows that the combination of crashes and financial difficulties has repeatedly contributed to carriers’ demise.

Aviation consultant Bob Mann said Malaysia Airlines’ continued existence was already threatened by poor financial results, particularly following the March 8 disappearance of Malaysia Flight 370.  The crash of Flight 17, shot down over Ukraine on Thursday, “is not going to help,” he said.

Although Malaysia Airlines is highly regarded for its service levels, “there’s a big distinction between service quality and technical merit, on the one hand, and being financially solvent enough to be around,” Mann said....

As far as Malaysian Airlines, it has a future. There are many people employed within an airline once considered a superior flight company. There will be no doubt some struggles until responsibility is assigned to this current tragedy, but, I doubt anyone wants it to fail.

The UN needs to invoke standards as to when a region of the world cannot be trusted for commercial flights. This was obviously a surprise in the missile launch that killed 285 people. It was hardly Malaysian Airlines fault as it was as naive as any other airline in route from Europe that day.

Wall Street needs to find CIVILITY within it's ranks as it would actually prevent financial failure as if it needs to reminded about financial failures. It was believed Wall Street was once lined with gentlemen and gentlewomen whom actually conducted business to benefit people. Not wolves looking forward to destroying economic vitality at every OPPORTUNITY. 

I always believed Wall Street's character descriptions was that of bears and bulls. It would seem as though the real character description is a blood thirsty pack of wolves comprised of Alphas competing for the same territory.


It isn't Hamas that doesn't care. Israel is diluted to believe this is not their problem.

Israel has been violating the trust of the Palestinians and the global community for decades now. The last agreement was a "Road Map" in 2003. The original UN partition plan is startling to realize how much land has been lost by the Palestinians. The original partition was from 1947. 

July 21, 2014
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (click here) blamed Hamas on Monday for trying to “pile up the bodies” of its own Palestinian people to generate sympathy while it fires more rockets into Israel — and Hamas responded by pointing the finger back at Israel.
In an interview with NBC News' Brian Williams, Netanyahu said that Israel had no choice but to defend itself and said the Palestinian militants are culpable for mounting civilian casualties.
"They just don’t care," said Netanyahu It’s important to make that clear. They are responsible for all the civilian deaths, which we seek to minimize."...

The whittling away of the Palestinian Territory over sixty-seven years has been astounding and the USA has been right in the middle of it. Every peace process was a more and more allowance to Israel.

I am quite confident everyone knows these maps as well. It is a crime if not a human rights tragedy to realize what blatant power can do to a nation of people.

The Palestinians are being forced to move from their land with a moving border and fence or wall at any whim by Israel. The Palestinian cry for their homeland has been muted by a BRANDING of "Terrorists."

When one considers the impoverishment of these people and their inability to live within their homeland; can it be a branding as terrorists sincerely deserving of their actions? Not anymore. The lack of faith in Israel to settle within borders is a growing concern to the stability of the entire region. What will stop Israel once the Palestinian lands are finally absorbed into it's borders?

I have heard the ranting by Israelis about how after 20 years of occupation any nation of people are entitled to it's borders. Somehow, the land Israel was presented with in 1947 was insufficient and the future would only hold a promise to defeat the rightful inhabitants of more and more of their land. The war and hostilities between these two nations of people GREW over the decades and it isn't Israel that is the aggrieved

The USA has been an ally of Israel since it's inception and rightfully so. But, to continue to ignore the problems the Palestinians have faced that have brought them to this precipice is the greatest injustice.

The Palestinians have a right to their homeland and it was President Obama that has called for the return of the 1967 AGREED border swap. That means the Palestinians have a homeland as due Hebrews. 

August 4, 2011
...Israeli officials (click here) said this framework would be a package deal whereby Israel would agree to entering negotiations using the 1967 lines, with mutually agreed upon swaps, as the baseline of talks; and the Palestinians would agree that the final goal of negotiations would be two states, a Palestinian one and Jewish one....

The Palestinians cannot live in mid-air. They cannot live forever on promises while their land disappears before their eyes. The killing has to stop. The peace agreement has to prevail and the border swaps concluded and finalized. We have all had quite enough of the labeling of terrorists while their future disappears as I write this. Israel is wrong. Israel is wrong in every meaning of the word and it has lost the moral stranding to continue their wars against a people unable to defend themselves.

I didn't need a Palestinian to brainwash me. I have watched and listened and supported efforts with Israel as a champion of peace. Israel lost it's moral arguments. They are old words and old images and it is quite enough.

Deaths in Israeli - Palestine conflicts since September 2000.

I agree with Secretary Kerry. Israel simply doesn't bother to engage in policing, it engages in disruption of  lives to drive them from Gaza. The strategy of "...we will continue the assault on Gaza until the rockets stop..." is to provide a reason, not a necessary reason, to remove and/or kill Palestinians while Israel continues it's settlements in West Bank lands.

