MOSCOW – Anger swept through the Ukrainian opposition Friday after a package of laws that would prohibit almost any type of street protest was rushed through parliament. The laws appear to borrow heavily from existing Russian legislation and seem to belie Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s declarations that he wants his country to build stronger ties with the European Union.
Under the new laws, any organization receiving money from abroad — which, in Ukraine’s case, includes a huge number of groups including the Greek Catholic Church — must register as “foreign agents,” just as they must in Russia.
The wearing of helmets or use of bullhorns at demonstrations is prohibited, as is the blocking of residential properties or any convoy of five cars or more. Slander would become a criminal offense, according to the bill, and critics said it is so broadly worded that virtually any act of journalism that criticizes the government or a government official could be defined as slander.
An editor at the English-language Kyiv Post, Katya Gorchinskaya, ended her column Friday this way: “Welcome to the new police state. We call it Little Russia.”
Yuri Lutsenko, an opposition leader who was scheduled to be released from the hospital Friday after suffering a concussion in a police beating this month, told the newspaper Kommersant-Ukraine that he believes security services have taken control of the government from Yanukovych, and that they are receiving orders from another country. He didn’t specify which country, but it was clear he meant Russia.
The hurried passage of the laws Thursday night — by a quick voice vote in a tumultuous Verkhovna Rada, or parliament — brought rapid condemnation from European and American leaders.
“There can be no business as usual with Kiev,” tweeted Carl Bildt, the Swedish foreign minister.
The legislation contradicts Ukraine’s stated European aspirations, said Stefan Fule, the E.U. commissioner on expansion.
“I am deeply concerned by the events in Kyiv,” Catherine Ashton, the E.U.’s chief diplomat, said in a statement released Friday. “I am particularly concerned by the changes to the judicial code which impose worrying restrictions on the rights of assembly and on the freedom of speech and media, and are contrary to Ukraine’s international obligations.”
Large protests erupted in Kiev on Nov. 21, after Ukraine suddenly backed away from a trade agreement with the E.U., and have continued since then. In December, Yanukovych has reiterated that he wanted to strike a deal with Europe, even while his government arranged a $15 billion bailout from Russia. Protesters are seeking his resignation. But over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the number of demonstrators in the streets decreased, and it looked more likely that Yanukovych would weather the crisis.
One of the main leaders of the opposition, Vitali Klitschko, said the new legislation amounts to a coup d’etat. He and others called for a large turnout of protesters Sunday.
On an Internet television channel called Hromadske TV, the news announcer on Friday wore a construction helmet, even though he was in the studio. Some protesters in the Maidan, or Independence Square, tied kitchen colanders to their heads in protest.
Many wondered how a law against allowing five or more cars to be gathered in one place could possibly be enforced, given Kiev’s traffic jams.
JERUSALEM – In response to outrage from the U.S. over comments made by Defense Minister Moshe Yaalon, Israeli diplomatic sources here said they are aware of statements that are “far worse” uttered by Obama administration officials against Israeli leaders, including remarks attacking Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Some of the sources accused the U.S. of focusing on Yaalon’s statements to deliberately prompt a diplomatic crisis in U.S.-Israeli relations.
Earlier in the week, Israel’s Yedioth Aharonot daily reported on remarks allegedly made by Yaalon in private to associates.
The unsourced report quoted Yaalon blasting Secretary of State John Kerry as “inexplicably obsessive” and “messianic” in his efforts to achieve a Palestinian state.
Yaalon reportedly told associates that Kerry has “nothing to teach me about the conflict with the Palestinians.”
Yaalon was said to have criticized Kerry’s Israeli-Palestinian plan as “not worth the paper it is printed on,” charging it will harm Israel’s security.
Of Kerry’s claim that his plan will render Israel’s borders safer than those of Canada, Yaalon was said to have retorted, “What are you talking about?”
Continued Yaalon, according to the report: “You’ve given us a plan based on advanced technologies – satellites, sensors, war rooms with TV screens – but with no presence in the field of our forces. How is that technology going to help when a Salafist or an Islamic Jihad terror cell tries to attack Israeli targets? How are satellites going to quash the rocket-building industry that’s developing in Nablus and that will launch rockets at Tel Aviv and the center of the country?”
In response, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the remarks, if accurate, were “offensive and inappropriate, especially given all that the United States is doing to support Israel’s security needs.”
A follow-up article in Yedioth Aharonot Wednesday said Yaalon’s comments outraged the White House.
