Welcome to the Working Week! Good
morning everyone! Happy Monday to you!
He had been due to lead an opposition march on Sunday
but his killing turned the event into a mourning rally.
Mr Nemtsov's allies have accused the Kremlin of
involvement, but President Vladimir Putin condemned the murder as "vile" and
vowed to find the killers. Opposition supporters
gathered at a point not far from the Kremlin before marching past the spot on
Great Moskvoretsky Bridge where Mr Nemtsov was killed. Some chanted "Russia
without Putin!" Several thousand people also marched
in St Petersburg.
Moscow city authorities had approved a march of up to
50,000 people there.
There has been no official figure on turnout yet,
with estimates ranging from 16,000 to 70,000. Many
people carried the national flag and flowers to lay at the scene of the killing,
which was already piled with tributes. A few were holding Ukrainian flags.
Some of the placards read: "He died for the future of
Russia" and "They were afraid of you, Boris". Maria
Glazacheva, a 22-year-old student in Moscow who joined the march, told the BBC:
"Boris was a good and honest man. Moscow is a sad place
today."
At the scene: Sarah Rainsford, BBC News, Moscow
The mood was sombre as the crowd gathered. Many
were carrying flowers to place at the spot where Boris Nemtsov was killed. They
had placards displaying his photograph, and slogans that included a play on Mr
Nemtsov's name so that it read: "Fight on!" As the
crowd turned the corner and flooded on to the embankment, they began to chant.
Quietly at first, but more loudly as they approached the Kremlin: "Russia
without Putin" and "Putin, leave!" These were
extraordinary scenes right at the heart of Russia's capital. The police were out
in force, but the march was peaceful. Many in the crowd were carrying their
national flag, with a black ribbon tied to it. They
said they wanted to show that they are patriots too. That criticising those in
power does not make you an enemy of the state. People told me that - like Boris
Nemtsov - they just want to see a different Russia.
Opposition politician Ilya Yashin told Associated
Press the killing was "a political murder aimed at frightening the... part of
the population that supported Nemtsov and did not agree with the government. I
hope we won't get scared". Another opposition figure,
Gennady Gudkov, told Reuters: "If we can stop the campaign of hate that's being
directed at the opposition, then we have a chance to change Russia. If not, then
we face the prospect of mass civil conflict." Pro-Kremlin activists from the group Anti-Maidan had said they
would not disrupt the march.Russia's Investigative
Committee said it was looking into a number of possible motives for Mr Nemtsov's
murder.
They include his opposition to the Ukraine
conflict, Islamic extremism - Mr Nemtsov had Jewish ancestry although he had
become Orthodox Christian - and an opposition "sacrifice" of its leader to
destabilise the state and undermine the president. Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Mr Putin had noted "that
this cruel murder has all the makings of a contract hit and is extremely
provocative". The investigators offered a reward of
three million roubles ($48,000) for information leading to the
killers.
Mr Yashin confirmed that Mr Nemtsov was preparing
documents on Russian military involvement in Ukraine before his death.
Mr Yashin said: "For him the conflict between Ukraine
and Russia was a real personal tragedy and he was trying to find any way to stop
it. And he was trying to find proof that Mr Putin is sending our troops to
Ukraine."
Mr Nemtsov, 55, had been dining at a restaurant
with his girlfriend Anna Duritskaya on Friday night. They left together to walk to his flat, crossing the bridge, where
a white car drew up and Mr Nemtsov was shot four times with a pistol at around
23:40 (20:40 GMT). Ms Duritskaya has expressed a
desire to return to her home country, Ukraine, but her lawyer said her movement
had been restricted. Officials said she could be subject to "additional
investigative action". In a telegram to Mr Nemtsov's
mother, published on the Kremlin
website, Mr Putin vowed to bring
the killers to justice. He praised Mr Nemtsov's openness and honesty.
Mr Nemtsov served as first deputy prime minister
under President Boris Yeltsin in the 1990s but fell out of favour with Mr Putin
and became an outspoken opponent.
