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Friday, February 28, 2014

Ukraine urges Putin to stop "provocations"

Unidentified gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms guard the entrance to the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Russian troops took control of the two main airports in the strategic peninsula of Crimea, Ukraine’s interior minister charged Friday, as the country asked the U.N. Security Council to intervene in the escalating conflict. Russian state media said Russian forces in Crimea denied involvement. No violence was reported at the civilian airport in Crimea’s capital of Simferopol or at the military airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, also part of Crimea. At the Simferopol airport, a man claiming to speak for the camouflage-clad forces patrolling the airport described them as Crimean militiamen. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Ukraine’s fugitive President Viktor Yanukovych gives a news conference in Rostov-on-Don, a city in southern Russia about 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) from Moscow, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Making his first public appearance since fleeing Ukraine, fugitive Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych pledged Friday to fight for his country’s future but said he will not ask for military assistance. (AP Photo/Pavel Golovkin)

Unidentified gunmen wearing camouflage uniforms block the road toward the military airport at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Heightened security is evident with Russian military around Sevastopol, the location for Russia military bases, military airport and Naval Base, while unidentified armed men wearing uniforms without insignia were patrolling another airport serving the regional capital, Ukraine’s new Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Friday. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Unidentified armed man patrols a square in front of the airport in Simferopol, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Dozens of armed men in military uniforms without markings patroled the airport in the capital of Ukraine’s strategic Crimea region on Friday as tensions in the country’s Russian-speaking southeast escalated. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)

An unidentified armed man patrols a square in front of the airport in Simferopol, Ukraine, Friday, Feb. 28, 2014. Russian military were blocking the airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol in Crimea near the Russian naval base while unidentified men were patrolling another airport serving the regional capital, Ukraine’s new Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on Friday. (AP Photo/Andrew Lubimov)

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SEVASTOPOL, Ukraine (AP) â€” Ukraine’s acting president urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop “provocations” in Crimea and pull back military forces from the peninsula.

Oleksandr Turchynov, who stepped in as president after Viktor Yanukovych fled Kiev last weekend, said Friday that the Ukrainian military will fulfill its duty but will not be drawn into provocations.

Heavily armed men in military uniform arrived at strategic facilities in Crimea, prompting Ukraine to accuse Russia of “military invasion and occupation” â€” a claim that brought an alarming new dimension to the crisis.

Russia kept silent on claims of military intervention, even as it maintained its hard-line stance on protecting ethnic Russians in Crimea, a territory that has played a symbolic role in its national identity.

Earlier Friday, Ukraine’s fugitive president resurfaced in Russia to deliver a defiant condemnation of what he called a “bandit coup” in Kiev.

Yanukovych struck a tone both of bluster and caution â€” vowing to “keep fighting for the future of Ukraine,” while ruling out seeking Russian military help.

“Any military action in this situation is unacceptable,” he told reporters in the southern city of Rostov-on-Don near the border with Ukraine. In his closing remarks, seeking to make a firm point, Yanukovych tried â€” and failed â€” to break a pen.

Ukraine’s population is divided in loyalties between Russia and the West, with much of western Ukraine advocating closer ties with the European Union while eastern and southern regions look to Russia for support.

Crimea, a southeastern peninsula of Ukraine that has semi-autonomous status, was seized by Russian forces in the 18th century under Catherine the Great, and was once the crown jewel in Russian and then Soviet empires.

It became part of Ukraine in 1954 when Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev transferred jurisdiction from Russia, a move that was a mere formality until the 1991 Soviet collapse meant Crimea landed in an independent Ukraine.

___

Mills reported from Rostov-on-Don; AP reporters Ivan Sekretarev in Simferopol, Ukraine; Maria Danilova and Karl Ritter in Kiev; Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow; and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.

Associated Press

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Ukraine urges Putin to stop "provocations"

Conspiracy Theories are just entertainment?

posted on Feb, 28 2014 @ 09:25 AM

Have you ever approached the subject of one of your favorite conspiracy related topics with someone, only to have this generic response…
” Oh yeah, I saw that on an episode of (insert tv show here).”
or…
” You mean you really believe that? That was just a movie plot”
*SIGH
Some of us have been into conspiracies before it was “cool”. Long before Hollywood started trolling the boards of social media grasping for new ideas to produce entertainment out of. A quick scan of my satellite channels on any given day can produce a list of shows, movies, documentaries, easily 40% of the content, which is directly related to conspiracy theories. Not so long ago, these types of shows were few and far between. From Twilight Zone, to Unsolved Mysteries….now an explosion of shows, movies, etc, relating to cryptozoology, paranormal, ancient civilizations, aliens and ufo’s, government secrecy and secret societies. I will not list individual titles, because I do not wish to give them publicity, but I’m sure even if many have unplugged from regular cable, you know of which I speak.
At first this seemed like an exciting thing. Perhaps it would wake people up, clue people in.. inform the masses of the truth, etc. Then I began to see the darker side. While the content was conspiracy related, I noted much of the commentary was made to make theories of such, or the theorists themselves, seem crazy. Some outright try to debunk with explanations more wacky than I have ever seen presented here.
The advent of conspiracy related entertainment on a wide scale, I believe, is now affecting the credibility of serious researchers and their findings in relation to any and all of the topics we discuss here on ATS. How would you feel if years of research became a movie of the week, with no credit to you? Not to mention the mockery of your findings after the fact because your truth just became Hollywood fiction?
Is this a conspiracy by mass media to discredit all we discuss here, by taking our theories and manipulating the masses with the “after school special “ version of such? How can you redirect that back to the facts?
One could easily argue that watching this form of entertainment has brought in more members, but has it brought in more serious research and discussion? IMHO, very few serious threads have remained on topic, if they received attention at all. Many who could post threads, do not, because of the negative troll like comments. It has become next to impossible, to have a serious discussion. Could it be, because some see this as more “amusement” versus chasing the truth and fact, that ATS simply becomes more fun and games? Therein, could be a huge problem for the future of researching conspiracy theories.
Just my thoughts…thanks for reading.

