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The takeover of Crimea by Russia is nearly complete. All that remains is the final vote on March 16. There would not be a vote if the outcome was uncertain. Troops Install Minefields, Border Markers in Crimea

Nato is to deploy reconnaissance planes in Poland and Romania to monitor the Ukrainian crisis. It gave the go-ahead for the flights on Monday, a Nato spokesman said. "All Awacs [Airborne Warning and Control System] reconnaissance flights will take place solely over alliance territory," the official said. It comes as Russia cements its control of Ukraine's Crimea ahead of Sunday's referendum to join Russia. Ukraine and the West say this is illegal. In the latest move on Monday, armed men - said to be Russian troops and local militias - seized a military hospital in Crimea. The attackers marched into...

SEPANG: A BOEING 777 pilot, who was flying 30 minutes ahead of the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft, said he established contact with MH370 minutes after he was asked to do so by Vietnamese air traffic control. The captain, who asked to not be named, said his plane, which was bound for Narita, Japan, was far into Vietnamese airspace when he was asked to relay, using his plane's emergency frequency, to MH370 for the latter to establish its position, as the authorities could not contact the aircraft. "We managed to establish contact with MH370 just after 1.30am and asked them if...

Saturday European officials indicated two of the people on board were using passports that had been stolen in Thailand. On Sunday Malaysia’s transport minister, Hishammuddin Hussein, said Malaysian intelligence officials were also checking the identities of two other passengers, according to The Associated Press. “All the four names are with me and have been given to our intelligence agencies,” Hishammuddin said, according to The AP. “We do not want to target only the four; we are investigating the whole passenger manifest. We are looking at all possibilities.”

The Talk Shows March 9th, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., former Defense Secretary Robert Gates.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Tony Blinken, deputy national security adviser; New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.; former Vice President Dick Cheney; former Secretary of State James Baker.THIS WEEK (ABC): Sens. Rand Paul, R-Ky., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas; Reps. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., and Joaquin Castro, D-Texas.STATE OF THE UNION (CNN): Blinken; former Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist; Zygimantas Pavilionis, Lithuania's ambassador to the United States; Marina Kaljurand,...

AUSTIN, Texas -- An Austin, Texas, technology company says 20 of its employees were aboard the Malaysia Airlines plane that went missing over the South China Sea. Jacey Zuniga, a spokeswoman for Freescale Semiconductor, says 12 Malaysian and 8 Chinese employees are "confirmed passengers." She says no American citizen Freescale employees were on the flight.

Sen. Rand Paul demolished his competition in the 2014 Washington Times/CPAC presidential preference straw poll on Saturday, winning 31 percent of the vote -- nearly three times the total of second-place Sen. Ted Cruz. Mr. Cruz's 11 percent was still a big improvement for the freshman senator, who won just 4 percent in last year's straw poll. Neurosurgeon Ben Carson was third with 9 percent and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was fourth with 8 percent in results that signal growing discontent with the GOP establishment in Washington. Indeed, CPAC voters now have an unfavorable view of Republicans in Congress,...

SEVASTOPOL, UKRAINE - Dozens of military trucks transporting heavily armed soldiers rumbled over Crimea's rutted roads Saturday as Russia reinforced its armed presence on the disputed peninsula in the Black Sea. Moscow's foreign minister ruled out any dialogue with Ukraine's new authorities, whom he dismissed as the puppets of extremists. The Russians have denied their armed forces are active in Crimea, but an Associated Press reporter trailed one military convoy Saturday afternoon from 40 kilometres west of Feodosia to a military airfield at Gvardeiskoe north of Simferopol, over which a Russian flag flew. Some of the army green vehicles had...

UPDATE [12:37]: Tuoi Tre, a leading daily in Vietnam, reports that the Vietnamese Navy has confirmed the plane crashed into the ocean. According to Navy Admiral Ngo Van Phat, Commander of the Region 5, military radar recorded that the plane crashed into the sea at a location 153 miles South of Phu Quoc island. When contacted, Malaysia Airlines declined to confirm or deny the reports, saying that the Malaysian authorities are working together with the Vietnamese government on the matter. Meanwhile, Al Jazeera reports that China has dispatched two maritime rescue ships to help locate the missing plane.

