War in Ukraine

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-ukraine-crisis-soros-idUSKBN0MQ0FP20150330

Soros says ready to invest $1 billion in Ukraine if West helps

(Reuters) - George Soros is ready to invest $1 billion in Ukraine if Western countries help private investment there, and sees a 1 in 3 chance Greece will leave the euro, the billionaire financier told Austrian newspaper Der Standard.

Soros has previously urged the West to step up aid to Ukraine, outlining steps toward a $50 billion financing package that he said should be viewed as a bulwark against an increasingly aggressive Russia.

"The West can help Ukraine by increasing attractiveness for investors. A political risk insurance is necessary. This could take the form of mezzanine financing at EU interest rates - very close to zero," he said in an interview published on Monday.

"I stand ready. There are concrete investment ideas, for example in agriculture and infrastructure projects. I would put in $1 billion. This must generate a profit. My foundation would benefit from this ... Private engagement needs strong political leadership."

The Hungarian-born hedge fund magnate, who made his name betting against the pound in 1992, also put the chance of Greece leaving the euro zone at a third. Last week he put it at 50:50.

Michael Vachon, spokesman for Soros, said on Monday in a statement: "Soros said he would consider investments in Ukraine if Western leaders demonstrated that they were prepared to 'do whatever it takes' to save Ukraine, including providing adequate budgetary support and political risk insurance.

"Under those conditions, Soros said he would review investments in the energy, agriculture and information technology sectors."

He appears to have forgotten to mention that the 'agriculture' is Monsanto, eyeing up Ukraine's vast farmlands for its Frankenfood.

Anyone still think we're the Good Guys?

Anyone who appeases him is not.

Actually, a good rule of thumb is that if Soros is involved, whatever IT is, be it Ukraine, Ferguson, or anywhere else he's involved, then it is bad for human life and happiness.

http://rt.com/news/246061-russian-trawler-far-east-sinks/


At least 54 dead as Russian trawler with 132 aboard sinks in Sea of Okhotsk
Published time: April 01, 2015 22:15
Edited time: April 02, 2015 09:56 Get short URL


A rescue mission to find survivors from the Dalniy Vostok fishing trawler, which sank in the Sea of Okhotsk off the Kamchatka Peninsula, will continue through the night. Fifty-four people are confirmed dead, while 63 were rescued from the freezing waters.

One hundred and thirty-two people were confirmed to have been aboard the fishing vessel, when it sank. Of those, 117 have been accounted for, according to TASS. Around 10 of the survivors are in a critical condition, suffering from hypothermia.

The head of the Russian Emergencies Ministry, Vladimir Puchkov, says the rescue mission to try and find survivors from the Dalniy Vostok should continue through the night.

“We will continue the rescue operation in the area where the trawler went down when night falls at full capacity,” said Puchkov, according to Interfax.


Let's hope it was a tragic accident, and not caused by a lurking US sub.

Poor souls......

Hope it isn't because of that, Bonny.  

It probably is just an accident, Lily, Russians have always rather laughed in the face of Health and Safety rules....

bb1 wrote:It probably is just an accident, Lily, Russians have always rather  laughed in the face of Health and Safety rules....

I heard on German TV that the weather had been very bad at the time of the accident. And I doubt if a 'lurking US sub' had anything to do with it. LL

As always, hate hearing about people suffering......

I know what you mean, Lily, it seems endless just now.

Bonny, I don't want to say this but I think we have only scratched the surface somehow, but would be delighted to be wrong.

That is what I fear too, Lily. The worst thing is, none of it is FOR anything, not for any great principle, not to help suffering people, nothing.

Greed and power, that's all it is. And a desperate need to keep all the plates spinning just a bit longer.

A roundup of the latest antics from Kiev:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-04-03/ukraine-loses-five-indian-airplanes-shake-secret-service-army-underway

including:

“India says five of its 40 AN-32 military transport aircrafts have gone missing “without a trace” while the planes underwent upgrades in Ukraine. “These five aircraft are almost lost as it is difficult to trace them and diplomatic efforts to find their whereabouts have failed,” the website Defense News quotes an Indian Air Force official as saying.