Yaalon met with the U.S. ambassador in an attempt to explain his comments.
Yaalon’s office released a statement that did not confirm or deny the remarks attributed to him.
The statement said relations with the U.S. are “intimate and are of high significance for us.”
“The U.S. is our greatest friend and most important ally, and when there are divisions we smooth them over inside the room [behind closed doors], including with Secretary of State Kerry, with whom I hold many talks about the future of Israel,” the statement said.
However, Israel’s Maariv newspaper quoted a senior American official as saying that “the U.S. isn’t satisfied by the defense minister’s explanations and expects the prime minister to explain publicly Israel’s commitment to the diplomatic process.”
Meanwhile, the Israeli diplomatic sources wondered why the U.S. was focusing on Yaalon’s alleged private comments.
They said U.S. allies in the Middle East, including the official state-run Palestinian media, routinely release anti-American sentiment.
The sources said they are aware of “far worse” even “shock” comments made by U.S. officials against Israeli leaders. Some of those remarks, they said, were made against Netanyahu by Obama administration officials in meetings with Israeli leaders.
Obama in November 2011 was caught on an open mic making controversial statements about Netanyahu.
The incident came when French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Obama on the open mic, “I cannot bear Netanyahu, he’s a liar.”
Obama’s responded, “You’re fed up with him, but I have to deal with him even more often than you.”
Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/01/israel-accuses-u-s-of-generating-artificial-crisis/#wUszLAthy7WKAxXY.99
It may be best known for its interactive Glass specs, but Google today revealed a radical smart contact lens for diabetics.
It analyses their tears, warning them if their glucose levels are low.
The search giant said it hoped to develop other apps for the smart contact lens, which could one day even show wearer's other types of information and include tiny screens.
Google is testing a prototype for a smart contact lens that we built to measure glucose in tears continuously using a wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor. 'But you may not be familiar with the daily struggle that many people with diabetes face as they try to keep their blood sugar levels under control.
'Uncontrolled blood sugar puts people at risk for a range of dangerous complications, some short-term and others longer term, including damage to the eyes, kidneys and heart.
'A friend of ours told us she worries about her mom, who once passed out from low blood sugar and drove her car off the road'
The project's co-founders, Brian Otis and Babak Parviz, say they hope the technology could eventually become commonplace.
HOW IT WORKS
The smart contact lens can measure glucose levels in tears using a tiny wireless chip and miniaturized glucose sensor that are embedded between two layers of soft contact lens material.
Prototypes generate a reading once per second.
Google is also investigating the potential for this to serve as an early warning for the wearer, integrating tiny LED lights that could light up to indicate that glucose levels have crossed above or below certain thresholds.
'You’ve probably heard that diabetes is a huge and growing problem—affecting one in every 19 people on the planet,' Google said in a blog post announcing the research.
Credit to Dailymail.co.uk Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2540963/Forget-Glass-Google-reveals-smart-Contact-Len.html#ixzz2qfRyajrH
Since Barack Obama has been in the White House, high ranking military officers have been removed from their positions at a rate that is absolutely unprecedented. Things have gotten so bad that a number of retired generals are publicly speaking out about the “purge” of the U.S. military that they believe is taking place.
As you will see below, dozens of highly decorated military leaders have been dismissed from their positions over the past few years. So why is this happening?
When I was growing up, my father was an officer in the U.S. Navy. And what is going on right now is absolutely crazy – especially during a time of peace. Is there a deliberate attempt to “reshape” the military and remove those that don’t adhere to the proper “viewpoints”? Does someone out there feel a need to get officers that won’t “cooperate” out of the way?
Throughout world history, whatever comes next after a “military purge” is never good. If this continues, what is the U.S. military going to look like in a few years?
Perhaps you are reading this and you think that “purge” is too strong a word for what is taking place. Well, just consider the following quotes from some very highly decorated retired officers…
Retired Army Major General Paul Vallely: “The White House protects their own. That’s why they stalled on the investigation into fast and furious, Benghazi and Obamacare. He’s intentionally weakening and gutting our military, Pentagon and reducing us as a superpower, and anyone in the ranks who disagrees or speaks out is being purged.” -Retired Army Major General Patrick Brady: “There is no doubt he (Obama) is intent on emasculating the military and will fire anyone who disagrees with him.”
-Retired Army Lt. General William G. “Jerry” Boykin: “Over the past three years, it is unprecedented for the number of four-star generals to be relieved of duty, and not necessarily relieved for cause.”