ARMED MEN ENTER UKRAINIAN MILITARY POST IN CRIMEA AND TAKE CONTROL, NO SHOTS FIRED - REUTERS REPORTER ON THE SCENE UKRAINIANS AND FORCES THOUGHT TO BE RUSSIANS HOLD NEGOTIATIONS AFTER MILITARY POST TAKEN, NO ARMS SEIZED - REUTERS REPORTER * * *

The Bureau of Labor Statistics says 175,000 workers were added to nonfarm payrolls in December, well above Wall Street’s consensus estimate of 149,000. 162,000 of those hires were to private payrolls, above expectations for a 145,000 rise in the ranks of private-sector workers. The unemployment rate unexpectedly rose to 6.7% from 6.6%. Labor force participation was unchanged at 63.0%. 610,000 were unable to work due to inclement weather in February, above the historical February average of 317,000.

The House of Representatives passed legislation Wednesday afternoon to make the fine/“tax” for violating Obamacare’s individual mandate $0 for this year, and it did so by the wide margin of 90 votes (250 to 160). That’s 83 more than the 7-vote margin (219 to 212) by which Obamacare passed the House four Marches ago. Moreover, 27 Democrats voted for today’s legislation—27 more than the number of Republicans who voted for Obamacare when it passed. In all, 223 Republicans voted for today’s bill, while only one—Paul Broun of Georgia—voted against it. Here’s the member-by-member tally for the vote. Earlier today, the...

Gallup tracks daily the percentage of Americans who approve or disapprove of the job Barack Obama is doing as president. Daily results are based on telephone interviews with approximately 1,500 national adults; Margin of error is ±3 percentage points

Overthrown Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych tops the list of 24 former state and law enforcement officials wanted on suspicion of involvement in the mass murders of EuroMaidan demonstrators from Feb. 18-20, when 74 people were slain. On March 6, Ukraine's Healthy Ministry said that a total of 100 people had been killed in clashes since the start of the EuroMaidan Revolution on Nov. 21, with several dying from wounds in recent days. Here is Ukraine's new Prosecutor General Olega Maknytsky list of wanted fugitives: Viktor Yanukovych, 63, former president of Ukraine, ousted by parliament on Feb. 22 after he fled...

CPAC 2014 kicks off this morning at 9 AM, with comments by Ted Cruz. I didn't see a thread, nor have I been able to find any links to a live stream of the event. If not, why not? If there are, please post the link. Lots of fascinating speakers..link to the list below..

<p>MPs in the southern Ukrainian region of Crimea have voted to formally become part of the Russian Federation.</p> <p>Parliament said the decision would be put to the Crimean people for their verdict in a referendum on 16 March.</p> <p>Crimea, whose population is mostly Russian, has been at the centre of tensions following the fall of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president.</p>

The nation’s top military commander painted a dark picture Tuesday of future U.S. defense capabilities clouded by shrinking Pentagon budgets and adversaries’ technological advances that he said would erode American battlefield superiority. Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, provided his sobering views as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review, a congressionally mandated evaluation of U.S. military strength issued every four years. Dempsey predicted that it would become increasingly difficult to balance the competing demands of protecting allies abroad, securing Americans at home and deterring future wars. “The smaller and less capable military outlined in...

President Obama’s job approval rating hits a record low this week, as a majority of Americans say his administration has mostly failed at growing the economy, creating jobs, improving health care and the country’s image. That’s according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday. For the first time in a Fox News poll, fewer than four voters in ten -- 38 percent -- approve of President Obama’s job performance. Fifty-four percent disapprove. Before now Obama’s worst job rating was 40-55 percent in November 2013. Last month 42 percent approved and 53 percent disapproved (February 2014).

Obama speaks on raising the minimum wage. Live video.

