MOSCOW — Russia’s richest businessmen are increasingly frantic that President Vladimir Putin’s policies in Ukraine will lead to crippling sanctions and are too scared of reprisal to say so publicly, billionaires and analysts said.

If Putin doesn’t move to end the war in Ukraine in the wake of last week’s downing of a Malaysia Air jet in rebel-held territory, he risks becoming an international outcast like Belarus’s Aleksandr Lukashenko, whom the U.S. famously labeled Europe’s last dictator, one Russian billionaire said on condition of anonymity. What’s happening is bad for business and bad for Russia, he said.
‘‘The economic and business elite is just in horror,’’ said Igor Bunin, who heads the Center for Political Technology in Moscow. Nobody will speak out because of the implicit threat of retribution, Bunin said by phone on Sunday. ‘‘Any sign of rebellion and they’ll be brought to their knees.’’ (more…)

White House Communications Director Ben Rhodes must really be annoyed with Secretary John Kerry this week.
Kerry and Wallace got into a heated exchange:

VICE News reported: On Thursday, July 17, 2014, a Malaysia Airlines passenger jet carrying 298 people was shot down over eastern Ukraine — allegedly by pro-Russia separatists. Residents in the area described bodies falling from the sky and landing in their own backyards. VICE News travels to the still-gruesome scene of the crash and speaks to residents who witnessed firsthand a tragedy that promises to dramatically alter the terms of the conflict.

HRABOVE, Ukraine (Associated Press) – Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of helping separatist rebels destroy evidence at the crash site of a Malaysia Airlines plane shot down in rebel-held territory – a charge the rebels denied.
As dozens of victims’ bodies lay in bags by the side of the road baking in the summer heat, international monitors at the crash site Saturday said they were still being hampered by heavily armed rebels. (more…)

If your children are old enough to be in college, they probably think the country they were born into is falling apart.  If you’re a Baby Boomer like myself, you know the country you were born into is already gone.  It’s a hard thing to thwart the general feeling of optimism shared by most Americans during a beautiful summer season.  But, if you stop and take a thoughtful assessment of the disasters currently befalling our world, perhaps you’ll see that the fall might be closer than you think.

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The summer of 2014 will go down in history as the season when America fell apart. Let’s take a tour of the disasters…

(Townhall)…Germany in 2008 enthusiastically hosted candidate Barack Obama for his so-called “Victory Column” speech. Now, Germans suddenly sound as if they are near-enemies of the U.S. Chancellor Angela Merkel reportedly was furious that her cell phone was tapped by American intelligence agents. She just kicked the top CIA official out of Germany, further enraged that the U.S. had recruited at least one German official to provide intelligence on the German government. Polls show that Germans find Vladimir Putin’s Russian tyranny almost as popular as Barack Obama’s America.
Japan is becoming similarly frustrated with the U.S. It is rearming like crazy to confront an aggressive China. Both Asian powers apparently assume that Obama won’t guarantee the security of the Japanese as America had in the past. (more…)

Yeah, safe to say -at this point- Russia did it.

#BREAKING: Putin says airplane disaster would not have happened if Kiev had not renewed military operation against rebels in east Ukraine

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 17, 2014

#BREAKING: Russia's Putin says Kiev bears responsibility for crash of passenger plane because it was brought down in Ukraine: RIA

— Reuters (@Reuters) July 17, 2014

Remember this is NOT the first time Russia has shot down a passenger airplane and tried to deny it.   1983 KAL-007 took years before the “Soviets” admitted it.

MAJOR UPDATE – U.S. Intelligence confirm a surface to air missile was used to shoot down MH-17 Passenger Plane.

In addition a recent release of ground conversation between Russian groups and Ukrainian Rebel separatists friendly to Russia show they talked about shooting it down and discussed after:

Here’s the full translation of the video, provided by Kyiv Post:

Igor Bezler: We have just shot down a plane. Group Minera. It fell down beyond Yenakievo.
Vasili Geranin: Pilots. Where are the pilots?
IB: Gone to search for and photograph the plane. It’s smoking.
VG: How many minutes ago?
IB: About 30 minutes ago.

After examining the site of the plane the terrorists come to the conclusion that they have shot down a civilian plane. The next part of the conversation took place about 40 minutes later. (more…)

(more…)

Marie Harf is rapidly making a name for herself. Unfortunately it might not be quite the name she had in mind.

Always proud of @statedeptspox; she deals in facts #attacksareabadgeofhonor

— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) June 8, 2014

One of the more comical aspects to watching Hillary Clinton say her most significant accomplishment was she “rebuilt the image of the U.S. around the world“, is the abject ridiculous nature of the proclamation.   Intelligent folk will remember the 2010 State Dept WikiLeaks controversy which led to Hillary spending the better part of the following year apologizing to every head of State for the belittlement from her staff.

Then again, there’s always THIS little nugget she likes to keep tucked under the rug.

Apparently things haven’t changed much.   Today Secretary John Kerry took to twitter to defend his peeps yet again.

Always proud of @statedeptspox; she deals in facts #attacksareabadgeofhonor

— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) June 8, 2014

This stems from Jen Psaki being called out by the international EU community for absurd statements around Ukraine. Despite the New York Times rising to her defense, *cough* “she’s being misinterpreted” *cough*.

[Psaki] has also been criticized for using the phrase “carousel voting” to describe the alleged rigged elections in the east of Ukraine, but later admitted she did not know what the phrase meant. [Carousel voting is a term to describe the practice of bussing voters from polling station to polling station so they can vote multiple times]. Russian state TV has even coined the term “Psaking” to describe someone as stupid and incompetent, according to Buzzfeed. (link)

Doesn’t it just give you a warm and fuzzy feeling to know the visible image of U.S. foreign policy is now: (more…)