AboveTopSecret.com New Topics In General Conspiracies

Conspiracy Theories are just entertainment?

Jury Finds Man Targeted For Filming Police Not Guilty

Pete Eyre
Cop Block
February 28, 2014

Last month I posted about Andrew Henderson, who faced two catch-alls – disorderly and obstruction – for filming police activities at his apartment complex in Little Canada, Minnesota. Yesterday, after deliberating for an hour, a St. Paul jury found him not guilty.

Much love to Henderson for standing on principle and speaking the truth! And if you took the time to call those who had been threatening him, or if you showed up in legaland to support him, thanks to you as well. Tyrants find it hard to operate when good folks are united.

Henderson had been represented by Kevin C. Riach and John W. Lundquist from Fredrikson & Byron, P.A., who were working through the Minnesota American Civil Liberties Union. Also present were friends active with Minneapolis-based Communities United Against Police Brutality.

In the two-day trial, Joshua Norgaard, a paramedic on scene when Henderson had his camera stolen, testilied that Henderson was at times only three feet away and that he verbally told Henderson to disassociate with the incident. Henderson throughout remained adamant that Norgaard never engaged him and that he was at least 30-feet away sitting on a bench. If the footage Henderson captured wouldn’t have been deleted, I’m sure there would exist objective evidence to support his claims.

In an interview with after the verdict was handed-down, Henderson told Richard Chin of TwinCities.com, “This has just reaffirmed to me that law enforcement needs to be watched … and held accountable for their actions.”

He also noted that he now utilizes a streaming app. If you have a smartphone without such an app, head over to http://CopBlock.org/Apps

In an interview with Chao Xiong of StarTribune.com Henderson noted that the charges, which had been pending for 16-months, had a deleterious impact on his ability to get a job.

Clearly, the threats levied at Henderson was reactionary. Throughout the entire ordeal it was those who claim to “protect and serve” who were in the wrong.

Jackie Muellner, then an employee of the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office (who retired and is soon to start as a bailiff), stole Henderson’s camera and brought it home with her. When Henderson finally received back his property the footage from that interaction had been deleted. So much for transparency.

And Henderson wasn’t even charged at the scene. It was only weeks later that he was made aware that he was said to have acted criminally.

This article was posted: Friday, February 28, 2014 at 2:13 pm

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Infowars

Jury Finds Man Targeted For Filming Police Not Guilty

Ukraine Imposes Capital Controls, Limits Foreign Currency Withdrawals

zerohedge.com
February 28, 2014

Yesterday we reported that as part of the Ukrainian central bank’s plan to bailout the nation’s largely insolvent private banks, it would provide any needed funding but only “if they will remain under open control of the National Bank of Ukraine.” And since the new CB head Stepan Kubiv’s allegiance to Europe were already well-known, this was merely a quick and efficient way of providing Europe with all the banking details including asset holdings of the local population. Today, the annexation of the country’s banking system by a “benevolent” Europe is complete.

Itar-Tass reports that Ukraine’s national bank has imposed temporary limits to withdraw money from foreign currency deposits to sums equivalent to no more than 15,000 hryvnias (about $ 1,500) a day, National Bank Chief Stepan Kubiv told a press conference. Or, as the citizens of Cyprus call it – capital controls.

Why is Ukraine doing this? Because when your currency is crashing at a record pace to unseen lows, what is the best way to limit FX transactions? Simple – just minimize the amount of foreign currency that can be in circulation.

Which is also why the the central bank’s capital controls do not touch local currency: there is more than enough of that in circulation since after all Ukraine has its own currency and can print it in infinite amounts: “For hryvnia deposits you may take as much as a million or two. Banks have liquidity,” Kubiv said.

Then there was the token propaganda:

The chief banker also noted that the situation on Ukraine’s currency market was under control. “The exchange rate may move in one direction and the opposite. There are just emotions and misinformation on the financial market,” he noted.

He assured the national bank would toughly stop violators of the currency law. For example, inspectors were sent to eight banks that had engaged in speculation, he said.

