Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Saturday, 22 March 2014

The European Union Times


Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:57 AM PDT

The Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces (GRU) is reporting today that the “highly suspicious” cargo retrieved by the US from Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 that had been “disappeared” to one of the United States most secretive bases in the Indian Ocean, Diego Garcia, was flown this past week to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico where it was then destroyed in a “massive fireball.”
The GRU had previously, on 14 March, reported their “puzzlement” as to why the United States Navy “captured and then diverted” this Malaysia Airlines civilian aircraft from its intended flight-path to the Diego Garcia atoll, an assessment that has subsequently been verified by radar tracks showing the mysterious US military flights moving about this aircraft immediately prior to its “disappearance.” (See top video)
Flight 370, it is important to note, was already under GRU “surveillance” after it received a “highly suspicious” cargo load that had been traced to the Indian Ocean nation Republic of Seychelles, and where it had previously been aboard the US-flagged container ship MV Maersk Alabama.

What first aroused GRU suspicions regarding the MV Maersk Alabama was that within 24-hours of its off-loading this “highly suspicious” cargo load bound for Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, the two highly-trained US Navy Seals assigned to protect it, Mark Daniel Kennedy, 43, and Jeffrey Keith Reynolds, 44, were found dead under “suspicious circumstances.”
After this “highly suspicious” cargo was off loaded from MV Maersk Alabama, on 17 February, the GRU reported it was then transferred to Seychelles International Airport where it was loaded on an Emirates flight bound forKuala Lumpur International Airport in Malaysia, after first stopping over in Dubai, where it was subsequently loaded onto Flight 370 on 8 March for its scheduled flight to Beijing.

The GRU further reported, on 16 March, that after Flight 370’s “diversion” it was “nearly immediately” followed by some of the top disease scientists and experts from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP) embarking to Diego Garcia on at least four flights.
On 18 March, this new GRU report says, this “highly suspicious” cargo was flown from Diego Garcia to the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico where it was destroyed in a 19 March explosion so massive it stunned the residents of this region due to the massive plume of smoke [photo 2nd right] Russian munitions experts speculate was caused by US military-grade Thermate (a variation of thermite) devices.
Important to note, this report says, is that the US appears to have been planning this operation involving Flight 370 since this “highly suspicious” cargo was first offloaded in the Republic of Seychelles on 17 February, as three days later, 20 February, the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) placed an order for 1,200 sets of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) single use overgarments which are meant to protect the wearer from radiological contamination in the form of radiological particulates.

These PPE suits, which include hoods and boots, this report says, were delivered to the DTRA at their location on Kirtland Air Force Base, located in New Mexico, where they are tasked with protecting the United States against weapons of mass destruction.
Equally important to note, this report continues, is that the US Department of Health and Human Services, on 6 December, ordered 14 million 65 mg doses of Potassium Iodide, the standard treatment protocol for someone exposed to high levels of radiation, to be delivered to them by the end of January 2014.
As to the US-Chinese connection regarding the “highly suspicious” cargo aboard Flight 370 this report does not say, but does note that is of such concern that President Obama dispatched his wife to China as his “personal emissary” and stunned the American media by refusing to allow any reporters to accompany her.
As US forces begin flooding into the European Union to counter Russian forces amassing on the Ukrainian border, this report concludes, the “mysterious” events surrounding Flight 370’s “highly suspicious” cargo cannot be separated from Obama’s sudden announcement today to cancel his planned Persian Gulf summit, especially in light of Saudi Arabia’s 11 March branding of the Obama regime as a “terrorist organization” and this cargos having transversed this most volatile Middle East region.
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Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:54 AM PDT
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy (R) and Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk sign the political provisions of the Association Agreement on March 20, 2014.
European Council President Herman Van Rompuy says Ukraine’s interim government has signed the “political” provisions of an association agreement with the EU.
“Signing [the] political part [of the] EU-Ukraine Association Agreement symbolizes [the] importance of relations [and] will to take it further,” Van Rompuy said in message on his Twitter account on Friday.
The 28-nation bloc and the new Ukrainian government signed the core chapters of the Association Agreement on the sidelines of a meeting of EU leaders in Brussels on Thursday.
The document reportedly carries the signatures of Van Rompuy, Ukraine’s interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso as well as the heads of the 28-nation bloc.
The association agreement between the EU and Ukraine was initially to be signed last November. However, Ukraine’s then president, Viktor Yanukovych, refrained from signing the deal in favor of closer ties with neighboring Russia.
Yanukovych’s refusal to sign the accord triggered turmoil in the country, with months of unrest that led to the ouster of Yanukovych on February 23. He has travelled to Russia, where he was given sanctuary.
On March 11, Yanukovych said in a public statement that he is still Ukraine’s legitimate president and commander-in-chief. The ousted president also stated that he has never fled his country and promised to return.
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Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:50 AM PDT