-Retired Navy Captain Joseph John: “I believe there are more than 137 officers who have been forced out or given bad evaluation reports so they will never make Flag (officer), because of their failure to comply to certain views.”
According to the Blaze, one anonymous Pentagon official has said that even young officers have been told “not to talk about Obama or the politics of the White House”…
A Pentagon official who asked to remain nameless because they were not authorized to speak on the matter said even “young officers, down through the ranks have been told not to talk about Obama or the politics of the White House. They are purging everyone and if you want to keep your job — just keep your mouth shut.”
Now this trend appears to be accelerating. We have seen a whole bunch of news stories about military officers being dismissed lately.
Almost always, a “legitimate reason” is given for the dismissal. And without a doubt, if a military officer is actually behaving unethically, that officer should be held accountable.
However, the reality is that everyone has “skeletons in the closet”, and if you really want to get rid of someone it is usually not too hard to find a way to justify your decision.
The following are excerpts from three news stories about military officers in trouble that have come out so far in 2014…
#1 The Air Force Times: A group of former Air Force majors, forced out this summer by a noncontinuation board, plans to file a lawsuit claiming the service had no right to separate them simply to meet end-strength numbers set by Congress.
More than 10 of the 157 dismissed majors are banding together to challenge the move in court, seeking either reinstatement or early retirement pay. All 157 had been twice passed over for promotion and were within six years of retirement.
#2 Defense News: Acting US Navy Undersecretary Robert Martinage, the department’s No. 2, has resigned under pressure, sources confirmed for Defense News.
The resignation, which Martinage announced to his staff Tuesday morning, came after allegations were made of inappropriate conduct with a subordinate woman, the sources confirmed.
#3 Huffington Post: The Air Force says 34 nuclear missile launch officers have been implicated in a cheating scandal and have been stripped of their certification in what is believed to be the largest such breach of integrity in the nuclear force.
Some of the officers apparently texted to each other the answers to a monthly test on their knowledge of how to operate the missiles. Others may have known about it but did not report it.
The cheating was discovered during a drug investigation that involves 11 Air Force officers across six bases in the U.S. and England.
Taken alone, it would be easy to dismiss those stories as “coincidences”. But when you put them together with the stories of dozens of other high ranking military officers that have been purged from the U.S. military in recent years, a very disturbing pattern emerges.
The following is a list of high ranking military officers that have been dismissed over the past few years that has been circulating all over the Internet. I think that you will agree that this list is quite stunning…
Commanding Generals fired:
General John R. Allen-U.S. Marines Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] (Nov 2012)
Major General Ralph Baker (2 Star)-U.S. Army Commander of the Combined Joint Task Force Horn in Africa (April 2013)
Major General Michael Carey (2 Star)-U.S. Air Force Commander of the 20th US Air Force in charge of 9,600 people and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (Oct 2013)
Colonel James Christmas-U.S. Marines Commander 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit & Commander Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response Unit (July 2013)
Major General Peter Fuller-U.S. Army Commander in Afghanistan (May 2011)
Major General Charles M.M. Gurganus-U.S. Marine Corps Regional Commander of SW and I Marine Expeditionary Force in Afghanistan (Oct 2013)
General Carter F. Ham-U.S. Army African Command (Oct 2013)
Lieutenant General David H. Huntoon (3 Star), Jr.-U.S. Army 58th Superintendent of the US Military Academy at West Point, NY (2013)
Command Sergeant Major Don B Jordan-U.S. Army 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command (suspended Oct 2013)
General James Mattis-U.S. Marines Chief of CentCom (May 2013)
Colonel Daren Margolin-U.S. Marine in charge of Quantico’s Security Battalion (Oct 2013)
General Stanley McChrystal-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (June 2010)
General David D. McKiernan-U.S. Army Commander Afghanistan (2009)
General David Petraeus-Director of CIA from September 2011 to November 2012 & U.S. Army Commander International Security Assistance Force [ISAF] and Commander U.S. Forces Afghanistan [USFOR-A] (Nov 2012)