BREAKING: Israeli Navy Captures Iranian Boat Loaded With Syrian Missiles Destined for Gaza (VIDEO) MARCH 5, 2014 8:53 AM 9 COMMENTS Benny Gantz Ram Rothberg Israeli Navy KLOSCIran Gaza KLOSC Shayetet 13Israeli navy commandos KLOSC arms shipM-302 missile Iran Gaza StripM-302 missile Second Lebanon WarMoti Almoz Israeli Navy KLOSC Iran Israeli Naval commandos on Wednesday intercepted an Iranian ship in the Red Sea weighed down with missiles that was en route to the Gaza Strip, the IDF said in a statement. The boat, named KLOSC, was stopped by the elite naval commando unit Shayetet 13 as it was heading to...

LYING LOIS LERNER is about to testify...FOX has the live feed http://video.foxnews.com/v/2553193403001/ex-irs-director-lois-lerner-appears-at-house-hearing/#sp=watch-live

Four years after CNN foreign policy analyst Fareed Zakaria praised President Barack Obama for scrapping the missile defense system in Eastern Europe, Zakaria swiftly backtracked on Sunday after top Ukrainian officials declared that Russia was invading the country. Zakaria, the host of CNN's weekly Fareed Zakaria GPS program, said on his show that NATO should consider building a missile defense system in Eastern Europe that the Obama administration scrapped: "Militarily there is less that can be done. After all, Russia’s military budget is about 18 times that of Ukraine. But NATO should restart talks on providing assurances to countries like...

The United States took another punitive measure against Russia Tuesday, announcing it would not participate in a G8 Summit scheduled for Sochi in June unless Moscow reversed course on Ukraine, Reuters reported. The move followed an hour-long phone conversation between President Obama and West German Chancellor Angela Merkel that senior administration officials told Fox News focused on trying to construct a diplomatic off-ramp to get Russian President Vladimir Putin to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine. The White House released a statement saying the two leaders “agreed on the importance of de-escalating the situation, including through the deployment international observers and...

New Inconsistencies with Malik Obama’s IRS Paperwork Revealed on Eve of Hearing by Shoebat Foundation on March 4, 2014 in General, Malik Obama Barack H. Obama Foundation’s tax exempt status approved on a Sunday **SHOEBAT EXCLUSIVE** As the scheduled March 5th House Oversight Committee Hearing draws closer, the man who filed complaint No. 1761/2013 against Malik Obama – Dr. Sadek Raouf Ebeid – is sending a fax to Committee Chairman Darrell Issa, along with members Trey Gowdy and Jim Jordan, notifying them of even more disturbing inconsistencies. Many of these inconsistencies involve former IRS Director of Exempt Organizations, Lois Lerner,...

Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted “indefinite deferred status”. This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.) This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God. We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue–including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory. Via Home School Legal...

Russia said it had successfully test-fired an Intercontinental Ballistic Missile on Tuesday, with tensions high over its seizure of control in the Crimea and its threat to send more forces to its neighbour Ukraine. The Strategic Rocket Forces launched an RS-12M Topol missile from the southerly Astrakhan region near the Caspian Sea and the dummy warhead hit its target at a proving ground in Kazakhstan, the state-run news agency RIA cited Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Yegorov as saying.

Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry accused Russia of making up reasons for intervention in Ukraine, saying Tuesday that "not a single piece of credible evidence supports any one of these claims." "Russia has talked about Russian-speaking citizens being under siege. They're not," he said while on a visit to Kiev. He condemned what he called Russia's aggression in Crimea and urged the country to withdraw its troops. "We would like to see this de-escalated. We're not looking for some major confrontation," he said, while still promising sanctions on Russia if it refuses to step back....

(Reuters) - With Russia's incursion into Ukraine reviving Cold War-style tensions, President Barack Obama is at risk of suffering a blow to his credibility at a time when he can least afford it: as he tries to convince voters to stick with his fellow Democrats in congressional elections that will help shape his legacy. For five years, Obama has practiced a cautious approach to foreign policy crises, prizing sober diplomacy and the search for consensus over brinkmanship, in prolonged conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. But the deliberative style that Obama's team sees as a statesmanlike attitude in tune with Americans'...