Putin went from blaming the girlfriends family to the ISIS Group to the actual liberal party that killed him. It was a scene that reminds of me of the pre cold war days and again, House of Cards subject matter this season. Government forces backed by allied Shia and Sunni fighters have begun a large-scale military operation to recapture Saddam Hussein's hometown from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) group. Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi said on Monday: "Today, God willing, we start an important military campaign to liberate the citizens of Salahuddin province which includes Samarra, Dhuluiya, Balad, Dujail, al-Alam, al-Door, and Tikrit and other areas in the province from ISIL". "I call upon you and all other commanders to deal with citizens well. Our goal is to liberate people from the oppression and terrorism of Daesh," he added in a televised address, referring to the Arabic acronym used to describe ISIL fighters. Some 30,000 Iraqi troops started attacking ISIL positions in Tikrit from the northern, western and southern fronts early on Monday, backed by artillery and air strikes by Iraqi fighter jets. Iraqi authorities reported that security forces were in the process of retaking some neighborhoods in Tikrit's northeast. Hospital sources told Al Jazeera that two members of popular mobilisation forces and one government soldier was killed on Tikrit's northern front on Monday, while 35 more were wounded. Hours ahead of the operation, Abbadi called on Sunni tribal fighters to abandon the group, promising them a pardon. Tikrit, some 130km north of Baghdad, fell into the hands of ISIL last summer along with the country's second-largest city of Mosul and other areas in Sunni heartland. On Sunday, Iraqi forces launched a military offensive against ISIL in other parts of the strategic province of Salahuddin, which includes Tikrit.
PM overseeing operation
Abbadi arrived on Sunday in the northern city of
Samarra in Salahuddin to oversee the military operation, and vowed to "liberate"
the province "from the tyranny of the terrorists". Thousands of government troops, fighters from Shia militia and
Sunni tribes have gathered around Samarra for the operation in the nearby
strongholds of ISIL near the Tigris River, Al Jazeera has learned. Iraq's military also told Reuters news agency that around 2,000
Shia militia fighters have arrived near Tikrit in preparation for the major
operation. Raed Salahuddin, governor of Salaheddin,
had said last week that 5,000 fighters from the security forces and Hashid
Shaabi militia, which was formed last year with Iranian support, would join the
operation. Al Jazeera's Jane Arraf, reporting from
Baghdad, said that "this is one of the biggest military operations that will
eventually proceed to take back Mosul", referring to the main city of Nineveh
province, which is the stronghold of ISIL.
"Monday, Monday"... Jeffry Sachs is up next. He answers questions about ISIS/ISIL and that were late in dealing with that issue and then also, he discusses and answers the question if (Vladimir) Putin is the most dangerous man in the world right now? I will tell you that this panel is basically saying he is a murderer. (Jeffry) Sachs says we are dealing with a very, very tough leader. They are also discussing our nations and the world sustainability issues (i.e.: population overgrowth, climate control, etc.). He is pushing his new book, 'The Age of Sustainability Development which seems to be about how to go about 'taking care of our planet."
Adam Schiff is on. He of course is my guy that set up that bill (Equal Access to Justice for Victims of Gun Violence Act)(http://sustainableaction.wix.com/sustainableaction#!equal-access-justice-for-victims-law/cvzk) three years ago that sits untouched to this day and that amends the law created in 1995 that does not allow any gun manufacturers to be sued even when they sell guns to crooks and murderer. The Gun Industry has a blanket law where no one can be sued even when they sell guns to people in corrupt ways. I am not sure why they are discussing the Nemtsov murder in Russia but whatever. Joe finally mentions that half ass'ed cease fire between the Ukraine and Russia but anyway, I just thought he best to discuss domestic affairs. He denounces the invite to Nettenyahu. Austin Long whomever he is was also on during this segment.
And, oh yeah. What was the skit that 'went too far' on SNL (Saturday Night Live)? I had seen that quickly on the (Steve) Kornacki show yesterday but never saw the actually skit in question. Let's gauge that now. And, yeah. That is a bit too much for my blood. Oh I get it. It makes fun of the tens leaving to go to work with ISIS/ISIL. It is actually good to be able to laugh at them (ISIS/ISIL). And, yes. The women of SNL are the best. They are also hot. The McKinnon doing Ginsberg on the Weekend Update was great.
