Tag: Russia

Categories
News Politics

The Republicans Idea of a Leader, Vladimir Putin, Is Pissing Off The World

Yes, the world is mounting pressure against Russia’s president Vladimir Putin since evidence suggests that Russian equipment shot down Malaysia Airline MH-17, killing 298 innocent people. But what do Republicans think of the man they call “a leader?”

Crickets…

Circumstantial evidence suggests that Russia provided the missile that Ukrainian rebels used to shoot down the Malaysian Air jetliner on July 17, killing 298 passengers and crew, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said in television interviews.

“There’s a build-up of extraordinary circumstantial evidence,” Kerry said yesterday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” program. “We picked up the imagery of this launch. We know the trajectory. We know where it came from. We know the timing.”

Putin confronts worldwide scorn just as the U.S. and its allies were trying to push him into a corner over the annexation of Crimea and his support for pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine. The U.S. and Europe tightened sanctions last week, and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron told Putin on a call yesterday that the attack was “totally unacceptable,” his office said in a statement.

“Russia risks becoming a pariah state if it does not behave properly,” U.K. Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond said yesterday in an interview on Sky News. “We now need to use the sense of outrage that is clear to get a further round of sanctions tightening against Russia.”

Categories
News

Malaysia Jet with Almost 300 Passengers Crashes in Ukraine – Video

This story is still developing, but preliminary reports are saying the plane, carrying almost 300 passengers, may have been shot down when it entered Russian airspace. It crashed in Ukraine.

The jet was traveling from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur.

Categories
Featured News

Shocking moment Russian school bullies forced girl, 13, to drink puddle water ‘for being too pretty’

>This is the shocking moment a Russian schoolgirl was beaten up and forced to drink from a puddle by classmates who were ‘jealous of her good looks’.

Vlada Kholod, 13, was filmed being attacked by a gang of four girls at her school in Korkino in western Russia’s Ural Mountains.

She was beaten up and forced to lie on a dirty road, before being made to drink filthy water from a puddle for ‘being too pretty’.

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

Scroll down for video

+8

Vlada Kholod (right) was filmed being attacked by a gang of four girls at her school in Korkino in western Russia’s Ural Mountains. She was beaten up and forced to drink water from a puddle (left) for ‘being too pretty’

 

+8The attack was videotaped by two schoolboys and later uploaded to the Russian social network, VKontakte

The attack was videotaped by two schoolboys and later uploaded to the Russian social network, VKontakte

Shockingly, the attack was videotaped by two schoolboys and later uploaded to the Russian social network, VKontakte.

However, after teachers saw the video, Vlada’s attackers were reportedly reprimanded and forced to apologise to their victim.

The assault was carried out by Vlada’s classmates, Olga Guseva, 16, Lyubov Goloborodko, 14, Sasha Rattsova, 15, and Ekatirina Streltsova, also 15.

They claimed the schoolgirl had said something derogatory about one of their parents – and that they had needed to set an example ‘that nobody should curse somebody else’s parents’.

After teachers saw the video, Vlada’s attackers were reportedly reprimanded and forced to apologise to their victim. Above, Vlada is forced to drink water from a puddle by a classmate who was ‘jealous of her good looks’

Vlada (above) said she was assaulted because her classmate was jealous about her boyfriend looking at her

However, Vlada later took to VKontakte to dispute claims that she had cursed one of their relatives.

Instead, she said she had been assaulted because Olga had been jealous about her boyfriend apparently looking at her.

Following her attackers’ apology, Vlada verbally denounced the bullies in front of the entire school.

One of her friends said: ‘She was very brave. She faced up to these bullies and they had to eat humble pie.’


Read more: DailyMail

Categories
military invasion News Russia

The US Navy is Gearing Up in The Ukraine

With Russian forces already in the area, the US Navy is now getting involved.

The U.S. Navy is sending a destroyer into the Black Sea in the coming days as a symbolic gesture of support for Ukraine and other allies in the region, according to two senior defense officials.

The USS Donald Cook, a guided missile destroyer based in Rota, Spain, and will travel to the Black Sea “in the next week or so,” according to one senior defense official.

The ship will take part in to-be-scheduled exercises with allies in the region — most likely pass exercises, where ships from different nations pass one another while at sea — and the Donald Cook will make several to-be-scheduled port calls.

Categories
Mitt Romney Politics

Once Again, Obama Slams Romney on Russia

Mitt Romney seems to have all the answers, except how to win an election or how to accept the reality that he lost and bow out gracefully.

The two-time loser jumped at the opportunity to attack President Obama on his handling of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He actually called the president naive.