Brigadier General Bryan Roberts-U.S. Army Commander 2nd Brigade (May 2013)
Major General Gregg A. Sturdevant-U.S. Marine Corps Director of Strategic Planning and Policy for the U.S. Pacific Command & Commander of Aviation Wing at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan (Sept 2013)
Colonel Eric Tilley-U.S. Army Commander of Garrison Japan (Nov 2013)
Brigadier General Bryan Wampler-U.S. Army Commanding General of 143rd Expeditionary Sustainment Command of the 1st Theater Sustainment Command [TSC] (suspended Oct 2013)
Commanding Admirals fired:
Rear Admiral Charles Gaouette-U.S. Navy Commander John C. Stennis Carrier Strike Group Three (Oct 2012)
Vice Admiral Tim Giardina(3 Star, demoted to 2 Star)-U.S. Navy Deputy Commander of the US Strategic Command, Commander of the Submarine Group Trident, Submarine Group 9 and Submarine Group 10 (Oct 2013)
Naval Officers fired: (All in 2011)
Captain David Geisler-U.S. Navy Commander Task Force 53 in Bahrain (Oct 2011)
Commander Laredo Bell-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Support Activity Saratoga Springs, NY (Aug 2011)
Lieutenant Commander Kurt Boenisch-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011)
Commander Nathan Borchers-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Stout (Mar 2011)
Commander Robert Brown-U.S. Navy Commander Beachmaster Unit 2 Fort Story, VA (Aug 2011)
Commander Andrew Crowe-Executive Officer Navy Region Center Singapore (Apr 2011)
Captain Robert Gamberg-Executive Officer carrier Dwight D. Eisenhower (Jun 2011)
Captain Rex Guinn-U.S. Navy Commander Navy Legal Service office Japan (Feb 2011)
Commander Kevin Harms- U.S. Navy Commander Strike Fighter Squadron 137 aboard the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln (Mar 2011)
Lieutenant Commander Martin Holguin-U.S. Navy Commander mine countermeasures Fearless (Oct 2011)
Captain Owen Honors-U.S. Navy Commander aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (Jan 2011)
Captain Donald Hornbeck-U.S. Navy Commander Destroyer Squadron 1 San Diego (Apr 2011)
Rear Admiral Ron Horton-U.S. Navy Commander Logistics Group, Western Pacific (Mar 2011)
Commander Etta Jones-U.S. Navy Commander amphibious transport dock Ponce (Apr 2011)
Commander Ralph Jones-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock Green Bay (Jul 2011)
Commander Jonathan Jackson-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 134, deployed aboard carrier Carl Vinson (Dec 2011)
Captain Eric Merrill-U.S. Navy Commander submarine Emory S. Land (Jul 2011)
Captain William Mosk-U.S. Navy Commander Naval Station Rota, U.S. Navy Commander Naval Activities Spain (Apr 2011)
Commander Timothy Murphy-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 129 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, WA (Apr 2011)
Commander Joseph Nosse-U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine Kentucky (Oct 2011)
Commander Mark Olson-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer The Sullivans FL (Sep 2011)
Commander John Pethel-Executive Officer amphibious transport dock New York (Dec 2011)
Commander Karl Pugh-U.S. Navy Commander Electronic Attack Squadron 141 Whidbey Island, WA (Jul 2011)
Commander Jason Strength-U.S. Navy Commander of Navy Recruiting District Nashville, TN (Jul 2011)
Captain Greg Thomas-U.S. Navy Commander Norfolk Naval Shipyard (May 2011)
Commander Mike Varney-U.S. Navy Commander attack submarine Connecticut (Jun 2011)
Commander Jay Wylie-U.S. Navy Commander destroyer Momsen (Apr 2011)
Naval Officers fired: (All in 2012):
Commander Alan C. Aber-Executive Officer Helicopter Maritime Strike Squadron 71 (July 2012)
Commander Derick Armstrong- U.S. Navy Commander missile destroyer USS The Sullivans (May 2012)
Commander Martin Arriola- U.S. Navy Commander destroyer USS Porter (Aug 2012)
Captain Antonio Cardoso- U.S. Navy Commander Training Support Center San Diego (Sep 2012)
Captain James CoBell- U.S. Navy Commander Oceana Naval Air Station’s Fleet Readiness Center Mid-Atlantic (Sep 2012)
Captain Joseph E. Darlak- U.S. Navy Commander frigate USS Vandegrift (Nov 2012)
Captain Daniel Dusek-U.S. Navy Commander USS Bonhomme
Commander David Faught-Executive Officer destroyer Chung-Hoon (Sep 2012)
Commander Franklin Fernandez- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 24 (Aug 2012)
Commander Ray Hartman- U.S. Navy Commander Amphibious dock-landing ship Fort McHenry (Nov 2012)
Commander Shelly Hakspiel-Executive Officer Navy Drug Screening Lab San Diego (May 2012)
Commander Jon Haydel- U.S. Navy Commander USS San Diego (Mar 2012)
Commander Diego Hernandez- U.S. Navy Commander ballistic-missile submarine USS Wyoming (Feb 2012)
Commander Lee Hoey- U.S. Navy Commander Drug Screening Laboratory, San Diego (May 2012)
Commander Ivan Jimenez-Executive Officer frigate Vandegrift (Nov 2012)