July 21, 2014
..."It's a hell of a pinpoint operation. (click here) It's a hell of a pinpoint operation," he said during the call, which was broadcast on Fox News Sunday.
While Washington says Israel has a right to defend itself from rocket attacks launched out of Gaza, American diplomats have called on the Israelis to restrict themselves to a precise operation in the ground campaign launched on Thursday.
On Sunday, more than 60 Palestinians, including women and children, were killed as Israel shelled a Gaza neighbourhood and battled militants. Thirteen Israeli soldiers also were killed. Mr Kerry was expected to travel to the Middle East soon to press for a ceasefire.
"We got to get over there," Mr Kerry said in his overheard comments, apparently to an aide. "I think, John, we ought to go tonight. I think it's crazy to be sitting around."...

There was a time when Israel could target militants and kill them once there were known to be hostile to peace policies. I witnessed the exactly measure Israel used without killing innocent people. Today, that technology no longer serves the political narrative in Israel for more Israeli settlements. 

July 19, 2014
By Ben Lynfield
 

The Israeli operation in Gaza (click here) has aroused intense feelings of solidarity among West Bank Palestinians for their Gaza counterparts, fueling anger that could easily be sparked into widespread unrest.
''People can't sit idly and watch their brothers dying in Gaza,'' says Mahdi Abdul Hadi, director of the Palestinian Academic Society for the Study of International Affairs. ''What happens in the West Bank now will depend on how far the Israeli army will go ahead with reoccupying and dividing Gaza. It's too early to say but there is anger and frustration among the youth.''
Although there have been localized clashes in the West Bank since the brutal murder of an East Jerusalem teenager, Mohammed Abu Khdeir, was followed by the launch of Israel's Gaza operation, mass protests have been noticeably absent. Although the anger is there, Palestinian security forces' efforts to contain demonstrations coupled with reticence to see a repeat of the violence and chaos of the second intifada seems to have so far curtailed greater action. 
Neither Israel nor the Palestinian Authority want to see another front of the war open in the West Bank, which is mostly under Israeli military control but contains self-rule enclaves nominally governed by the Palestinian Authority....

More abuse by NYPD. Eric Garner should be alive today.

There have been over 1,000 complaints of New York City police misconduct (click here) in recent years regarding officers’ use of chokeholds, a city agency that is investigating the incidents said days after a man put into hold by police died in Staten Island.
 
The Civilian Complaint Review Board has received charges of about 1,022 instances since 2009 in which New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were accused of using chokeholds. Use of such holds are prohibited by the NYPD’s patrol guidelines, which outline a chokehold as a “any pressure to the throat or windpipe, which may prevent or hinder breathing or reduce intake of air.”
Richard Emery, the chairman of the complaint review board, said the agency was “in the unique position of being able to look at the chokehold complaints it has received to attempt to discern why officers continue to use this forbidden practice.”
 
In only nine of the 1,022 instances has the board gathered enough evidence to definitively say a chokehold had been used. In hundreds of other cases, the board did not have enough evidence to make a determination, or the investigations fell apart when the person lodging the allegation could not be reached or stopped cooperating. 

The review board’s study of the incidents was announced on Saturday, two days after Eric Garner, 43, died when officers appeared to use a chokehold - Police Commissioner Bill Bratton has confirmed - in the process of arresting him on a sidewalk in Staten Island.... 

Albequerque is looking for more homeless victims of violence while it's police force is still under surveillance and investigation.

July 21, 2014
By Tracy Connor
The vicious beating death (click here) of two homeless home in Albuquerque, New Mexico — allegedly by three teenagers who claim to have assaulted 50 vagrants in a few months — has detectives trying to track down other victims.
A police spokesman said Monday that investigators are reviewing unsolved homicides and an outreach team is asking transients if they heard about any attacks that may not have been reported, Officer Simon Drobik told NBC News.
"Because of the nature of the violence they committed on these victims, this isn't the first time they done this," Drobik said. "We believe they did commit other crimes like this."...

As the bodies are recovered by their families the question remains to the security of the region with such deadly capacity in the hands of separatists.

Kiev

The train carrying (click here) the remains of the passengers and crew of MH17 left Torez station on Monday evening, Ukraine time, for an airport in the north of the country.
There, the bodies will be transferred to a military aircraft from the Netherlands, and will be flown to that country for forensic examination and identification.
The Ukraine government reached a deal with local separatists to guarantee the train's exit from rebel-held territory, carrying all the bodies so far found at the site - including some partial remains.
However, there remain some concerns that the train may still be delayed, after an attack on rebel-held Donetsk on Monday morning increased tension in the region.
According to the latest figures provided by Ukrainian officials, 282 bodies have been recovered from the crash site, along with 87 fragments of bodies.
It is understood all of these are on board the refrigerated train, which has been waiting to leave Torez station for more than 24 hours while the deal for its safe passage was negotiated.
Eyewitnesses confirmed the train left Torez station at 7pm local time....