President Putin has ordered troops sent last week to a surprise military exercise in western and central Russia to return to their bases. Putin ordered the return after a Defense Ministry report, which said the exercises have been conducted successfully, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media. The surprise military drills in Russia’s central and western territorial commands were launched last Wednesday. They involved 150,000 troops, 90 aircraft, 880 armor, 80 warships and other hardware. On Monday the last phase of the drill was witnessed by Putin, who visited the Kirillovsk military range in Leningrad region in north-western Russia. During...

The Department of Justice (DOJ) is preparing to announce an expansion of background checks based on executive orders president Obama issued in January 2013. According to The Hill, the expansion consists of "three changes to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS)."

Russia's Black Sea Fleet has told Ukrainian forces in Crimea to surrender by 5.am (0300 GMT) on Tuesday or face a military assault, Interfax news agency quoted a source in the Ukrainian Defence Ministry as saying. The ultimatum, Interfax said, was issued by Alexander Vitko, the fleet's commander.

Russian markets plunged Monday morning as investors reacted to the prospect of Western-led economic sanctions aimed at punishing president Vladimir Putin for Russian actions in Crimea. The selloff prompted the Russian central bank to take aggressive action to try to stabilize the markets. As the ruble sank to new lows against the euro and the dollar, the bank raised interest rate by 150 basis points (1.5 percentage points), lifting it to 7 per cent.

BTTT!! Hoping this is the last thread for this FReepathon!! Please hit the secure server link above or by mail to: Free Republic - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794 Thank you all very much!! God bless.

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's prime minister headed to Washington on Sunday for a high-stakes meeting with President Barack Obama about U.S.-led Mideast peace efforts, vowing to maintain a tough line in the face of heavy international pressure to begin making concessions to the Palestinians. Benjamin Netanyahu's defiant tone set the stage for what could be a difficult meeting Monday with Obama. But with the clock ticking toward an April target date for a preliminary agreement, the Israeli leader could soon be forced to begin laying out a clearer vision for a future peace deal with the Palestinians. Shortly before takeoff,...

Ahead of meeting with Netanyahu, president says unprecedented ‘aggressive settlement construction’ detrimental to peace process Israel can expect to face international isolation and possible sanctions from countries and companies across the world if Benjamin Netanyahu fails to endorse a framework agreement with the Palestinians, US President Barack Obama cautioned on Sunday ahead of a meeting with the Israeli prime minister. In an interview with Bloomberg, Obama stressed that time was running out for Israel to achieve a peace deal, and added that he believed Netanyahu had the capacity to rally Israel’s citizens behind an agreement. But if Netanyahu “does not...

Russia Now Has More Than 6,000 Airborne, Naval Forces in Crimea, Official Says

(Reuters) - Ukraine mobilized for war on Sunday, after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade, creating the biggest confrontation between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. "This is not a threat: this is actually the declaration of war to my country," said Ukraine's Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk, head of a pro-Western government that took power when Russian ally Viktor Yanukovich fled last week. Putin obtained permission from his parliament on Saturday to use military force to protect Russian citizens in Ukraine, spurning Western pleas not intervene. Russian forces have already bloodlessly seized Crimea...

The Talk Shows March 2nd, 2014 Guests to be interviewed today on major television talk shows: FOX NEWS SUNDAY (Fox Network): Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio; Reps. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., and Chris Van Hollen, D-Md.MEET THE PRESS (NBC): Sens. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., and Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.; Rep. Raul Labrador, R-Idaho; Gov. Jerry Brown, D-Calif.FACE THE NATION (CBS): Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel; Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, D-N.Y.THIS WEEK (ABC): Ben Affleck; Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.; Michael McFaul, a former U.S. ambassador to Russia; former Sen. Russell Feingold, special envoy for the African Great Lakes region and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.STATE OF...

BBC TV reporting that Russian troops are digging trenches at the land border between Crimea and rest of Ukraine.

Russian military servicemen have taken weapons from a radar base and naval training facility in Ukraine's Crimea region and urged personnel to side with the peninsula's "legitimate" leaders, Interfax news agency said on Sunday. It quoted a Ukrainian Defense Ministry source as saying the Russian servicemen had taken pistols, rifles and ammunition cartridges from the radar post near in the town of Sudak and taken them away by car. Another group of Russian military had also removed weapons from a Ukrainian navy training centre in the port city of Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet also has a base.