In 2009, India signed a contract with Ukraine’s state-owned arms trading agency, Ukrspetsexport Corp., to upgrade its 104 AN-32 transport aircraft at a cost of US $400 million, as the fleet had reached its life expectancy. The upgrade program started in 2011 and was set to run through 2017.

Under the deal, the modernization of 40 warplanes should have been completed in Ukraine at Kiev-based Antonov State Co. facilities, while the 64 others were set to be upgraded in India at the Air Force’s Kanpur-based base, under a technology transfer from Ukraine.

[…]

However out of 40 warplanes sent to Kiev, only 35 made their way back home. The remaining five have been “lost without trace”.

The local upgrade of the remaining 64 AN-32s has been halted as Ukrainian engineers departed and supplies of spare parts stopped, according to the Indian Air Force. A diplomat from the Ukraine Embassy said Antonov must resolve this issue with the Indian Air Force, and that the government cannot help.”

Only Ukraine could *cough* lose FIVE Antonovs belonging to the Indian government - doubtless they are all in bits, in Ukrainian scrapyards, by now.

Bang goes the no claims! Royal Navy nuclear submarine suffers £500,000 damage after 'hitting floating ice' while tracking Russian vessels
5,300-ton HMS Talent has a huge dent and will be out of action for weeks
Defence officials have refused to disclose exact details of the crash
It will cost an estimated £500,000 to repair, navy sources have claimed


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3025839/Royal-Navy-nuclear-submarine-suffers-500-000-damage-hitting-floating-ice-tracking-Russian-vessels.html#ixzz3WQfeH4sO
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

I thought they had radar, sonar, that sort of thing?

At least it wasn't them that sunk the Russian trawler - that appears to have been caused by trying to haul an overlarge catch onboard.

At least it wasn't them that sunk the Russian trawler - that appears to have been caused by trying to haul an overlarge catch onboard.

Oh, poo, not a US nuclear sub then? Damn!! LL

Nope, just too many fish. Looks like its the Jolly Jack Tars that have managed to drive their boat into some furren navy, as the 'floating ice' story is being met with scepticism.

I suspect it might actually have hit a NATO vessel, because if it had been a Russian or Chinese one, there would have been public expressions of outrage while they went    in private and made jokes about Lord Nelson and driving lessons.

Oh, and in case no-one thinks Whitehall would lie through their teeth when they've screwed up:

http://www.malcolmmowats.com/blogs/news/tagged/value

Some of the dead sheep were burnt whilst others, it seems, were taken to the base of a cliff on the island. The cliff was then blown up – the idea being that the sheep would be buried under thousands of tonnes of rock. What actually happened was that some of the sheep were blown out into the sea. It is said that as these few sheep washed up on the mainland that nearby cows died.

To avoid panic and press, the official story was that some Greek sailors had tossed some diseased sheep overboard. The British government then reimbursed the crofters, whose sheep they were, on behalf of the Greek government.

If you're going to tell a lie, make it a big one.......

http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/us-forces-to-hold-exercises-in-ukraine-1.337639

KIEV, Ukraine — The United States plans to send soldiers to Ukraine in April for training exercises with units of the country's national guard.

Ukraine's Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post on Sunday that the units to be trained include the Azov Battalion, a volunteer force that has attracted criticism for its far-right sentiments including brandishing an emblem widely used in Nazi Germany.

Avakov said the training will begin April 20 at a base in western Ukraine near the Polish border and would involve about 290 American paratroopers and some 900 Ukrainian guardsmen.

Pentagon spokesman Col. Steve Warren said the troops would come from the 173rd Airborne Brigade based in Vicenza, Italy.

U.S. forces also took part in exercises in Ukraine in September.

Look how well the US training the cannibals in Syria to kill wounded prisoners has worked out....doubtless arming and training neo-nazis will contribute to peace and human happiness in the same manner.

And starting the training on April 20th? Nice touch - that will give the nazis TWO reasons to celebrate that day.

Our Gallant Allies in the Azov Brigade:



All those millions of people who lost their lives fighting Nazis seventy years ago must be turning in their graves to see the US and NATO allied with that scum.