Said Romney on a Sunday talk show;

“There’s no question but that the president’s naivete with regards to Russia, and his faulty judgment about Russia’s intentions and objectives, has led to a number of foreign policy challenges that we face.

“And unfortunately, not having anticipated Russia’s intentions, the president wasn’t able to shape the kinds of events that may have been able to prevent the kinds of circumstances that you’re seeing in the Ukraine, as well as the things that you’re seeing in Syria.”

Back in 2012 while he was running his failed campaign for president, Romney called Russia “our number one geopolitical foe.” For that statement, Romney took some well deserved criticisms from the president and he appeared weak on foreign policy like someone with no knowledge of what they speak, almost reminiscent of Sarah Palin.

This was Romney’s chance vindicate himself, to tell everyone that he was correct in calling Russia our number one foe. But again, he got slammed by the President.

“With respect to Romney’s assertion that Russia is our number one geopolitical foe, the truth of the matter is that America has a whole lot of challenges. Russia’s actions are a problem. They don’t pose the number one national security threat to the United States. I continue to be much more concerned when it comes to our security with the prospect of a nuclear weapon going off in Manhattan.”

Time to have a seat Romney, this match was over almost two years ago.

Categories
Politics White House

White House Petition to Give Alaska Back to Russia Gains Support

Thanks Sarah Palin! Because if you, Americans, even some in Alaska, have had enough;! I blame you!

A White House petition is gathering thousands of signatures urging the return of Alaska to Russia. The U.S. bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for $7.2 million.

The “Alaska Back to Russia” petition was created by an unnamed Anchorage resident (S.V.) last week and it has already gotten more than 18,000 signatures. The petition needs 100,000 signers by April 20 to warrant a response from the Obama administration.

The petition reads:

“Groups Siberian russians crossed the Isthmus (now the Bering Strait) 16-10 thousand years ago. Russian began to settle on the Arctic coast, Aleuts inhabited the Aleutian Archipelago. First visited Alaska August 21, 1732, members of the team boat St. Gabriel »under the surveyor Gvozdev and assistant navigator I. Fedorov during the expedition Shestakov and DI Pavlutski 1729-1735 years…Vote for secession of Alaska from the United States and joining Russia.”

Categories
Domestic Policies Foreign Policies News ObamaCare Politics Russia

The Pause

Perhaps it’s just me, but this time of year seems to be the boring period between the fun of a nasty winter and the beginning of a well-earned spring. And I’m not just talking about the weather. American politics is on hiatus at this moment because it’s too early to get too riled up by the prospect of electing another do-nothing Congress, and since the one we have now is essentially done for the year, what else is there to talk about? The Affordable Care Act? Boring. Marriage equality? Done. The lost Malaysian plane? Probably found and the story will make a great movie one summer. Ukraine? Potentially deadly and maybe the foremost threat to world peace presently in the news.

This is not to say that these stories are not important because they are, but there doesn’t seem to be any movement or progress or yes-we-canism alive at the moment. The Republicans are still trying to figure out what it believes in and how it can appeal to groups that have shunned its message so far. The House will most likely remain in their hands, which guarantees us another two years of bills that will not become law until a GOP president is elected (shudder). And the Senate will probably also go red, but I’ve already treated that scenario.

I am not, though, down in the dumps. The Supreme Court is hearing arguments about whether religious companies can stop providing certain forms of birth control the ACA requires because it would be a violation of their religious rights. I’m thinking that Justice Roberts is aching to get back on the conservative horse he dismounted two years ago in the health care law case, but Justice Kennedy might be the wild card in this one. It is certain that Justice Scalia will lament the end of the republic if he’s on the losing side.

And the health care law will survive because about six million people will have signed up for insurance through the exchanges or Medicaid and throwing them off the rolls is just too mean for even today’s Republican Party. The law needs fixing and that’s where the focus is going to be in 2014 and 2016 and 2018 as companies and states decide that insurance is too expensive and want employees to sign up for the policies on the website. This will be revolutionary and the effect will be profound. I’m not surprised that neither party is really talking about this out loud, but it’s almost certain to come to pass sometime within the next five years.

As for Vlad the Invader, I’m not ruling out a bit of shooting in Ukraine or areas local to it. It will depend on whether he heeds the economic warnings his aides are no doubt giving him. My sense is that Putin will ask for something big in return, negotiate, and take something smaller that gives him a say in Ukraine, but not the whole country. In the end, Ukraine will make a deal with the EU, but will always need to watch its eastern back.