Commander Dennis Klein- U.S. Navy Commander submarine USS Columbia (May 2012)
Captain Chuck Litchfield- U.S. Navy Commander assault ship USS Essex (Jun 2012)
Captain Marcia Kim Lyons- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Health Clinic New England (Apr 2012)
Captain Robert Marin- U.S. Navy Commander cruiser USS Cowpens (Feb 2012)
Captain Sean McDonell- U.S. Navy Commander Seabee reserve unit Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 14 FL (Nov 2012)
Commander Corrine Parker- U.S. Navy Commander Fleet Logistics Support Squadron 1 (Apr 2012)
Captain Liza Raimondo- U.S. Navy Commander Naval Health Clinic Patuxent River, MD (Jun 2012)
Captain Jeffrey Riedel- Program manager, Littoral Combat Ship program (Jan 2012)
Commander Sara Santoski- U.S. Navy Commander Helicopter Mine Countermeasures Squadron 15 (Sep 2012)
The ignorant and the uniformed want to argue that any belief that Russia poses a dire threat to the freedom and safety of American citizens is nonsense. Many of these people who refuse to recognize the gravity of the times that we live are indeed the products of a dumbed down education system, or, they are so emotionally timid that they hide behind the mask of cognitive dissonance as they continue to deny the truth that is confronting their lying eyes.
Where have all the American men gone? That is an irrelevant question as those who still have a backbone will be forced to stand against all threats, both foreign and domestic while the rest of the so-called men hide under the bed. However, the coming events will clearly demonstrate that what you don’t know can and will bring harm to you and your family.
FEMA and the Russians vs. the American People
The safety and security of America has been compromised by the very organizations which are supposed to protect American lives. For example, FEMA, our domestic enemy, and the Russian government, our foreign enemy, have signed an agreement which permits Russian soldiers to train on American soil for the first time in American history.
Excuse my surprise, but didn’t the Russians just threaten to nuke us last fall if we invaded Syria and Iran? Shouldn’t we consider the Russian military and their government to be our enemy under these conditions? Aren’t the Russians violating the petrodollar agreement that they are a party to by purchasing oil for gold from Iran? Isn’t it true that this fact endangers the value of our dollar? The Russian government is not our friend!
In a treasonous act that would even make Benedict Arnold turn green with envy, FEMA and Russia are engaged in extra-constitutional “agreements”(that means illegal agreements), which were inked in the spring of 2012 in Washington, D.C., at the fourth annual meeting of the illegally created “U.S.-Russia BilateralPresidential Commission Working Group on Emergency Situations.” This extra-governmental organization, formed under the Obama administration, is one of almost two dozen similar “working groups” bringing together top U.S. and Russian officials.
The agreement calls for the initial influx of 15,000 soldiers and does not address the specificity of the types of soldiers to be housed in the United States. Before you write to me and chastise the notion that the Russians are here to enforce martial law, please explain the intent behind this bilateral agreement. Explain to me why we need the Russians when we have the National Guard? And why is the command structure of the National Guard being centralized from state to state? And why have generals been fired over resisting the consolidation of power governing the National Guard? The truth is that the National Guard has been co-opted by FEMA, the DHS and the Russians (see Sherrie Wilcox below). One more question for the sheep, don’t you think that Obama, who has now fired over 250 command level military officers, has done so because cannot trust the military? Does this have anything to do with his reliance on the Russians to enforce martial law? If you are a sheep, cover your eyes and put your hands over your ears, because it is about to get a lot worse!
These documents go on to state that FEMA and the Russian military are cooperating on everything from the drug war and agriculture to terror, science, enforcing the “rule of law” (could that be code for martial law?), health, environment, energy, nuclear issues, education, culture, media, business, arms control, and more, according to the U.S. State Department.
The agreement calls for Russian troops to engage in policing activities at American public events on American soil. And we are seeing the same thing at the Army base at Fort Carson, Colorado where Russian soldiers aretrainingat the local base and are engaged in local policing activities. This is an euphemism for martial law training as the Russians are being trained to interact with the American public in positions of authority.
