War in Ukraine

Don't know, Bonny.   

Doubtless it was CIA boss John Brennan that came up with the brilliant idea of ordering disgruntled Ukrainian soldiers to attack their fellow Ukrainians in the course of his weekend trip to Kiev.

Did he really think they were going to open fire on their fellow-countrymen and women on the orders of a junta backed by the US/EU/NATO? Not everyone's a sheep.

Anyway, Merkel and Putin have been chatting on the phone. Can't say I like either of them much, but at least they're sane, which gives them an advantage over Kerry, Hague, the CIA, etc. Let's hope they calm things down a bit, and sort this out without any more bloodshed.

Former Ukrainian soldiers show their new friends how to do doughnuts in a personnel carrier:



Sources say Kerry has just exploded.  

   

http://rt.com/news/ukraine-entrance-restrictions-russia-168/

Russian men aged 16 to 60 entering Ukraine without their families will only be allowed in if they have close relatives or an invitation, according to Ukrainian officials. Previously, all Russians could travel to Ukraine with just their internal IDs.

“The restrictions concern physically fit men, who can influence the political situation in the country,” a Ukrainian border agency official told RIA news agency.

"We are imposing these controls at all border posts."

Tut tut - has no-one told Kiev that that is discriminatory under European Human Rights legislation? They can't just ban physically fit Russian men, they have to ban everyone or no-one.

If they want ruled by the EU, they'll have to get used to living under EU laws. Which means no banning people for being male and physically fit.

Putin does an about face:

Putin admits Russian forces were deployed to Crimea

MOSCOW, April 17 Thu Apr 17, 2014 9:51am BST

(Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said Russian forces had been active in Crimea in order to support local defence forces, the first time he has admitted deployment of Russian troops on the Black Sea peninsula.

"We had to take unavoidable steps so that events did not develop as they are currently developing in southeast Ukraine," Putin said in a televised call-in with the nation. "Of course our troops stood behind Crimea's self-defence forces."

As they say, no comment. LL

I suspect his answer would be that they weren't 'deployed' because they were already there and just 'helped'.....

I did like the set-piece with Snowden - I'm surprised either of them kept a straight face. Who needs mass surveillance as in the US when the old-fashioned method - grassing up rivals - works so much better?

Just watched that on youtube and found it fascinating. Yes, Putin appeared to be struggling at times.....

What, you didn't think it was completely spontaneous and unscripted, especially Snowden asking that challenging question out of the blue?   

Of course it was out of the blue, Bonny. Tut tut.   

It's a miracle Snowden got through, really, the phone, or rather, Skype, lines must have been very busy.   

If Skype...with someone listening in?

Well, they wouldn't really need to listen in as it was being broadcast live all over the world....it would be the other ones that were listened-in on.  

I realized that after Bonny.    Should learn to sit at the computer for a bit instead of running around.   

Well, Skype is great but there are a few downsides.....depending on which country you are in. Here being one.......

Surprise, surprise....

This business of spying on everyone is stupid, anyway. The real bad guys won't do anything as dumb as put it on the internet in the first place. Which may be why the CIA, etc, keep getting everything wrong....

It was stated a while ago, that they needed to put more people out in the field.

Well, if you're plotting, what could be easier than putting out a load of old rubbish about your plot where you know your enemies will be eavesdropping, while doing the real plotting the old-fashioned way? Safe in the knowledge that your enemies will never notice because they're too busy reading people's emails about their sex lives, etc?

Oh God, Kerry's on telly - every time I look at him, I wonder if the Ickes aren't onto something with this Lizard business.

I know. He is rather strange looking? I can imagine a wig and 18th century clothes on him.......only for a woman.   

His words are worthless, anyway - someone that can carry on lying to start a war after its been demonstrated that it was his own allies that carried out a poison gas attack belongs behind bars, not a podium spouting off.

I've also realised I can't actually follow what he's saying. I could understand what I heard of the translation of Lavrov, and the EU woman speaking English, but Kerry's waffle is another matter entirely.

Sounds to me like the EU and Putin are going to sort the mess out, and the US is going to foot the bill.

That sounds about right Bonny. They sure get generous with other people's money.   

I'd love to see Kerry's wig blow off in public.