...1: The remains of 282 ppl in Torez will be moved by train to Kharkiv where they will be handed over to representatives from the Netherlands.
2: At approx 9pm tonight Ukraine time, the 2 black boxes will be handed over to a M'sian team in Donetsk who will take custody of them.
3: independent international investigators will be guaranteed safe access to the crash site to begin a full investigation of the incident."...

The crash site remains in the depths of violence. It will take awhile to secure the site and interview anyone involved with the recovery of bodies. 

July 22, 2014
Donetsk, Ukraine: The Ukrainian military (click here) on Monday renewed its assault on this rebel-held city, even as international investigators in the region were trying to secure the remains of all 298 passengers and crew killed in the downing of a Malaysia Airlines jet.
Explosions and artillery fire could be heard in central Donetsk from the direction of the city’s train station and airport, and a spokesman for the pro-Russian rebels said there was also fighting near the central market. Portions of the city 40 miles from the crash site were closed off.
“This is a planned offensive,” said a Ukrainian military spokesman, Vladislav Seleznev. The military is trying to push rebels away from the airport, he said. “Aviation and artillery are not aiming at civilian residences. Their only aim is to block the terrorists and fighters.”...

I congratulate State Senator Wendy Davis in calling for funding to support efforts along the Texas border.

At the first indication there was a challenge to the nation to respond to the humanitarian crisis at the USA southern border, State Senator Davis called for Texas funding while seeking reimbursement through federal initiatives. It would seem as though she received her funds and Texas is leading the way in answering the call to protect children from other nations desperate to save their own lives.


July 21, 2014
By Christy Hoppe

The governor’s office (click here) confirmed this morning that Rick Perry will order 1,000 National Guard troops to the Texas border to beef up patrols in South Texas.
But sheriffs along the border said they have not been consulted and question the wisdom of sending military personnel who are not authorized to stop, question or arrest anyone.
“At this time, a lot of people do things for political reasons. I don’t know that it helps,” said Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio, pictured right.
Lucio said deputies, police and the U.S. Border Patrol work well together and that they have been able to handle the small uptick in crime along the border.
“I don’t know what good they can do,” Lucio said of military personnel. “I need people who I can hire who know the community, the language and who can help.”
Hidalgo County Sheriff Eddie Guerra also told the McAllen Monitor that the Guard troops can’t make arrests and he didn’t know what their objective would be.
“The National Guard — they’re trained in warfare; they’re not trained in law enforcement,” he said. “I need to find out what their actual role is going to be, but I think the money would be better spent giving local law enforcement more funds.”...

This is not rocket science. Governor Perry never spoke with his sherrifs to understand what the sincere SECURITY NEED was.

The current spending by Texas to it's Department of Public Safety is $1.3 million per week. The US House needs to immediately pass the request for funding by President Obama to assist in the efforts of the states to care for child refugees. 

July 19, 2014
By Holly Hennessey-Fiske

...Zamarripa, 27, (click here) is one of 15 reserve deputies brought in to assist the Brooks County Sheriff's Office, whose four deputies have lately found themselves overwhelmed by 911 calls from migrants stranded on the vast ranches that stretch from here to the horizon in all directions.

Then there are the bodies of migrants who didn't make it to retrieve and identify: 42 so far this year.

Most attention to the crisis on the Southwest border has focused in recent weeks on the Rio Grande Valley, where many of the 57,000 unaccompanied children and a large number of families have crossed from Mexico since October, twice last year's total. Many surrender to immigration agents willingly at the Rio Grande, aware that they will be allowed to stay pending immigration court hearings....

Israel has hit a hospital in Gaza. There are no missiles there. Another, Oops?

A family of terrorists, no doubt. 120 militants that posed a risk to Israel should have been arrested with evidence to their crimes and not killed. If Israel justifies it's attacks by the number of killed militants, where does it stop when the dead are 3 innocent Palestinians to 1 militant. This is completely unacceptable. 

Israel did not need to enter Gaza to close tunnels and apprehend any militants coming through the tunnels. A tunnel has two ends.  Those two ends don't migrate to avoid monitoring and arrests. The Palestinian deaths is completely outrageous and unacceptable. Militants are better informants alive than dead. Where does it say being a militant requires a death sentence when all one has done is dig a lousy tunnel?

Where is the ambivalence or confusion in the words, "Ceasefire." 