RussianTroops Take Over Ukraine's Crimea Region TIM SULLIVAN and VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV SIMFEROPOL, Ukraine (AP) — Russian troops took over the strategic Crimean peninsula Saturday without firing a shot. The newly installed government in Kiev was powerless to react, and despite calls by U.S. President Barack Obama for Russia to pull back its forces, Western governments had few options to counter Russia's military moves. Ignoring President Barack Obama's warning Friday that "there will be costs" if Russia intervenes militarily, Putin sharply raised the stakes in the conflict over Ukraine's future evoking memories of Cold War brinkmanship.

Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Andriy Parubiy on your page in the social network Facebook wrote that according to the decision of the National Security Council military mobilization happening across Ukraine. "Just rang my assistants voyenkomatu with orders to arrive at 8:00 am as planned mobilization. According to the decision of the National Security Council mobilization happening across the country, "- wrote Parubiy. Recall, March 1, Federation Council supported the appeal Russian President Vladimir Putin and agreed to the introduction of the Russian Armed Forces in the Crimea. Acting President of Ukraine Turchynov said that...

Dozens of people have been hurt in clashes in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. Violence reportedly broke out when pro-Russia activists stormed the regional government’s headquarters. ... They denounced the Kyiv authorities that have been installed - and called for reunification with Russia. A Russian flag was later seen being raised.

Simferopol, Ukraine (CNN) -- [Breaking News Update, 10:02 a.m. ET] (CNN) -- Russia's upper house of parliament voted Saturday to approve the use of military force in Ukraine. The vote was unanimous. [Original Story, published 9:23 a.m. ET] (CNN) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin has asked the upper house of parliament for approval to send Russian troops into Ukraine's Crimea region to normalize the political situation there, the Kremlin said Saturday. Due to the "extraordinary situation in Ukraine," Putin said, there are threats to the lives of Russian citizens and Russian military personnel based in the southern Crimean region. It...

Russian soldiers have occupied two key airports in Ukraine’s restive pro-Russia region of Crimea, Ukraine’s acting interior minister said Friday. Soldiers wearing camouflage and bearing automatic weapons have taken up positions at Belbek Airport in Sevastopol, home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, and at the airport in Simferopol, the region’s capital, Arsen Avakov said. He said the soldiers’ uniforms bore no identifying marks “but they do not hide their affiliation with the Russian armed forces.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — The sniping between establishment Republicans and tea partyers resumed Thursday as Texas Sen. Ted Cruz refused to endorse his state's senior senator in next week's Republican primary. Sen. John Cornyn, the Senate's second-ranking Republican leader, faces tea party-backed Rep. Steve Stockman in Tuesday's election. Cruz declined to tell reporters how he plans to vote "I am not supporting any of the senators from my party or their opponents" in this year's primaries, Cruz said, adding that he might change his mind later. Cruz, a tea party favorite and potential 2016 presidential candidate, has infuriated fellow Republicans by...

Dozens of armed men in military uniforms seized an airport in the capital of Ukraine's strategic Crimea region early Friday, a report said. Witnesses told the Interfax news agency that the 50 or so men were wearing the same gear as the ones who seized government buildings in the city, Simferopol, on Thursday and raised the Russian flag. The report said the men with "Russian Navy ensigns" first surrounded the Simferopol Airport's domestic flights terminal. The report could not be immediately confirmed. The events in the Crimea region have heightened tensions with neighboring Russia, which scrambled fighter jets to patrol...

<p>Don't do it. Prayer requests are ok, but asking for money is not.</p> <p>There is absolutely no way that we can vet people asking for money on the internet and so our policy is not to allow personal or third party fundraising on FR. Occasionally people do it anyway. And sometimes good Samaritans get burned. People are not always who they seem to be. Beware of who you send money or personal information to (real names, phone numbers, address, email address, checking account numbers, etc).</p>

Reports on Twitter from reporters that the Justice Department informed them AG Holder experienced shortness of breath and felt faint in a staff meeting this morning. They add he has been taken to a hospital and is resting comfortably.