The Senate has not ratified any of the international deals, as required by the Constitution of the United States. And as such, this is an illegal agreement. However, this is not just an illegal agreement, IT CONSTITUTES TREASON AGAINST THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
Eyewitness Accounts Corroborate the FEMA Bilateral Acknowledgment of Russian Troops On Our Soil
Who do you trust? Do you trust Wolf Blitzer who has not mentioned a word about the bilateral agreement between FEMA and the Russian military which allows for a Russian military presence on our soil? Or, would you trust the eyewitness accounts of American citizens who are disturbed by their observations of Russian troops on American soil? And what about those government documents which provides for the presence of American soil? Is the Obama administration just kidding? Or, is it easier just to keep hiding under the bed and hope some real men will deal with the situation?
Citizen Journalists vs. CNN
There is a reason why I refer to the Ted Turner’s CNN as the Communist News Network. Turner is a renowned globalist who advocates for a 95% population reduction on this planet. I will take the word of a group of American citizen journalists anytime over this traitor to his own country. Turner is the modern day equivalent of Prescott Bush (father of George H. W. Bush) who was caught trading with the enemy in WWII.
Citizen journalists, who are motivated by nothing but a desire to know the truth, are taking note of the fact of the growing Russian troop presence on our soil. It cannot be accurately said that the Russians are coming, they are here. The Russians are not just training with FEMA at Fort Carson, they are observed to be in Alaska, California, Tennessee and Kentucky.
Nowhere, have I received more information than I have from Alaska regarding the presence of Russian soldiers, in uniform, on American soil.
Officially, we now know that the former F-22 over-flights between Russia and Alaska have been suspended thus, leaving the coastline more vulnerable to attack. According to naval sources, submarine patrols have been greatly reduced and many locals have been reporting seeing fully surfaced Russian subs off of the coast of Alaska in multiple locations.
Local Alaskans tell me that they are afraid of the Russians. The Russians keep to themselves and don’t interact with the locals. Since I first wrote about this, I have been contacted by people in Fairbanks, Juneau and the outlying northern areas with similar reports. Most of the people who have contacted me are to cowardly to allow me to cowardly to use their names, but people like Sherrie Wilcox are not afraid and neither is Dr. Susan Helman of Gatlinburg, TN.
Dr. Helman was on my talk show a few months ago and reported on young Russians (20′s and 30′s) who live in Russian enclaves in her town and do not interact with the locals, yet they speak perfect English and unlike most immigrant groups, there are no English speaking stragglers. In other words, these young Russians are plants and are being pre-positioned for assignment when the time is right. Things are so bad in Helman’s town, that she sees unmarked helicopters landing on the grass adjacent to her home which borders a golf course. Additionally, in the more than three dozen emails I have received from the Gatlinburg area, I have learned that the many of the roads in nearby national forests and many entryways into the Smoky Mountains have been closed. This suggests a that the Gatlinburg area is going to be used as a staging area when martial law is rolled out.
I have also been contacted by several residents, including former law enforcement personnel, in the Victorville, CA. area in which they have observed entire Russian military units training in the high desert complete with heavy equipment including tanks. There are eyewitness accounts which have seen the Russians training under blue-helmeted UN officers.
Additionally, Dr. Jim Garrow, a former deep-cover CIA agent, has corroborated the planned use of Russian soldiers to enforce martial law, while appearing on my talk show on December 22, 2013. The interview can be accessed in my radio archives section on my website. My military sources have also confirmed the Garrow assertions as well.
Then there is Sherrie Wilcox of Knoxville,TN. Sherrie has seen and photographed DHS armored vehicles back in March with Russian soldiers manning the DHS vehicles in eastern Tennessee and Western Kentucky. The most disturbing aspect of this is that the Russians are training with the Department of Homeland Security which has recently acquired 2.2 billion rounds of ammunition as well 2700 armored personnel carriers.
Conclusion
A nation threatens to nuke the American people over events in the Middle East. Yet, the Obama administration allows this same nation to have unbridled access to our most secure domestic drills, Grid EX II, and the RIMPAC war games, and we don’t blink an eye? We have official government documents sanctioning the presence of over 15,000 Russian (tip of the iceberg) soldiers on American soil and we are not concerned?
In the next part in this series, I will review how I was attacked by the Russian media propaganda machine within a few short days after first airing the intention of DHS to use the Russians to enforce martial law. Further, in the next part, I will be revealing how President Obama is complicit in overt acts of treason against the American people in events which involve the Russian government and military.