July 21, 2014

As many as 25 members of one family were reportedly killed when a house in Khan Younis was destroyed overnight

The UN Security Council (click here) has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
It comes as US Secretary of State John Kerry heads to Cairo for talks on the crisis amid a mounting death toll.
More than 500 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have been killed since the Israeli offensive began 13 days ago, Gaza's health ministry says.
Twenty Israelis - 18 of them soldiers - have died, Israel says, as it seeks to end rocket fire from Gaza.
Sunday was the deadliest day since the start of Israel's offensive, with 13 Israeli soldiers and more than 100 Palestinians killed.
Israel says it has killed at least 120 militants since Thursday night when it launched a ground offensive, the second phase of a military operation that began on 8 July....

Sunday, July 20, 2014

I started a conversation a few weeks ago I believe is very important. It is the story that grew the Roman Catholic faith. So often our country engages in 'Jesus Speak' but rarely is there an inclusion of the great saints of the Catholic faith. And it is a great story. One of hope and bravery.

I think it is a great discussion for a Sunday night. So, next week. 

Thank you and have a good night.

Russian politics has to aspire to re-inclusion as a peaceful power globally.

July 20, 2014

The prime minister of Australia, (click here) currently presiding over the G20, has hinted the Russian president could be dropped from the next summit in Brisbane over the MH17 crash in Ukraine. This came even before international investigators made it to the scene.
“We take a very, very dim view of this and the idea that Russia can wash its hands of responsibility because this happened in Ukrainian airspace just does not stand serious scrutiny. We all know what's happening in the Ukraine,” Tony Abbott said at a press conference on Saturday.
It was “Russian-controlled territory, Russian-backed rebels, quite likely a Russian-supplied weapon. Russia can't wash its hands of this,” Abbott reiterated on Sunday.
The Malaysian Airlines MH17 flight went down crashed in Ukraine Thursday. Among the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board the perished were 28 Australians.
The Australian government “takes a very dim view of countries which facilitate the killing of Australians, as you'd expect us to,” Abbott said...

Is the end of violence too much to ask?

A sad truth about the Middle East which has no clear solution within the State Department or USA intelligence is that many of the long standing 'terrorist group list' involves organizations that are Shia. They are solely one religion that have lasted for generations. Their tenacity speaks to more than flash in the pan violence and power brokers such as al Qaeda. The longevity of these groups speaks to issues of potential genocide if they were eliminated from Earth.

The reason many of these groups manifested and had the loyalties of such leaders as Assad is due to the fact they were genetically based as well as religiously isolated. There is absolutely no doubt there exists a great deal of hatred between people of differing religions in the Middle East that go back millennia.

The only other problem globally that has manifested itself in this way has been Northern Ireland.

I have witnessed leaders such as Syria's Assad, an Alawite and King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, a son of the house of Saud, agree to understandings between the two countries. It is possible. The King of Saudi Arabia is a great leader.

The struggles of the Shia may come to a close with the establishment of a governance in Iran and southern Iraq. If these areas are stable and considered a homeland the violence that has dominated their existence may actually end. 

July 17, 2014
Bassal Oudat
Damascus

The Syrian Alawite community (click here) has tended to take the side of the regime led by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad in the current conflict. Not only do Alawites serve in the top echelons of the Syrian army and police, but civilians from the community have been implicated in some of the worst practices of the irregular militia the regime has formed to shore up its position.
As what started in Syria as a revolt against tyranny turns into a sectarian conflict, the position of the Alawites is becoming more and more untenable, say members of the Syrian opposition.
In its efforts to recruit the Alawites, the regime has tried to convince them that any other government will turn them into second-class citizens. Yet, opposition members recall that the Alawites lived in peace with the rest of the Syrians until Hafez Al-Assad, Bashar’s father, took power in the country some 40 years ago....

425 Palestinians dead and the only option they have to escape death is leaving the country.

In the recent past, in Syria, short ceasefires allowed citizens to leave and NGOs the ability to deliver humanitarian aid. That is mostly likely what is happening here.

There is a huge disparity in what Palestinians face when this violence breaks out as opposed to the average Israeli. No different than most other areas in the region violence is often a day to day existence. When generation after generation is validated with hatred of others and violent actions that enforce that validation, Gaza is the same as every other region in the Middle East. The only hope anyone has in ending the violence is to provide protections to the Palestinians no different than that of Israelis. Currently, the only method of protection the Palestinians have is to enter into refugee status.

Sorry, but, when innocent men, women and children die because Israel has the political opportunity to do so there has to be measures to prevent these deaths. 

July 20. 2014
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel agreed (click here) to allow a two-hour humanitarian truce in a Gaza City neighborhood.
The Red Cross on Sunday requested the two-hour humanitarian truce in the Shuja’iya neighborhood near Gaza City, where heavy fighting has been reported in recent hours, with at least 40 Gazans reported dead.
Hamas reportedly requested the truce through the Red Cross in order to evacuate the dead and injured. The truce began at 1:30 p.m.
The IDF spokesman said in a tweet that it ordered civilians in the neighborhood “days ago” to evacuate for their own safety. “Hamas ordered them to stay. Hamas put them in the line of fire,” he said.
Residents of the area on Sunday were again called on to evacuate the city, with instructions to move west and cross the Salah ad-Din road to Gaza City.
Any attempt to violate the cease-fire “will not be tolerated,” the IDF said in a statement.
Rocket fire on Israel continued from the area during the cease-fire, according to the IDF....