Just a reminder of previous 'US training':

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/syria-arming-the-rebels/syrian-rebels-describe-u-s-backed-training-in-qatar/#disqus_thread

One of the fighters said they received three weeks of training in how to conduct ambushes, conduct raids and use their weapons. They also said they received new uniforms and boots.

“They trained us to ambush regime or enemy vehicles and cut off the road,” said the fighter, who is identified only as “Hussein.” “They also trained us on how to attack a vehicle, raid it, retrieve information or weapons and munitions, and how to finish off soldiers still alive after an ambush.”

Uncle Sam teaching God knows who the best way to kill injured prisoners of war. And people are surprised that those 'trainees' graduated to head-chopping and other atrocities?

Now, the US is quite openly training neo-nazis, presumably to better butcher Eastern Ukrainians - the scum already know how to murder pregnant women, burn people alive and get away with it, etc.

Was watching some talking heads this morning who stated that US Foreign Policy has made the world a very dangerous place and to expect nasty backlashes.  

That was the good news.....

Someone actually said it on US TV, Lily? I am amazed - and pleased, if Americans are waking up to the chaos and bloodshed Washington is causing.

It's when Obama starts going on about 'isolating Russia' that I am really flabbergasted. Half the planet is terrified of what Washington has turned the US into, and is frantically making trade, banking and defence alliances with, well, anyone, with China, Russia and Iran taking the lead, as they have the most military clout.

I have NO doubt that if decent American folk realised what is being done in their name, they would be sickened to the core - and feel like burning Washington to the ground.

Deliberately arming and training neo-nazis has to be a new low, it's utterly disgusting, and rather sums up the depravity of the Obama administration.

Yes they did say that, Bonny.   Hope more people understand all this.

Lily, I would love to see the US troops involved REFUSE to train the neo-nazis. Because if they don't, they are dishonouring all the brave American men and women of a previous generation that fought, and often died, fighting scum like that.

Bonny, oh how I agree with you.  Most younger and many older Americans know very little of European history.   Therefore it is easy to fool them into repeating things better left in the past.  

http://rt.com/news/246977-czech-president-us-ww2/

Czech president says his ‘doors are closed’ to US envoy over Moscow WWII visit comments

Leader of the Czech Republc, Miloš Zeman, says he won’t let any ambassador of another nation intrude with advice over his foreign visits. This comes as the US Ambassador criticized Zeman’s plans to go to Moscow’s celebration of the WWII parade.

“I’m afraid, after this statement the doors of the Prague Castle are closed for Ambassador Schapiro,” Zeman told Parlamentni Listy webportal on Saturday. Prague Castle is the president’s official residence and office.

Earlier, the US ambassador to the Czech Republic, Andrew Schapiro, criticized Zeman’s decision to go to Russia for Victory Day celebrations in May. He called the plans “short-sighted”, as it would “be awkward” if the Czech president was the only statesman from an EU country on Red Square.

“I cannot imagine a Czech ambassador in Washington giving advice to the US president on where he should travel,” Zeman said. “I will not let any ambassador interfere with the program of my foreign trips.”

In the interview, the president also voiced his concern over the current Western attempts to isolate Russia.

“It is essential to maintain and develop relations with Russia not only on a commercial basis, but also, for instance, based on the strategic partnership in the fight against international terrorism,” he said.

Previously, Zeman said that his visit to Russia would be a “sign of gratitude for not having to speak German in this country.” He also intended to pay tribute to the memory of 150,000 Soviet soldiers who died liberating Czechoslovakia.

Andrew Schapiro, 51, is a Chicago lawyer who became an ambassador only half a year ago.

By Saturday, 25 foreign leaders and several international organizations confirmed their participation in the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War that is to take place in Moscow on May 9, the head of the Kremlin administration Sergey Ivanov said.

The Soviet Union lost over 11 million soldiers during the war, constituting the biggest death toll among other members of the coalition, fighting against Nazi Germany. Military parades to mark the victory in the Second World War are to take place on the streets of 26 Russian cities.

What a bloody cheek! But what else can you expect from a country that is now openly training neo-nazis to kill even more innocent people than it has already?

As for the 'ambassador':

Andrew Schapiro, 51, is a Chicago lawyer who became an ambassador only half a year ago.

Says it all - just another of the Chicago scum Obama is so at home with.