Department of Defense of the United States reduces the purchase of Littoral Combat Ships (LCS) due to “frequent critical system failures” and being “unsurvivable” in combat, the Navy Times reports. Policy changes were announced by Deputy Secretary of Defense Christine Fox after the Pentagon received its final fiscal year 2015 budget guidance from the White House.
The Navy was initially supposed to purchase 52 LCSs, but due to technical problems and budget cuts the fleet will now receive only 32 warships. Three of them are already in use, and the fourth is due to commission in April. An additional 20 are under construction or on order with the two contractors, Lockheed Martin and Austal USA.
The total cost to develop and build the ships is currently projected at $32 billion.
However, supporters of the program have argued that the smaller ships, which require less personnel, offered the Navy the best way to increase the size of its fleet, which is now at historic lows.
"Secretary (Chuck) Hagel has long said he is going to have to make tough choices," said a senior defense official. "There may yet be alternatives to cutting the LCS program that Secretary Hagel could consider."
It is believed that the OSD’s (office of the secretary of defense) initial guidance in January was to cut the program even further, the Navy Times said.
Yet, J. Michael Gilmore, the Defense Department’s director of operational test and evaluation, revealed his concerns in an annual study released by Congress in January 2013. Gilmore said he believed the LCS is still “not expected to be survivable” in combat and would not survive “in a hostile combat environment.”
Meanwhile, the Navy is reportedly considering possible substitution within the budget for costly LCSs. Pentago is also still mulling how construction and commissioning of the remaining eight ships in the purchase will be structured.
While manufacturing and services PMIs disappointed, the big problem in big China remains that of an out-of-control credit creation process that is blowing up. As we previously noted, instead of crushing credit creation, the PBOC's liquidity rationing has forced distressed companies into high-interest-cost products in the shadow-banking world.
Investors on the other side of "troubled shadow banking products" had assumed that 'someone' would bail them out but this eveningReuters reports that ICBC has confirmed that it will not rescue holders of the "Credit Equals Gold #1 Collective Trust Product", due to mature Jan 31st with $492 million outstanding. The anxiety from contagion concerns of the first shadow-banking default has pushed the Shanghai Composite back near 2,000 for the first time since July - and to its narrowest spread to the S&P 500 in almost 8 years.
The Shanghai Composite is tumbling... to six month lows (and back near 2,000 for the firs time since July)...
and its closest (nominally) to the S&P 500 in almost 8 years...
...borrowers are facing rising pressures for loan repayments in an environment of overcapacity and unprofitable investments. Unable to generate cash to service their loans, they have to turn to the shadow-banking sector for credit and avoid default. The result is an explosive growth of the size of the shadow-banking sector (now conservatively estimated to account for 20-30 percent of GDP).
Understandably, the PBOC does not look upon the shadow banking sector favorably. Since shadow-banking sector gets its short-term liquidity mainly through interbanking loans, the PBOC thought that it could put a painful squeeze on this sector through reducing liquidity. Apparently, the PBOC underestimated the effects of its measure. Largely because Chinese borrowers tend to cross-guarantee each other’s debt, squeezing even a relatively small number of borrowers could produce a cascade of default. The reaction in the credit market was thus almost instant and frightening.Borrowers facing imminent default are willing to borrow at any rate while banks with money are unwilling to loan it out no matter how attractive the terms are.
Should this situation continue, China’s real economy would suffer a nasty shock.Chain default would produce a paralyzing effect on economic activities even though there is no run on the banks. Clearly, this is not a prospect the CCP’s top leadership relishes.
So the PBOC's efforts are merely exacerbating the situation for the worst companies... for example...Zhenfu Energy...
Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, the world's largest bank by assets, said on Thursday that it has no plans to use its own money to repay investors in a troubled off-balance-sheet investment product that it helped to market.
ICBC's shares have fallen this week amid speculation that the bank would be forced to help repay investors in a 3 billion yuan ($496.20 million) high-yield investment product issued by China Credit Trust Co Ltd but marketed through ICBC branches. The product is due to mature on Jan. 31.
"Regarding this unsubstantiated rumour, a situation completely does not exist in which ICBC will assume the main responsibility (for the trust product)," an ICBC spokesman told Reuters by phone on Tuesday.
The trust product, called "2010 China Credit / Credit Equals Gold #1 Collective Trust Product", used the funds it raised from wealthy investors in 2010 to make a loan to unlisted coal company Shanxi Zhenfu Energy Group Ltd.
But in May 2012, Zhenfu Energy's vice chairman, Wang Ping Yan, was arrested for accepting deposits without a banking licence.