No one is going to war with Russia or any other country.

There are two type of reports in the USA regarding Malaysian Airlines 17, inflammatory with half truths and hysteria and the truth.

The truth is the bodies being removed better be removed, otherwise, they will become carrion to wildlife. 

My understanding of the truth is the bodies are many that are being found and they are being placed in refrigerated receptacles to prevent decomposition. That is the way civilized society would handle such problems. They are being prepared for transport to their countries of origin/homelands. There is probably concern for the fact this occurred over a war zone and the land has not been consecrated. That problem manifested in the USA and other areas before where innocent people may or may not have ALL their remains reclaimed. The largest example of that was the attacks within the USA on September 11, 2001. Consecrating the ground is very important. 

There is an issue of unfettered access as was promised. I understand during one of the investigator's visits there was gunfire heard. So much for promises of unfettered access. 

I do not believe Russia was directly involved with the downing of the jet. I do believe Russia was attempting to consult with the separatists and not necessarily for it's own sovereign purposes. I do believe Russia had a problem at it's border and to the extent it could inhibit the violence spilling over into Russia was a sovereign obligation to it's citizens. (I remind, the USA has militarized it's southern border.) Supplying state of the art equipment is a different story and facilitating the violence still has to be answered. I do not believe the separatists had state of the art weapons. I do believe they, as Ukrainians, had a great deal of military prowess and used it. Whether weapons were supplied by Russia remains to be seen. Supplying weapons is not helping end the violence. It escalates it.

Russia is still defined as a valuable partner to peace in the case of North Korea and Iran and most probably Syria. Russia is still upholding treaties with this exception of Ukraine and as a result it shows why treaties exist and why. This tragedy in Ukraine clearly illustrates when treaties are broken there are outcomes dangerous and undesirable. 

If people are seeking a reason to hate Russia there are plenty within these circumstances alone and in isolation of all else it is easy to label them as 'evil.' The reason Ukraine blew up and now is an economic anchor to the Russia economy is because of the Russian politics. The politics is horrible. It leaves no room for anything except flag waving and hatred of all else not Russian. The politics is terrible and has lead to these circumstances the world still is confused about.

There are stories now coming out of this tragedy. Young people loved. Beloved family members gone. Scientists never to contribute to the outcomes of diseases. It will be a long time before this is forgotten. 

The idea the USA is hanging on to circumstantial evidence of Russia's direct involvement in this tragedy is nothing more than returning to the Pre-Iraq political environment. It is ridiculous, proves nothing and there will be no war inspired by separatists.Wouldn't it be a separatists dream come true to actually begin the war to end all wars. I don't think so.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

It would be in Russia's best interest to back the immediate and secure access to the downed airliner.

Others that have already been to the jet's crash site need to be accessed and interviewed as well. Russia should have ended this as quick as it began when the separatists were using loyalty to Russia as an excuse for violence.

18 July 2014

The apparent deliberate (click here) downing of a Malaysian passenger plane over eastern Ukraine highlights the need for an urgent resumption of a ceasefire and a serious effort to end the ongoing crisis, the United Nations political chief told an emergency meeting of the Security Council today.
Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, carrying 298 people, was en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed on Thursday in eastern Ukraine, near the Russian border.
Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman said that while the UN has at this point no independent verification of the circumstances regarding the tragic crash, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed at what seem to be “credible, numerous reports” that suggest that a sophisticated surface-to-air missile was used.
“The Secretary-General strongly condemns this apparently deliberate downing of a civilian aircraft,” said Mr. Feltman. “This horrifying incident serves as the starkest reminder of how dire the situation in eastern Ukraine has become – and how it affects countries and families well beyond Ukraine’s borders.”
A separate statement issued by Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said that “this horrifying incident must at the very least prompt a serious and sustained effort to end the fighting in Ukraine.” It also stressed the need for accountability for the tragedy.
Both the Secretary-General and the Security Council have called for an international investigation into the incident....

Friday, July 18, 2014

Between Russia, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria and Israel, Turkey is about to declare it's own war. What are you joking?



March 10. 2014
by Keigh Fawkes

...Sevastopol (click here) is home to Russia’s Black Sea Fleet.  So in addition to the complex history shared by Russia and Ukraine, you have a naval base of extreme strategic importance to Russia (as it is Russia’s only warm water base).  And feelings in Ukraine toward Russia’s continued presence in Sevastopol have been conflicted to say the least....

