Meanwhile in Ukraine... Revolution.

[RobFordWotWot]

It's called revolution because it always comes around again and nothing changes.

[st4nl3y]

Crimea update: tension is rising, several armies standing right opposite each other and waiting for the orders.

FUD?

Mega extra ultra FUD!

Crimea update: tension is rising, several armies standing right opposite each other and waiting for the orders.

FUD?

LOL @ FUD! stfu!

i am watching polish news with live feed from Crimea! it's here as well http://www.polskatimes.pl/artykul/3354777,krym-ukrainscy-zolnierze-z-bazy-balbek-czekaja-na-atak-rosjan-przyjda-z-koktajlami-molotowa,id,t.html?cookie=1

Title: "Crimea. Ukrainian soldiers from the base Balbek waiting to attack the Russians. "They will come with Molotov cocktails""

[Balthazar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-o5sX5TB4#t=441
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rl-o5sX5TB4#t=691

[bryant.coleman]

Title: "Crimea. Ukrainian soldiers from the base Balbek waiting to attack the Russians. "They will come with Molotov cocktails""

lol... haven't laughed that hard for a while.

[Nemo1024]

Russia already IS fascist, along with a dictatorial semi-theocratic government.

I would argue that Russia is not by definition fascist, though I completely agree that it is "dictatorial semi-theocratic".

On the other hand, the systems of benevolent dictatorships often work, when the goals of the dictator coincide with what is best for his country/subjects.


Crimean Parliament adopts a Declaration of Independence:

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=ru&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.rambler.ru%2F24014194%2F&act=url

In other news, President Yanukovish wants to address the US Senate and Congress and ask them to investigate the anti-(US)-constitutional act of giving money to a state (viz, Ukraine) where a government acquired power by the means of a state coup.

[myself]

oh boy this is going to get even more ugly ..... involved party should grab some vodka and party for god sake

[Nemo1024]

1)
Yanukovych is politically dead. No-one ever listen to him again outside of Russia, and if he sets foot anywhere in the EU, he'll probably get arrested at the border to answer charges of mass-murder. Since he was the "democratically elected and legitimate" president at time of the Maidan massacre, he is legally responsible for the actions of his militia who were obeying his orders. He could argue that he lost control of the militia, or that the fascists were shooting at themselves, but the facts would have to be established in a court of law, not in the Russian kangaroo media. If he's on Russian TV still pretending to be president, or talking about "how evil and brutal the fascist coup was", it just shows how desperate and crazy Putin is.

2)
The legitimacy of the 'coup' has already been strengthened by multiple EU leaders meeting with senior members of the temporary place-holder government. And everyone (except Putin) is waiting for the May elections to elect a new, legitimate parliament in Kiev. Even Yanukovych AGREED that new elections would be held BEFORE December. You can't just call it a coup because you dislike the people who are obeying your own wishes.

@1: Yes, Yanukovich' political weight and his liberal use of state money is questioned even in Russian media, but that does not make the truth of the matter less obvious: he was illegitimately ousted. If US citizens tried to conduct a seize of power, the US police would open fire on them. Wait, that already happened before: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1992_Los_Angeles_riots

By the way those militia didn't shoot themselves from sniper rifles, someone opened fire on them. If anything, Yanukovich did nothing to stop the Maidan protests before they grew out of control and turned into a mob. No orders to disperse the Maidan mob were ever given, which probably was a deciding factor in the West's next move: bringing of the outside legionary forces and take over of the state.

@2: This duplicity of EU/US standard is sickening. Yes, Yanukovich agreed to new elections, what he also agreed to is a coalition government with opposition leaders (the proverbial 0.045% of the Ukranian population, also known as Maidan), yet both he and the coalition government get thrown out of their offices on the next day after that agreement was reached by masked weapon-wielding swastika-bearing bandits, who proclaim themselves as the new government, while the West smiles benevolently at them.

PS: The new elections might be conducted at gun-point: either you vote for us, or it's a proverbial gas camera for you.

PSS: More headlines:
- Ukrainian Parliament (Verhovnaja Rada) threatens to disband the Parliament of Crimea unless it cancels the referendum. (As if they care - the point of no return has already been passed)
- Ukrainian Ministry of Defence asked local oligarchs to donate money the Ukrainian army, which is currently only powered by "tactics and military spirit" (whatever that is)

Oh, and this little gem: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_11/Two-US-drones-allegedly-shot-down-in-Crimea-5071/

[Balthazar]

Oh, and this little gem: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_11/Two-US-drones-allegedly-shot-down-in-Crimea-5071/

Original article has been replaced...  

But it could be found here:

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13921220000933

[bryant.coleman]

Oh, and this little gem: http://voiceofrussia.com/news/2014_03_11/Two-US-drones-allegedly-shot-down-in-Crimea-5071/

Original article has been replaced...  

But it could be found here:

http://english.farsnews.com/newstext.aspx?nn=13921220000933

I don't think that the Crimean militia has the capability to shot down US drones.