All of this is in the future, and you can feel free to pay attention to it since you’re obviously not winning $1 billion dollars on March Madness because nobody has a perfect bracket left. The best we can hope for is common sense and pride in a job well done. Some things never change.

Register your comments at www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives and on Twitter @rigrundfest

Categories
News

Ukraine Will Pull All Its Forces from Crimea

Despite earlier declarations from opposition leaders in Kiev that the Crimea referendum was illegal and Crimea would always be part of Ukraine, yesterday a plan was announced that Ukraine would pull out all its forces from Crimea. The forces, some 25,000 personnel, will be relocated to parts of Ukraine outside of the Crimea region.

Though not a formal recognition of Russian control over Crimea, it’s pretty close.

While the provisional government in Kiev has insisted that Russia’s annexation of Crimea is illegal and has appealed to international supporters for help, the evacuation announcement by the head of the national security council, Andriy Parubiy, effectively amounted to a surrender of Crimea, at least from a military standpoint.

It came hours after militiamen, backed by Russian forces, seized the headquarters of the Ukrainian Navy in Sevastopol and detained its commander, in what appeared to be the start of a concerted effort to oust the Ukrainian armed forces from outposts throughout the peninsula.

Categories
Foreign Policies Russia

Jimmy Fallon on The Russia/Ukraine Invasion – Video

In his opening monologue, Jimmy Fallon of The Tonight Show briefly mentioned the incident involving Russia and Ukraine.

Video.

Categories
Politics

Sen Chris Murphy – No Military Option for US Regarding Russia in Ukraine

Although Sen John McCain thinks otherwise, Senator Chris Murphy told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos there was nothing the U.S. could do militarily to prevent Russia from moving into Eastern Ukraine following its seizure of the Crimean Peninsula. But Murphy advocated for new sanctions on Russia that could put economic pressure on President Vladimir Putin and prevent further Russian action in Ukraine.

“Clearly, this is a longer-term effort to build up the Ukrainian military,” said Murphy. “But if on Monday, we announce – with the European Union – a set of crippling sanctions coming after not only individuals, but Russian business entities, I think that sends a strong message to Putin.”

“I think [Putin] marched into Crimea because he didn’t believe that the United States and Europe would actually take a chunk of flesh out of his economy,” Murphy added. “And, if we stand together on Monday, that gives us a chance, at least, to change the calculus in Moscow.”

When asked about the effectiveness of economic sanctions, Murphy said, “We have to wait for our European friends to tell us if they’re willing to move forward… There is no doubt that if you cut off Russian gas to Europe, it will hurt. There’s no doubt that if you freeze Russian assets in places like Germany and Great Britain, it will hurt them.”

“But this is a threat to the territorial integrity of Europe – who knows who’s next?” he added.

Categories
military troops Politics war

John McCain Continues His Call For War – Russia vs The US


If it’s Sunday, John McCain is on a television network somewhere calling for a war somewhere in the world and this Sunday was no exception. On CNN’s Candy Crowley’s The Situation Room, McCain – who is slowly becoming a regular on Crowley’s program – called for the United States to step up our military presence in Ukraine against Russia.

McCain of course would disguise his new military presence in Ukraine as a support group.

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Sunday called for economic sanctions against Russia, arguing that they would be effective since its economy depends on oil and gas exports.

“Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

While McCain said that in the short term Russia has won Crimea, the U.S. can still work to help Ukraine gain that land back in the long term.

McCain said that in addition to sanctions the U.S. needs a long term military plan to help Ukraine, but not one that will lead to American troops in the region. The senator suggested aid to the Ukrainian military so “at least so they can defend themselves.”

Based only on our past track record, sending in military “support” to Ukraine will not de-escalate the situation, but looked upon as a move of aggression by the opposition, in this case Russia. At that point, the obvious will be true. If our military is there and Russia attacks, then we will be bound to protect ourselves and Ukraine, thus, war!

Nice try McCain, nice try.

Categories
Foreign Policies News Russia

Russian Reporter Against Russian Invasion of Ukraine – Video

Abby Martin works for RT, aka Russia Today, the English-language, Kremlin-managed cable news station that’s been wackadoodle with its Ukraine coverage. On Monday, Martin blasted Russia’s invasion as “wrong.” But did she go off the reservation, or just add a layer to Putin’s propaganda offensive?

Here’s what she says in her closing monologue, shown above:

Before I wrap up the show, I wanted to say something from my heart about the ongoing political crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s military occupation of Crimea. Just because I work here, for RT, doesn’t mean I don’t have editorial independence and I can’t stress enough how strongly I am against any military intervention in sovereign nations’ affairs. What Russia did is wrong.

h/the Gawker

Exit mobile version