The above article points to a few interesting facts, including how Russia demands naval prowess in the absence of access from it's natural borders. The Soviet Union was an aggressor nation. Until Ukraine and the Crimean Peninsula that aggressor status was mostly neutral. Russia had it's allies and The West had theirs. The surprise killings in the Maidan set off a chain reaction across the globe because it was a throw back to the old Soviet empire. Whether Putin wants to admit it or not, it shocked the world to it's socks and yes, Russia is responsible because the world sees it that way. It is that reality President Putin has to deal with. He didn't lead in a way that promoted freedom and democracy. The nationalism Russia is caught in only raises suspicions of greater aspirations of Russia.

Russia owns this problem. Putin needs to lead his country out of the tragedy it now faces on a global scale. 

Israel is not a peace partner. Israel never consulted with it's allies such as Turkey before launching into a full scale war with the Palestinians, currently focused on Gaza. Israel sees itself as self-contained and therefore doesn't have to balance it's power in the Middle East. Israel's involvement sparks global response. It has been reckless and careless in this most recent war with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Israel, not unlike Russia, has created it's own problems, Turkey however has not, but, finds itself drawn into a posture imposed without regard for it's problems. Israel is not a good ally and is causing problems when it should be securing a peace treaty with Palestine, solidifying borders and removing settlements. How different would Turkey find itself if that is the path Israel sought instead of it's current path.

July 18, 2014



Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan (click here) intensified his fiery rhetoric against Israel over its ground invasion of Gaza on Friday, accusing the country of state terrorism and genocide and saying the two countries will not mend ties on his watch.
Earlier, hundreds of protesters pelted the top Israeli diplomat's residence in Ankara with stones, and the private Dogan news agency said police in Istanbul used tear gas and water cannon to disperse protesters trying to enter the Israeli Consulate grounds. Turkish legislators leaving a late-night debate in parliament also protested against Israel.
Turkey intensified security around Israeli missions but the demonstrations prompted Israel to call home the families of Israeli diplomats and to keep staff in the embassy and consulate to a minimum.
Tzachi Moshe, a spokesman for Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, said Israel "sharply protested the flagrant violation of diplomatic rules."
Erdogan told reporters after Muslim Friday prayers: "Israel threatens world peace. Israel threatens peace in the Middle East. Therefore, I personally, can never contemplate anything positive with Israel as long as I remain on duty."
"Israel is at the moment waging terrorism; Israel at the moment is carrying out genocide," he said....


At least he didn't hang up the phone.

The Presidents of Russia and the USA were on the phone discussing further sanctions when the missile hit Malaysia Airlines 17. Evidently, President Putin knew immediately as it happened. Considering his military was in the area mentoring whoever fired the missile it isn't surprising Russia had the inside track on information.

While every nation in the world has had enough of Russia's policies of aggression and disregard of international treaties, it is time the Russian government take ownership of this tragedy and end the conflict along the border with Ukraine. 

This level of weapons within the striking distance of Europe and in the hands of extremists is more than any other nation should tolerate. If President Putin will remember there is a treaty that once was intact providing for a sovereign Ukraine whereby peace was GUARANTEED. No country was to interfere in Ukraine's economy or politics. Ukraine was basically a neutral country. That treaty alone also guaranteed Europe was a peace partner in the region. This sudden reality of extremist armament has shattered that peace.

The argument can be made the Ukraine insurgents have obtained armaments from old stocks left in the country post treaty, but, there has been dearly little agreement between Russia and Ukraine to end the extremists ability to war. It is time for Russia to work with Ukraine to end the military build up at the Ukraine border. That build up is not in the national interest of Russia. Playing Russian politics with "I double dare you," has cost the lives of 285 people from many, many nations globally. Russia cannot expect to come out of this unscathed in it's reputation. 

Russia is becoming it's own problem now because of the politics of aggression and nationalism. There is no leadership by Vladimir Putin to reign in the extremists and change the tone of Russia in an international theater. 

The passengers and crew of Malaysian Airlines 17 are lost forever. There is no waiting to find out the outcome of the plane. There is nothing for the airlines to do, but, to settle financial affairs with families. This event is as bad as it gets. The Malaysian government is demanding the perpetrators be found and held for trial. What are the chances of that happening? 

Even if the perpetrators are found, will Russia allow their apprehension or chalk it up to the slings and arrows of war? 

This event has completely disrupted the world's sense of potential to peace, it's alliances, it's economic strengths and the potential of isolating Russia from the capacity of carrying out this extent of aggression ever again. If Russia doesn't exhibit leadership by delivering Ukraine radicals to The Hague and settle border issues with Ukraine this land between the two countries will become a no man's land similar to the DMZ between North and South Korea. Is that what Russians want for their country? Do they want to be isolated, alone with a deteriorating economy into impoverishment without potential for the future?

