Netanyahu Says Never to a State for Palestinians

The New York Times
March 16, 2015

JERUSALEM — Under pressure on the eve of a surprisingly close election, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel on Monday doubled down on his appeal to right-wing voters, declaring definitively that if he was returned to office he would never establish a Palestinian state.

The statement reversed Mr. Netanyahu’s endorsement of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in a 2009 speech at Bar Ilan University, and fulfilled many world leaders’ suspicions that he was never really serious about peace negotiations. If he manages to eke out a fourth term, the new stance would further fray Mr. Netanyahu’s ruinous relationship with the Obama administration and heighten tension with European countries already frustrated with the stalled peace process.

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Russia starts nationwide show of force

msn News
March 16, 2015

More than 45,000 Russian troops as well as war planes and submarines started military exercises across much of the country on Monday in one of the Kremlin's biggest shows of force since its ties with the West plunged to Cold War-lows.

President Vladimir Putin called the Navy's Northern Fleet to full combat readiness in exercises in Russia's Arctic North apparently aimed at dwarfing military drills in neighboring Norway, a NATO member.

"New challenges and threats to military security require the armed forces to further boost their military capabilities. Special attention must be paid to newly created strategic formations in the north," Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said, quoted by RIA news agency.

Shoigu said the order came from Putin, who has promised to spend more than 21 trillion rubles ($340 billion) by the end of the decade to overhaul Russia's fighting forces.

Putin made his first public appearance since March 5 on Monday, an absence from view that had fueled feverish speculation over his health as well as his grip on power. He was meeting Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev at the Constantine Palace outside Russia's second city of St. Petersburg.

Norway is currently holding its "Joint Viking" drills involving 5,000 troops in Finnmark county, which borders Russia in the resource-rich Arctic circle where both countries are vying for influence.

Russia's drills would include nearly 40,000 servicemen, 41 warships and 15 submarines, RIA reported.

Tensions between Russia and Europe worsened last year, leading eight northern European nations to promise to boost cooperation to counter an increase in Moscow's military activity.

Vladimir Putin's 'girlfriend has given birth'

Telegraph
March 14, 2015

Speculation over the whereabouts of the Russian president continues as Swiss tabloid claims his girlfriend has given birth

Rumours continued to swirl on Friday over the whereabouts of Vladimir Putin, with one newspaper claiming that the Russian president had fathered a child with his long-term girlfriend.

Citing local residents, Switzerland's Bick tabloid said on Friday that Mr Putin flew to Switzerland to be with Alina Kabaeva, his rumoured lover, as she went into labour at the private Clinic Sant'Anna near Lugano earlier this week.

^{Alina Kabayeva (CAMERA PRESS)}

The Clinic Sant'Anna specialises in gynaecology and is popular with wealthy Russians, which it advertises its services to on a Russian-language web page.

The reports that Miss Kabaeva, an Olympic-gymnast-turned-parliamentarian, checked into the clinic earlier this week could not be confirmed and the Kremlin last night denied that she had given birth.

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Kremlin Tells Journalists To Not Leave Moscow For The Weekend And To Expect A Major Announcement

Western Journalism
March 13, 2015

I travel to Moscow and the territories of the former Soviet Union frequently to report for several major news outlets. From my viewpoint, there is definitely something going on in the Kremlin regarding Putin. It is very difficult to figure out what this is.

It could be he is out of the city to be with his mistress as they have their baby. It could be he has a health problem.

It could be that he has died. It could be a change in power or an attempt at such.

I have no reason to say the following translation is fake, nor can I confirm it.

What I can say is that the Russians are following the Soviet script regarding drama at the Kremlin–meaning you need the CIA to try and figure out what is going on.

Stay tuned – this could get interesting!

Translation:

The Kremlin is preparing a major announcement; journalists are asked not to depart for the weekend.

A source in the press service of the President of Russia says he is preparing a major announcement in the near future; and for this reason, heads of relevant media are asked to be ready in the next few days for a possible press conference.

This was indirectly confirmed by the CEO of the Center for Political Information polit-info, Alexei Mukhin.

Mukhin also denied reports that President Putin is currently incapacitated.

h/t: Vlasti.net

Where's Putin?