Which Barclays warns:
In our view, despite the trust issuer, distributor bank and local government perhaps trying to bail out the mining company, the regulators and central government could probably allow the trust product default to happen as:
government appears fairly determined to reform the financial system and cut off the implicit guarantee of financial institutions;
the State Council is reportedly streamlining regulation of shadow banking including trust business; and
the default of trust products could have less social impact than the default of WMPs, bonds and other products sold to the general public or have problematic practices, such as asset-pool investments.
In our view, the default of trust products could trigger some short-term negative impacts on China’s financial sector and the reputation of financial institutions.However, we believe it is positive for the healthy development of financial system in the long run because the default could do the following:
Be a step to reduce the implicit guarantee of financial institutions for investment products. Banks could shift their financial liabilities back to the investors.
Increase the risk awareness of both investors and financial institutions, which could correct the pricing of investment products to more risk-oriented.
Its conclusion is dire: "If the trust product goes into default, we believe it would be the first default to test the financial system."
Here is the product...
And the growth of such products has been enormous as we have explained in great detail previously: at RMB10.1 trillion as of Q3 should the first domino fall, watch out below.
Finally for those who have forgotten, below is a quick schematic of what a WMP looks like:
"There is an unresolved self-contradiction in China’s current policies: restarting the furnaces also reignites exponential debt growth, which cannot be sustained for much longer than a couple of years."
Pew Research Center finds violence, discrimination against religious groups by governments, rival faiths have reached new highs in all world regions except Americas
Violence and discrimination against religious groups by governments and rival faiths have reached new highs in all regions of the world except the Americas, according to a new Pew Research Center report.
Social hostility such as attacks on minority faiths or pressure to conform to certain norms was strong in one-third of the 198 countries and territories surveyed in 2012, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, it said on Tuesday.
Religious-related terrorism and sectarian violence occurred in one-fifth of those countries in that year, while states imposed legal limits on worship, preaching or religious wear in almost 30% of them, Pew said.
"Religious hostilities increased in every major region of the world except the Americas," Pew said in its report, the latest such survey in a series based on data back to 2007.
The Washington-based center, which is non-partisan and takes no policy position in its reports, gave no reason for the rises noted in hostility against Christians, Muslims, Jews and an "other" category including Sikhs, Bah'ais and atheists.
Hindus, Buddhists and folk religions saw lower levels of hostility and little change in the past six years, according to the report's extensive data.
As some restrictive countries such as China, Indonesia, Russia and Egypt also have large populations, Pew estimated that 76% of the total global population faces some sort of official or informal restriction on their faith.
A report last week by the Christian group Open Doors said documented cases of Christians killed for their faith last year had doubled to 2,123 around the world, with Syria accounting for more than the entire global total in 2012.
Harassment in Europe
Results for strong social hostility such as anti-Semitic attacks, Islamist assaults on churches and Buddhist agitation against Muslims were the highest seen since the series began, reaching 33% of surveyed countries in 2012 after 29% in 2011 and 20% in mid-2007.
Official bans, harassment or other government interference in religion rose to 29% of countries surveyed in 2012 after 28% in 2011 and 20% in mid-2007.
Europe showed the largest median increase in hostility due to a rise in harassment of women because of religious dress and violent attacks on minorities such as the murder of a rabbi and three Jewish children by an Islamist radical in France.
The report found the highest social hostility concerning religion in Pakistan, Afghanistan, India, Somalia and Israel.
It gave no reasons but radical Islamists often target mainstream Muslims and Christians in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, while India has recurring tensions between its majority Hindus and minority Muslims and Christians.
Tensions in Israel arise from the Palestinian issue, disagreements between secular and religious Jews and the growth of ultra-Orthodox sects that live apart from the majority.
The five countries with the most government restrictions on religion are Egypt, China, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
More restrictions
The world's two largest faiths, Christianity and Islam, make up almost half the world's population and were the most widely targeted in 2012, facing official and social hostility in 110 and 109 countries respectively.
Jews suffer hostility in 71 countries, even though they make up only 0.2% of the world's population and about 80% of them live in Israel and the United States.
The report said there were probably more restrictions on religion around the world than its statistics could document but its results could be considered "a good estimate."
It classified war and terrorism as social hostility, arguing: "It is not always possible to determine the degree to which they are religiously motivated or state sponsored."
North Korea, which last week's Open Doors report described as the most dangerous country for Christians in the world, was absent from the Pew study due to a lack of data on its tightly closed society.