To summarize: first banks abdicate their control to a pro-European central bank, and now the citizens face their first (of many) capital controls which incidentally will simply aggravate the fund outflow situation even more, leading to an even faster drop in foreign reserves.

Finally comes the inflation. Wait until the people start rioting – think Egypt – when the economy collapses and a loaf of bread costs its wheelbarrow equight equivalent in Hryvnias. Just how fast will the countercoup in Ukraine take place then? Recall, in Egypt it was just over a year and a half…

This article was posted: Friday, February 28, 2014 at 12:45 pm

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Infowars

Ukraine Imposes Capital Controls, Limits Foreign Currency Withdrawals

Google Files Emergency Motion To Restore Anti-Muslim YouTube Video

Google-owned YouTube is urging a federal appeals court to allow it to re-post the inflammatory “Innocence of Muslims” video pending its appeal of an unprecedented censorship order issued by the court, arguing that it and the public will otherwise “suffer irreparable harm to First Amendment and other constitutional freedoms” while waiting for a renewed appeal to be heard.

The Mountain View, California-based operator of the world’s most popular video-sharing site told that to a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which on Wednesday ordered Google to take down the video, which had sparked violent protests throughout the Muslim world in 2012.

A woman who was in the film, Cindy Lee Garcia, had asked a federal judge to order the removal of the film because she said she was fired from her job, received death threats and was tricked into starring in the “hateful anti-Islamic production.” Garcia, of California, believed she would be starring in an Arabian desert adventure film, according to her suit. But the 14-minute YouTube trailer produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of Southern California portrays a different story — one of which she appears for five seconds in the film and asks: “is your Mohammed a child molester?”

A lower court in 2012 sided against the woman, and she appealed. Ruling 2-1, the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Garcia’s performance was independently copyrightable — an unprecedented decision that turns decades of copyright law on its head.

The White House had asked YouTube to review the footage to ensure that it comported with the media giant’s terms of service. YouTube did not remove it from U.S.-based viewers. However, YouTube has blocked the film in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.

Google, in its late Thursday filing with the appeals court, urged a stay of the decision so it could republish the film while it asks a larger panel of the same circuit to revisit the decision. Google said the decision went way beyond even what Garcia was demanding.

“[T]he Order imposes a restraint on Google that is broader than anything Ms. Garcia has even requested,” Google lawyer Neil Katyal wrote the appeals court in its emergency petition. “Ms. Garcia asked only that the five seconds of footage in which she appeared be removed from Google’s websites.”

The woman’s attorney, Cris Armenta, hailed the court’s ruling.

“Ordering YouTube and Google to take down the film was the right thing to do,” she said. “The propaganda film differs so radically from anything that Ms. Garcia could have imagined when the director told her that she was being cast in the innocent adventure film.”

The appeals court did not immediately rule on Google’s emergency motion.

Threat Level

Google Files Emergency Motion To Restore Anti-Muslim YouTube Video

New Yorkers Funded Third of "Wolf of Wall Street"s" $100M Budget

“The Wolf of Wall Street” has been nominated for Best Picture, but it has already won one award – for Best Tax Break.

New York gives a 30 percent tax credit to film companies for movies filmed in the Empire State, which means that New Yorkers helped fund a third of “The Wolf of Wall Street’s” $ 100 million budget, according to a study from the Manhattan Institute.

All nine Best Picture nominees benefited from tax breaks offered to film companies across the country, which states created as an incentive for movie companies to do businesses there.

The best incentives are in Louisiana, where filmmakers are given a 30 percent credit on production costs and a five percent payroll credit. While “12 Years a Slave” and “Dallas Buyers Club” were both filmed in the Bayou State, they had much smaller budgets and didn’t have the savings of “Wolf.”

While the argument for such tax breaks by their supporters is that they will help create jobs and increase tax revenue, this has not turned out to be the case.

“Data from several states find movie production incentives generate less than 30 cents for every lost dollar in tax revenue,” the Manhattan Institute found.

The conservative think tank notes that this is a common problem with targeted tax breaks — they “routinely fail to deliver on the economic promises made by their proponents.”

It is also an example of government choosing winners and losers, the group says, and any industry would be attracted to a state if it promised to pay for a third of its costs. And if states did offer such incentives to other industries, it wouldn’t be sustainable.

But film is an especially bad industry to subsidize as the jobs it creates are temporary, and the workers are very specialized.

Connecticut, one of 37 states with tax incentives for the film industry, suspended its program in 2013 for two years after it became clear that it was hurting the state to spend the $ 140 million to attract filmmakers more than it was helping.

Related Stories:

Oscars Snub ‘The Butler’ in All Categories

Poll: Most Americans Have Not Seen Any Best-Picture Oscar Nominees

Newsmax – America

New Yorkers Funded Third of "Wolf of Wall Street"s" $100M Budget

Have millions of British webcam users had sex pictures harvested by GCHQ?

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Have millions of British webcam users had sex pictures harvested by GCHQ?