Does Russia become the post WW I Germany that will eventually seek to destroy those that simply wanted the end to the causalities and chaos or war. Does Russia believe it's ability to remain sovereign is so delicate it cannot become a global leader to peace? 

Shake off the communists, they are destructive to their own outcomes. Eastern Ukraine is not a unique region of the world with cultural differences, language practices about to disappear off Earth to warrant protectionism in the way of separatism. The insurgents in Eastern Ukraine are about power. They will serve Russia's purpose of an expansive eastern border to act as a 'place holder' between Russia and The West. 

Russians have little to fear when it comes to Ukraine. They had even less to fear before Russian nationalism delivered a shattered peace in the way of treaty violations. Now, there are 285 dead innocents. Russia needs to lead to end these tensions, otherwise, it is my best estimate it will begin an isolation it will regret in the not too distant future.

July 17, 2014
By Neil MacFarquhar and Andrew E. Kramer

MOSCOW — The double game (click here) that the Kremlin has been accused of playing in eastern Ukraine for weeks — publicly endorsing peace talks while surreptitiously supporting the separatists with arms and men — suddenly appeared less crafty than possibly disastrous on Thursday after the crash of a civilian jetliner in a Ukrainian field.
What brought Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 tumbling out of the sky, killing all 298 people aboard, remained uncertain. But given the immediate suspicions raised in Kiev and Washington that a sophisticated missile ripped it apart, the crash brought the question of who was responsible right to the doorstep of President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.
“It is an extremely awkward moment for the Kremlin,” said Dmitry Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center. “Everyone in the West and in Ukraine is already pointing their fingers at the Kremlin. They are not waiting for an inquiry — they are blaming Russia today.”...

It would be a prudent step in resolving these hostilities to secure the area where the jet fell to Earth and begin an investigation to answer the questions of nations. The sooner that begins, the sooner productive dialogue can occur to end these hideous, but, necessary tensions. 

It is too late to point fingers, President Putin. Too many are involved now and it is far more than enemies and allies. Neutralizing terrorist networks is where the global focus needs to be, not fighting Old World grudges. 

Film Industry Incentives

For the public that is never explained what a 'film industry incentive' is; it is free money.

Coastal North Carolina has been a successful focus of the film industry in the past, but, the Governor can't seem to get the NC Legislature to understand it, so allow me.

You know those taxes the NC State Treasury will never collect because the film industry isn't there anymore? That is what film industry incentives are. They are tax deductions to production companies to come to a state and film their movies and/or television programs for free.  

There is no money that changes hands between the state and the industry, it is a tax deduction. The higher the deduction the more likely it will be a movie production will occur in a state. Easy. No money comes out of the treasury and no money goes in. 

Why then do it?

Because the bigger the production the more jobs it produces. 

Isn't it The Game of Thrones that has one of the largest production casts in the business? Imagine now all those actors and actresses can't be included in the production because the production company has to pay state taxes. Does anyone believe the production would remain in a place where it could not conduct the one aspect of the show attracting so many people and that is the 'realism' of large casts of people? 

What do we know about the general economy when many people are employed and paid a good wage? That's right, it does better. That means if the Game of Thrones came to coastal NC the entire economy in the area would perk up. 

What do North Carolina Republicans want to do instead? They want to offer a far less than reasonable incentive to the movie industry and will only attract small productions with small cast sizes. The contribution that level of production will offer won't even be a speed bump in the NC economy, coastal or otherwise. The Republicans in their hatred of Hollywood causes a great deal of economic damage for their political hubris. They simply don't live in the real world. 

McCrory is not a leader, he is a pleader. He pleads for the legislature to help the state and brings the insight of the people and where would the people be without the PLEADER of their cause.

Let me pay tribute to daytime television.

It stinks.

The local news is primarily violent about car crashes and murders. Then there is the latest 'happenings' of local activities made to make summer interesting, but, that's it. It never raises the opposition to things like the North Carolina Governor. Never. Always smiles. No talk about voter oppression.

Then there is the national programs like the Today Show that tries to be current and 'happy, happy, joy, joy.' Until Jenna Bush rides the "Terror-dactyl" as if she is the most scared woman on the planet and then doesn't let it go for the next two to three days.

I don't know what the deal is with NBC and this chick, but, I suppose she is trying to bring in FOX viewers as she EMOTS over how she saw a woman and a baby on an airline and can only imagine what it feels like to lose someone on MH17. 

To begin, she doesn't know anything about anyone else besides her own emotions, which obviously is a source of uncontrollable permission for screaming. Additionally, the 'promotion of war' isn't even in the purview today because the entire mess Putin has created along the Ukraine - Russian border is built on 'what is possible without nukes' and the nations of the world are going to end his 'insurgent joy ride' in the Ukraine.

The events in Ukraine are not in anyone's hands except the nations of the world.

WHERE ARE THE MINORITIES? 