Thousands of audio and video recorders to protect passengers from “train derailments”.
New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced its plan to install several thousand audio and video recorders on its commuter trains Wednesday, reportedly in response to federal safety recommendations.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, several derailments last year have prompted the need for vast surveillance on a majority of the city’s trains.
“We will be systematically implementing recommendations put forward by the NTSB and other regulators to ensure the best practices are adhered to throughout the MTA family,” MTA chairman Thomas Prendergast said.
Transportation officials claim the surveillance technology will be focused on conductors and their staff to ensure proper safety guidelines are followed.
“Safety must come first at Metro-North,” Metro-North President Joseph Giulietti said. “Safety was not the top priority. It must be and it will be.”
Officials say the technology will also be used to control undesirable behavior while giving detailed conversations and video to accident investigators following any derailment or incident.
Along with surveillance capabilities, “positive train control technology” will be installed as well, giving a computer program the ability to override a conductor’s decisions.
Although the vast majority of cameras will be placed around passengers, no mention was made of how long their conversations would be stored.
While officials ignore the deteriorating condition of train tracks across the state, the never-ending cry of safety continues to be used to overpower obvious privacy concerns.
Regardless of the actual intended use, such technology will undoubtedly aid the continued erosion of privacy across the board. Outside of the rail system, other forms of public transportation across the country have begun installing similar technologies as well.
In 2012, city buses in Baltimore began recording the conversations of bus drivers and passengers in order to “investigate crimes.”
In 2011, the Department of Homeland Security began funding an effort in San Francisco to install real-time cameras on more than 350 buses.
While surveillance technology remains at the forefront, more direct intrusions such as TSA style security checkpoints have been rolled out at train stations, bus terminals and semi-truck weigh stations.
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Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:44 AM PDT

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law the documents officially making Crimea part of Russian territory.
Putin signed the bills at the Kremlin on Friday, completing the process of making Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea region part of the Russian Federation.
The Russian president also signed legislation creating two new Russian administrative districts: Crimea and the port city of Sevastopol.
Before signing the bills into law, Putin hailed the integration of Crimea into Russia as a “remarkable event.”
“I want to congratulate all citizens of the Russian Federation – residents of the whole country, Crimea and Sevastopol — on what is, without any exaggeration, a banner event,” he told a group of senior lawmakers and Russian officials on Friday.
The signing comes after Russia’s upper and lower houses of parliament overwhelmingly put their stamp at rejoining of the Black Sea region to Russia.
Meanwhile, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has dismissed Western sanctions against Moscow over Crimea as “irrational” and “unlawful.”
The Russian minister also lashed out the Western states for using the term “annexation” to refer to Crimea’s reunion with Russia, adding that such a word is an “insult” to Crimeans who overwhelmingly voted in favor of rejoining Russia in last week’s referendum.
Crimea’s referendum on March 16 has drawn angry reactions from the US and the European Union, both imposing “punitive measures,” including travel bans and assets freezes, against a number of Russian officials as well as authorities in Crimea.
Russia’s Federation Council approves Crimea reunion