Did you get high (When Mark Halpern was asked about going to CPAC)? Does everyone get high at CPAC and how can you make a determination as to whom is the front runner after CPAC? We need to stop taking that conference with a grain of salt so to speak. And, she (Carl Fiorina) 'lit up the room' because she railed into Hilary (Clinton) which coming from a female, goes far these days. I can't believe people care about CPAC so much but anyway and also, I am over the Nettenyahu campaign speech...I mean speech to congress issue. I just want it to come and go already. All he (Nettenyahu) is going to say tomorrow is that the deal with Iran is weak and that they just want to bomb out the country. That will be the crux of his speech tomorrow. Noe what will happen between us and Israel if he does get reelected in two weeks, is the real issue. i wonder how that will pan out. There are no good solutions. End of story. BTW, Nettenyahu will say any deal with Iran is a bad one. Its a mute point and again, the speech tomorrow is a campaign speech even though its 6K miles away from Tel Aviv.
BTW, what the hell is with our weather here on the east coast? We basically had an ice storm last night and yesterday. My entire car today at 5/530AM was a sheet of ice. The roads were not bad though which was good.
LOL. (Not really but it is funny tome for somereason) More morning papers reports how the powner of Twitter is being threatened by ISIS over blocked accounts.
Screenshot from justpaste.it
The Islamic State has reportedly declared war on Twitter by issuing threat against its co-founder and employees, calling on supporters around the world to avenge the online service’s decision to block jihadist accounts. “Your virtual war on us will cause a real war on you,” BuzzFeed cites an online post addressed to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, which was shared on anonymous website pastebin. “You started this failed war … We told you from the beginning it’s not your war, but you didn’t get it and kept closing our accounts on Twitter, but we always come back”.
It was not clear who posted the threat which was accompanied by Twitter’s logo and the picture of Dorsey inside a sniper’s target circle.
Next, Marshawn Lynch gets interviewed in Turkey? He mentions that he was expecting to get the ball in that last play in the Super Bowl game.
And, the weather gets talked about with Dylan Dryer up in Boston. They may have to alter plans for the St. Patricks day Parade.
BTW, is it me or is there a huge push with and/or for phones made by Samsung and also with smart watches? I feel like I get fed those stories every hour nowadays.
This guy (Ari Shavit) on talking about Nettenyahu is great. This is the most astute conversation about Nettenyahu that i have heard ever quite frankly. He says it all. He says that this is a last ditch effort potentially for Nettenyahu to be able to speak to the world. He says to him, its a bit desperate because his Winston Churchill likeness faded and that Iran is controlled by many other powers and countries today. This guy makes the most sense and trust me in saying he is not into Iran at all, but he is being real about the speech to congress. And, we should not politicize it and how we need to agree when it comes to how to deal with Iran. He says that if Iran gets nukes, it would male 9/11 look like nothing which is scary to hear and again, this guy was down the middle about that situation and about the speech tomorrow. This was a great discussion. The best one AI have ever heard about that situation. (And, about the speech too).
And, here we go again. CPAC. Kasie Hunt is now on talking about her report on it. I am over that too. Time to move on to real politics and not rhetoric said to turn heads. Besides whomever this woman writer is says the same things i said about CPAC last week and also, Bobby Jindal is the worst. He was indeed saying the opposite of what he said at CPAC although I had no clue he was suing the department of Education. I can't stand Bobby Jindal. If there is any state that needs help with regard to education, its LA. I do NOT really know what common core is all about but its easy to say at CPAC that the government needs to stay out of it or anything. That is 'red meat' to the CPAC attendants.
And, I agree with Joe in that who cares that Jeb Bush brought in his own people to attend his speech and Q&A. That is politics 101. I did not get that non news story. I hardly heard a thing about Marco Rubio this weekend. I did not heard one inkling of any about Ben Carson until early this AM. I guess everyone else did fine.