The "As the World Turns" (which ended it's decades of 'sharing' in 2010) Crowd doesn't know what sincere problems of Americans actually are. The entire minority experience in the daytime stories is homogenous and does not bring in reality at all.

There is a reason why I stopped watching this mess a long time ago. And what is this mess about Nightly News being cut off half way through an hour program to opt for "Wheel of Fortune?" The ENTIRE nation isn't interested in sincere information that may impact their lives? What is that mess all about?

That brings me to the game shows. The minority experience with these shows are crowded into Family Feud and Let's Make a Deal. These two game shows are different from the past and more exciting, but, they still don't bring in the handicapped. 

The handicapped, including our military, are NOWHERE on daytime television or ANY game shows. "Come on Down" takes on an entirely new barrier to success. There isn't even a representative sample of handicapped on any show anywhere. There are absolutely no handicapped show hosts anywhere.

Then there are the entertainment shows. "America's Got Talent" and all that. They start their competition by wearing out the participants. They hold marathon events where a 'hopeful' has to hope to be an early competitor so they have some degree of vitality when their turn comes. These competitions are important to many people and there is some incredible people seeking a 'one time' chance to exhibit their talent and they are hobbled by fatigue. The large scale sorting should be more equitable. There are contestants that leave their one time opportunity because they know whey won't be at their best by the time they are heard or seen.

To say the quality of national and daytime and local television WANTS is an understatement. It is lousy television.

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Morgan Stanley documentably caught in the frey.

July 17, 2014

(Reuters) - Morgan Stanley (click here) does not believe new U.S. sanctions on Russian oil company Rosneft will affect a pending deal between the two companies, the bank's chief financial officer said on Thursday.

The bank's management is moving ahead with plans to sell the majority of its global physical oil trading operations to Rosneft later this year, CFO Ruth Porat said in an interview.

"Recognizing the guidance was just released last night, we don't believe it applies to our transaction," she said. "We continue to do all the work necessary for closing by the end of the year, obviously subject to regulatory approval."
Her comments come a day after the U.S. government imposed its toughest sanctions yet on some of the key players in the Russian economy over what Washington says is Moscow's reluctance to curb violence in Ukraine. The move closed off medium- and long-term dollar funding to Rosneft, the country's second-largest gas producer Novatek and its third-largest bank, Gazprombank.
The measures stopped short of freezing the companies' assets, restricting the short-term funding the companies need for day-to-day operations or stopping U.S. firms doing business with them.

But they had raised some doubts about whether mounting political tensions with Moscow could complicate the bank's deal to sell the majority of its global physical oil trading operations to Russia's largest oil producer.

The Wall Street bank agreed to the sale in December before Russia launched an incursion into Ukraine's Crimean peninsula....

Initially, it looks like the separatists.

Russia would never do this. Ukraine government would never do such a thing intentionally. It looks like separatists and with this degree of sophisticated weapon Europe is not safe. Russia isn't safe either for that matter.

I would expect the nearest NATO unit sufficiently equipped would be asking permission of Ukraine to enter the area to secure it. This is a very dangerous area of the world and to expect civilian authorities to conduct any operation is silly.

12:34 Today
Malaysian passenger (click here) jet ‘shot down’ in east Ukraine, latest updates:
- Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of #MH17 from Amsterdam. last known position was over Ukrainian airspace
- Eastern Ukraine separatist A. Borodai says Malaysian airliner shot by ukrainian government forces
- Reuters correspondent on the scene in Eastern #Ukraine sees burning wreckage of air plane, bodies on ground
- Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser said the Buk missile was fired by separatists



There is nothing to say Russia cannot offer it's assistance to NATO and Ukraine as well. 

If the jet was shot down and it was a BUK missile that is somewhat nondescript. The BUK was a missile system. It is from the former Soviet era. 

It is not a minor missile system. it has capacity. 

It is considered medium range which is not outlawed by the ABM Treaty and can be mobile.

I find it odd this is a Malaysian flight as well. I don't believe in coincidence. This is a perfect opportunity to pull major nations into war. I hope major powers are prepared for a defensive and not necessarily an offensive posture. I would not necessarily rule out terrorists either. I am sure the international agencies are looking at passenger lists.   

I might point to the fact this is another 777. As of today the Triple 7 has been involved with 11 aviation accidents and incidents including five hull-loss accidents and three hijackings (reference Aviation Safety - click here). Previous to 2013 the jet had an excellent record with only accidents occurring on the ground while being serviced. It is now becoming a jet of interest. The jet was introduced into service in 1995. 

The Super Jumbos will take on more interest by dangerous groups. They carry more fuel and more people. They are perfect for a terrorist incident.

If the Malaysian jet were shot down I would expect it happened outside of Ukraine airspace and the crash trajectory would have brought it to crash in Ukraine.