Russia’s upper house of parliament has voted in favor of a treaty that officially makes Ukraine’s strategic Black Sea peninsula of Crimea part of the Russian Federation.
The 155 senators present at the Friday session of Russia’s Federation Council unanimously approved the treaty which had been signed by President Vladimir Putin on March 18.
“We have been not witnesses but participants in the historical events that happened in recent days and with a feeling of dignity, responsibility and patriotism, we have fulfilled our historic mission too,” said Valentina Matviyenko, the speaker of the Russian council following the vote.
In a similar move on Thursday, the State Duma, Russia’s lower house, overwhelmingly approved the treaty to rejoin Crimea with Russia.
On March 19, Russia’s Constitutional Court unanimously ruled that a treaty reunifying the Ukrainian breakaway region of Crimea with Russia is lawful.
Speaking at the Friday parliament session, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov said Western sanctions against Moscow over Crimea are “unjust” and “irrational” and would “create unnecessary barriers” between Moscow and the West.
The Russian minister also lashed out the Western states for using the term “annexation” to refer to Crimea’s reunion with Russia, adding that such a word is an “insult” to Crimeans who overwhelmingly voted in favor of rejoining Russia in a referendum on March 16.
“Russia is devoted to a political solution of the Ukrainian crisis and believes that the suggestions on the issue, which the Foreign Ministry previously publicized remain relevant,” added Lavrov.
The recent referendum has drawn angry reactions from the US and the European Union, both imposing “punitive measures,” including travel bans and assets freezes, against a number of Russian officials as well as authorities in Crimea.
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Posted: 21 Mar 2014 08:41 AM PDT

The people of Crimea fixed a Soviet-era mistake with the Sunday’s referendum and the will of the people should not be punished by sanctions, said former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.
“Earlier Crimea was merged with Ukraine under Soviet laws, to be more exact by the [Communist] party’s laws, without asking the people, and now the people have decided to correct that mistake. This should be welcomed instead of declaring sanctions,” he told Interfax on Monday.
Gorbachev praised the referendum, stating that it “reflects the aspirations of Crimea’s residents.”
He criticized the use of sanctions against Russia in retaliation to the referendum. “To declare sanctions you need very serious reasons. And they must be upheld by the UN,” Gorbachev added. “The will of the people of the Crimea and the Crimea’s possible unification with Russia as a constituent region do not constitute such a reason.”
Over 96 percent of voters in the Crimean referendum held on Sunday answered ‘yes’ to the autonomous republic joining Russia and less than 4 percent of the vote participants want the region to remain part of Ukraine. The Crimean parliament also unanimously voted to integrate the region into Russia.
In the meantime the US, EU and Canada have already imposed new sanctions against Russia following the referendum.
The international observers who were present during the referendum made an official statement on Monday that the vote was free and conformed to international standards.
On Monday President Vladimir Putin has signed an order that Russia recognizes Crimea as a sovereign and independent state. “According to the will of the peoples of the Crimea on the all-Crimean referendum held on March 16, 2014, [I order] to recognize the Republic of Crimea, in which the city of Sevastopol has a special status, as a sovereign and independent state,” the document reads.
Crimea also addressed the UN seeking recognition as a sovereign state. “The Republic of Crimea intends to build its relations with other states on the basis of equality, peace, mutual neighborly cooperation, and other generally agreed principles of political, economic and cultural cooperation between states,” the parliament said.
Crimea has already officially introduced the ruble as a second currency along with the Ukrainian hryvna. On Monday the republic also created the Bank of Crimea and announced that all budget incomes, which up until now were being transferred to Kiev, will now be credited to the republic’s accounts. The dual currency will be in place for about six months.
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Posted by Roberto Abraham Scaruffi at 16:07