Russia And Ukraine

This, pretty much.

The F-35 has been a financial and technological failure.

It's gone over-budget and has cost more money than the F-22. There has been one mechanical or manufacturing failure after another for that aircraft. The Pentagon/USAF even slashed the number of orders of the F-35.

I still wonder why they continue to throw money at it. Oh, that's right, we need to replace the aging F-16/F-18 jets on aircraft carriers if I recall. I remember something along the lines we needed an aircraft for the Marines, Navy, and Air Force especially one with STOL (short take-off/landing) capability.

Pretty sure the Tech 8 is a drone in Starcraft. >_>

I was just having funs...

http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=75298

New U.S. and EU sanctions packages, announced with fanfare, were seen as so mild that Russian share prices rose in relief. A small number of names were added to existing blacklists, while threats to take more serious measures were put on hold.

Nevertheless, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded by threatening to reconsider Western participation in energy deals in Russia, the world's biggest oil producer, where most major U.S. and European oil companies have extensive projects.

Demonstrators smashed their way into the provincial government headquarters in Luhansk, Ukraine's easternmost province, which abuts the Russian border, and raised separatist flags over the building, while police did nothing to interfere.

Russian stocks initially fell 1 percent but later clawed back some losses, after a Western sanctions list that was less harsh than expected. But they are down 4.5 percent on the month and have lost more than 13 percent so far in 2014.

The rouble fell 0.3 percent to the dollar and five-year credit default swaps rose 5 basis points to 261 bps.

"We had a correction in dollar/rouble and a rebound in equities after sanctions turned out to be fairly mild but the fundamental story didn't change," said Luis Costa, head of CEEMEA FX and debt strategy at Citi.

"We are seeing a break-up in Russia's growth model, we will probably see economic contraction and all the channels of financing to Russia are being disrupted. Plus we are heading for a holiday and that's another reason to be long dollar."

The International Monetary Fund has cut its 2014 growth forecast for Russia and expects capital outflow of $100 billion this year, the Fund's mission chief to Moscow said on Wednesday.

Markets in Russia and much of Europe and Asia are shut on Thursday.

Masked gunmen in military fatigues seized government offices in another Ukrainian town on Wednesday, in a further sign that pro-Western authorities in Kiev are losing control of the country's eastern industrial heartland bordering Russia.

The gunmen, who turned up at dawn, took control of the offices in Horlivka, a town of almost 300,000 people, said a Reuters photographer. They refused to be photographed.

The heavily armed men wore the same military uniforms without insignia as other unidentified "green men" who have joined pro-Russian protesters with clubs and chains in seizing control of towns across Ukraine's Donbass coal and steel belt.

Attempts to contain the insurgency by the government in Kiev have proved largely unsuccessful, with security forces repeatedly outmaneuvered by the separatists.

The West and the new Ukrainian government accuse Russia of being behind the unrest, a charge Moscow denies.

Russian companies shut out of Western markets as a result of the Ukraine crisis are scouting the possibility of raising cash via Chinese or Singapore bonds instead, even if a large scale funding switch to Asia is likely to be a tall order.

Asian investors, eyeing the risks associated with Western sanctions, could prove a hard sell.

Usually prolific borrowers, Russian firms' bond and loan issuance this year has languished as lenders fear getting caught up in U.S. and EU sanctions imposed on Russian individuals in retaliation for Moscow's annexation of Crimea and support for separatists in eastern Ukraine.

But with $150 billion or so owed in debt payments this year, the scramble for funds is driving firms to Asia, a region with cash-rich investors and governments that are less critical of the Kremlin's actions.

For the investor:

Source

where's the pics? Page is halfway done and no new pics!

I'd do another money shot

I'd do another money shot

For the love of all that is good and pure, NO!

Bite his glorious golden *** (this post will make no sense if he changes his avatar).

Russian President Vladimir Putin and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed in a phone conversation on Wednesday that an end to the crisis in Ukraine can only be reached through peaceful means, the Kremlin said in a statement.

"The leaders of Russia and the United Kingdom agreed that the end of the serious political confrontation can only be reached through peaceful means. They agreed to continue bilateral exchange at several levels," the statement said.

The Kremlin said the phone call was initiated by Cameron and that Putin took the opportunity to underline the "fundamental importance of a swift and unconditional implementation of the April 17 Geneva accord."

3 killed in Ukraine offensive near Slovyansk

SLOVYANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Ukraine launched what appeared to be its first major assault against pro-Russian forces who have seized government buildings in the country's east, with fighting breaking out in the early hours on Friday around a city that has become the focus of the insurgency. Three deaths were reported in early fighting.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said the offensive "effectively destroyed the last hope for the implementation of the Geneva agreements" which were intended to defuse the crisis.

Two Ukrainian helicopters were shot down and their pilots killed on Friday morning, both sides said. The Ukrainian Security Service said one of the helicopters was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, which it said undercut Russia's claims that the city is under control of civilians who took up arms.

Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the pro-Russian militants, said one of their men was killed and another injured. She offered no further details.

The center of Slovyansk appeared quiet but empty and tense while fighting outside the city seemed to be over by Friday morning when an Associated Press crew got into town.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin had sent an envoy to Ukraine's southeast to negotiate the release of foreign military observers who were captured by pro-Russian militia in Slovyansk.

In comments to Russian news agencies, Peskov said the Kremlin has not been able to get in touch with the envoy, Vladimir Lukin, since Ukraine launched the offensive. However, Russia's Interfax and RIA Novosti quoted Lukin's aides as saying he was in touch and safe.

The action came a day after Putin said that Ukraine should withdraw its military from the eastern and southern regions of the country. Russia has massed tens of thousands of troops along the Ukrainian border as it warns Ukraine's military not to move against the insurgents in the east.

The Ukrainian Security Service said its forces were fighting "highly skilled foreign military men" in Slovyansk.

The Security Service said one helicopter was shot down with a surface-to-air missile, a sophisticated weapon, which they said countered Russia's claims that the city is under control of civilians who took up arms.

Ukraine's acting president, Oleksandr Turchynov, said this week that some troops were "either helping or cooperating with terrorist organizations."

The Ukrainian interior minister, Arsen Avakov, said in a statement that government troops met fierce resistance, but had managed to take control of nine checkpoints on roads around Slovyansk.

Avakov called on the insurgents to lay down the arms and release the hostages they have taken.

"We are ready to negotiate with protesters and their representatives," Avakov said on Friday. "But for terrorists and armed separatists there is only punishment."

The official spokesman for the military wing of the pro-Russian forces, who will give only his first name, Vladislav, said fighting had broken out at several points around the city. He said government armored vehicles were seen on roads leading into Slovyansk and claimed that Ukrainian troops had made incursions into the city itself.

Details of these claims could not be independently confirmed.

On the road leading into Slovyansk from Kramatorsk to the south, an Associated Press reporter saw six Ukrainian armored vehicles parked on the side of the road Friday morning.

An AP cameraman saw black plumes of smoke on the edge of the city. An emergency siren had sounded at dawn.

The armed element of the insurgency is focused on Slovyansk, a city 160 kilometers (100 miles) west of Russia in which seven European military observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe remain held by pro-Russia gunmen.

Putin said Thursday that Ukraine should withdraw its military from the eastern and southern regions of the country.

Hours later, Torchynov ordered that the military draft be renewed, citing "threats of encroachment on the nation's territorial integrity" and interference by Russia in its internal affairs.

Moscow has consistently denounced Ukrainian security forces' largely ineffectual operation against the eastern insurgents and warned against committing violence against civilians.

In a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin said the removal of military units was the "main thing," but it was unclear if that could be construed as an outright demand.

Earlier in the week, the acting president said police and security forces had been effectively "helpless" against insurgents in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the heart of the unrest, and that efforts should be focused on preventing the instability from spreading to other parts of the country.

Source

Pro-Russian rebels shot down two Ukrainian helicopters on Friday, killing two crew members, while Moscow accused Kiev of wrecking hopes of peace by launching a "criminal" assault to retake the separatist-held town of Slaviansk.

In the southern port of Odessa, one man was shot dead in clashes between supporters of Ukrainian unity and pro-Russian activists, police said. Protesters threw petrol bombs, paving stones and explosive devices during the disturbances.

Though Ukrainian forces embarked on one of their most concerted military operations yet, their advance on the ground in the east was limited. Nevertheless, President Vladimir Putin's spokesman accused Kiev of firing on civilians from the air in a "punitive operation" that destroyed an international peace plan.

In the southern port of Odessa

With 1.4 billion people and rapid expansion from a closed society into a major industrial power, it has always been a question of when, not if, but China is poised to overtake the US as the world’s biggest economy as early as this year, according to a new reading of statistics.

Economists had not expected the change until later in the decade, and the revelation comes as Chinese economic growth is slowing after decades of double-digit percentage expansion.

“The US remained the world’s largest economy, but it was closely followed by China when measured using PPPs [purchasing power parity]. India was now the world’s third-largest economy, moving ahead of Japan, ” the report said.

...

China’s economy was 87 per cent of the size of that of the US in 2011, assessed according to so-called purchasing power parity, a measure of what people can actually buy, the International Comparison Programme said. This was 15 per cent bigger than previously estimated, according to the programme, which includes organisations such as the World Bank and UN. It had put the figure at 43 per cent in 2005.

Purchasing power parity does not take into account wealth per capita. On this basis, China is still considered a developing nation and ranks well behind the US.

According to World Bank figures, US GDP, which measures all goods and services produced in a country, was more than $16 trillion ($11.54 trillion) in 2012, while China’s was $8.2 trillion (€5.91 trillion).

Welcome to the global economy.

Where cheap labor is supreme, and sanctions don't effect the leadership, just where they direct their money...