[Balthazar]

They have an access to ukrainian army weapons, so everything is possible.

Anyway, there are no official confirmations yet.

[TheIrishman]

EU tells Russia: start Ukraine talks or face sanctions

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/eu-tells-russia-start-ukraine-talks-or-face-sanctions

"Sanctions, including asset freeze and travel ban on military and officials, could be imposed day after Crimea referendum."

[fsb4000]

EU tells Russia: start Ukraine talks or face sanctions

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/eu-tells-russia-start-ukraine-talks-or-face-sanctions

"Sanctions, including asset freeze and travel ban on military and officials, could be imposed day after Crimea referendum."

Putin does not have bank accounts abroad. Good luck with the sanctions 

[bryant.coleman]

Putin does not have bank accounts abroad. Good luck with the sanctions 

And EU firms have invested hundreds of billions of USD in various Russian projects.

[Balthazar]

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/eu-tells-russia-start-ukraine-talks-or-face-sanctions

"Sanctions, including asset freeze and travel ban on military and officials, could be imposed day after Crimea referendum."

lol, how scary

Any real sanction it's a suicidal decision for EU or US, because RF has a large share of their money. Simple freezing of some debt will be able to give birth to the new Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae.

[Nemo1024]

EU tells Russia: start Ukraine talks or face sanctions

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/11/eu-tells-russia-start-ukraine-talks-or-face-sanctions

"Sanctions, including asset freeze and travel ban on military and officials, could be imposed day after Crimea referendum."

Fun. It'll be entertaining to watch.

By the way, it's a good time to buy some shares or equity funds in Russia. They've gone down in price after all this commotion, but this dip is artificial due to the recent... developments.

So, Crimea holds a referendum, but Russia faces sanctions. It's like saying that if Catalonia does indeed conduct a referendum (http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26341833), then US should face sanctions just because Americans support Catatonia's call for independence: http://americansforcatalonia.wordpress.com/

Maybe we should organise a Let Crimea Vote movement, like this one for Catalonia: http://www.letcatalansvote.com/

Oh, this twisted world! Shakespeare would have been proud.

And some related headlines:
- Georgia will be accepted into NATO in case Crimea joins Russia (note the wording, it sounds as fait accompli!)
- Basman court of Moscow has agreed to arrest in absentia of the internationally wanted criminal, leader of the right-wing group Dmitrij Jarosh. (He is wanted for terrorism in Chechenia).
- Crimean Republic proclaimed that the units of the Ukrainian fleet stationed in Svastopol will be nationalised. This also applies to the Solar power energy stations, which will be transferred on the Crimean state balance.

[bryant.coleman]

Georgia will be accepted into NATO in case Crimea joins Russia (note the wording, it sounds as fait accompli!)

The current president of Georgia is pro-Russian.

[Balthazar]

Maybe we should organise a Let Crimea Vote movement, like this one for Catalonia: http://www.letcatalansvote.com/

Why the Crimea citizens should to worry about recognition by U.S.? They shouldn't because it's not their business. All these sanction threats are intended to prevent the demonstration of the fact that the inhabitants of the Crimea doesn't care about U.S. government's opinion. Because it's a sign of their weakness.

[bryant.coleman]

Maybe we should organise a Let Crimea Vote movement, like this one for Catalonia: http://www.letcatalansvote.com/

Why should Crimea citizens worry about recognition by U.S.? It's not their business. All these sanction threats are intended to prevent the demonstration of the fact that the inhabitants of the Crimea doesn't care what the U.S. thinks of them. Because it's a sign of their weakness.

Sanctions will never work. Russia is the no.1 crude oil producer in the world. Without the Russian oil, crude price will cross $1,000, which will topple the US government.

[Balthazar]

Maybe we should organise a Let Crimea Vote movement, like this one for Catalonia: http://www.letcatalansvote.com/

Why should Crimea citizens worry about recognition by U.S.? It's not their business. All these sanction threats are intended to prevent the demonstration of the fact that the inhabitants of the Crimea doesn't care what the U.S. thinks of them. Because it's a sign of their weakness.

Sanctions will never work. Russia is the no.1 crude oil producer in the world. Without the Russian oil, crude price will cross $1,000, which will topple the US government.

By the way, the RosAtom corporation is almost exclusive uranium-235 supplier... The U.S. nuclear power plants are dependent on this supplies.

So, all these "sanctions" are nothing more than  FUD.

[niothor]

Maybe we should organise a Let Crimea Vote movement, like this one for Catalonia: http://www.letcatalansvote.com/

Why should Crimea citizens worry about recognition by U.S.? It's not their business. All these sanction threats are intended to prevent the demonstration of the fact that the inhabitants of the Crimea doesn't care what the U.S. thinks of them. Because it's a sign of their weakness.

Sanctions will never work. Russia is the no.1 crude oil producer in the world. Without the Russian oil, crude price will cross $1,000, which will topple the US government.

And who is the number 3 producer of oil? =)))))