SIC SEMPER TYRANNIS!!! News

Mark Matheny

March  14, 2015

Rumors are circulating on Twitter and the Internet in general, that Putin has been missing for the last week or so.

One report says on twitter :

All employees of the Russian Embassy in London from the various officers and attaches the last few days have left the UK

I have not been able to confirm this information on any mainstream news sites, but many alternative news sites have posted this news:
Yournewswire.com
Canalworld.net 
Rumormillnews.com

There are more as well. There is nothing about this in the Guardian US edition, Neither is there any news in the London Guardian.

The other rumor is that Putin is missing or possibly dead. Another Twitter is that the flag above the Kremlin is gone, which has been flying for 14 years:

#Kremlin without the flag today... Below is what the Kremlin is normally like. The flag has flown 14 years.

One America News has reported on their network that Putin is working, and is not missing. Video was shown with putin at his desk discussing issues with another Russian official.

Here is another report of white trucks driving into the Red Square, and some kind of construction going on at the Kremlin:

Huge Announcement Due This Weekend As Unmarked White Trucks Flood Into Moscow’s Red Square Which Is Now Under Mysterious Construction As Putin Death Rumors Go Viral Across World:

Frantic Rumors are circulating all over the internet of the possible death of Russian president Vladimir Putin.  In a story now confirmed by the website Western Journalism, Russian media has been told to stay in town as a huge announcement will be coming this weekend that no one should miss. According to new reports of Vladimir Putin death rumors filling the internet and now mainstream media, we have just gotten access to pictures taken in Moscow a short time ago that seem to show something huge is going on as big white trucks are driven into the city, one by one, and construction is now taking place at Red Square as seen in the twitter images above and below.FULL REPORT 

Whether these rumors have any basis or not will soon be revealed I'm sure.

I will attempt to keep you posted on any further developments.....

Pope, on anniversary, says believes he will have short pontificate

Yahoo News
March 13, 2015

Reuters/REUTERS - Pope Francis' arrives to lead penitential celebration in the St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, March 13, 2015. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (VATICAN - Tags: RELIGION)

VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis said in an interview published on Friday he believes his pontificate will be short and that he would be ready to resign like his predecessor rather than ruling for life.

In the long interview with Mexican broadcaster Televisa, released on the second anniversary of his surprise election, Francis also said he "did not mind" being pope but would like to be able to go out in Rome unrecognized for a pizza.

"I have the feeling that my pontificate will be brief - four or five years, even two or three. Two have already passed. It's a somewhat strange sensation," he said, according to a Vatican translation from Spanish.

"I feel that the Lord has placed me here for a short time," the Argentine-born pontiff said.

Francis, apparently in good health at 78, said "I share the idea of what Benedict did." In 2013, former Pope Benedict became the first head of the Roman Catholic Church in 600 years to resign instead of ruling until he died.

"In general, I think what Benedict so courageously did was to open the door to the popes emeritus. Benedict should not be considered an exception, but an institution," Francis said.

However, he said he did not like the idea of an automatic retirement age for popes, such as at age 80.

In the 17-page interview, Francis also said the fact he is the first pope from Latin America compelled him to speak out on behalf of migrants and the poor because his ancestors had to move from Italy to Argentina to find work.

"People are being discarded and forced to seek employment elsewhere," said Francis, whose first trip after his election was to the Italian island of Lampedusa to pay tribute to thousands of migrants who have died trying to reach Europe.

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Surprise: U.S. Economic Data Have Been the World's Most Disappointing

Bloomberg
March 13, 2015

It's not only the just-released University of Michigan consumer confidence report and February retail sales on Thursday that surprised economists and investors with another dose of underwhelming news. Overall, U.S. economic data have been falling short of prognosticators' expectations by the most in six years.

The Bloomberg ECO U.S. Surprise Index, which measures whether data beat or miss forecasts, fell to the lowest since 2009, when the nation was in the deepest recession since the Great Depression.

There's been one notable exception to the gloom, and it's a big one: payrolls. The economy added 295,000 jobs in February and 1.3 million over four months, a reflection of a healthier labor market in which the unemployment rate has fallen to the lowest in almost seven years. 

Most everything else? Blah.

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