I have no clue about futbol so i will let the aficionados talk about that sporting event. The Morning Joe Futbol Frenzy is happening on this next segment. I just cannot get into soccer and the ONLY time I ever saw a match was at the World cup in like 1994. I was dating a Swedish woman that was way into it. So, we went to the Rose Bowl to watch a 0-0 tie. I think they (Sweden) played Cameroon maybe.
John McCain should be on sooner than later but I am assuming after the 8AM hour is when he will be on the show. He met with the guy (Nemtsov) that was killed and he stated that he should be weary of his safety. That is freaky and (John) McCain is really going off about Russia and that leader (Vladimir Putin). He is being bi partisan saying (George) Bush Jr. is at fault and so is Obama. Putin is a scary dude. He just goes through everything without a penalty to be said. Although, his economy is Russia is in the tank as McCain says. Maybe we should put forces in the Baltics and in Poland not to go to war, but to show him that we can flex our muscles too. I am not saying its right but something must be done about that guy. I also had no clue that he (Putin) is the richest guy on the planet. He gained that money by screwing up his country but anyway, they segue that part pf the conversation into the Nettenyahu speech. McCain will attend it (the speech). He says that the Dem's do NOT want him to speak is because they do NOT want to hear how bad the Iran deal is. Mika is pushing the issue about Beohner over stepping his bounds by asking Nettenyahu to speak to the congress. Like I said here and like I said last week, I am over it. I want t to come and go already and now Joe is saying that he (Beohner) should have picked up the phone to tell the POTUS and that admin that he was doing it. Even McCain agrees saying he would have used that protocol.
OMG. we just discussed or brought up the DHS shut down issue for the first time and McCain agrees that we should fund it, and that we already have law suits set up in place to deal with any legality's of the immigration bill. I agree with that too. As far as us taking back over that city in Iraq, its been confirmed that we are now aligning ourselves with the same people we fought in that so called surge. As for arming the Ukranian's, McCain wants to very badly and so badly that he could cry. Joe says what i say which is that we have issued them night vision and some other defense weaponry but I assume or gather they (he) want to do more. Its a scary situation. Besides, most countries know that they cannot depend on the USA to get involved or to do their part if we do get into any support situations. Joe said that sometime McCain is overly aggressive and that fact that they agree today, shows that most of congress is too. I think our foreign policy today is a debacle and is a complete mess.
Most of all, it is indeed great that the people on the show tend to disagree with McCain and/or visa versa and yet, he comes on the show a lot. I also think that is cool of him (John McCain).
Whew wee. What a show and there is still 40 minutes left of it. I am exhausted trying to keep up.
I am curious about seeing/hearing the segment about the largest business owner that had its company in Russia. Until that is, he had to deal with Putin himself. That should shed some great light on him (since its not a politician per se, doing it).
I may chime back in for that segment but I am posting everything now because I need to do other work.
OMG. we just discussed or brought up the DHS shut down issue for the first time and McCain agrees that we should fund it, and that we already have law suits set up in place to deal with any legality's of the immigration bill. I agree with that too. As far as us taking back over that city in Iraq, its been confirmed that we are now aligning ourselves with the same people we fought in that so called surge. As for arming the Ukranian's, McCain wants to very badly and so badly that he could cry. Joe says what i say which is that we have issued them night vision and some other defense weaponry but I assume or gather they (he) want to do more. Its a scary situation. Besides, most countries know that they cannot depend on the USA to get involved or to do their part if we do get into any support situations. Joe said that sometime McCain is overly aggressive and that fact that they agree today, shows that most of congress is too. I think our foreign policy today is a debacle and is a complete mess.
Most of all, it is indeed great that the people on the show tend to disagree with McCain and/or visa versa and yet, he comes on the show a lot. I also think that is cool of him (John McCain).
Whew wee. What a show and there is still 40 minutes left of it. I am exhausted trying to keep up.
I am curious about seeing/hearing the segment about the largest business owner that had its company in Russia. Until that is, he had to deal with Putin himself. That should shed some great light on him (since its not a politician per se, doing it).
I may chime back in for that segment but I am posting everything now because I need to do other work.
Also, in the spirit of Grateful dead';s 50th Anniversary ticket on sale date happening on Saturday, Mika's events (http://www.msnbc.com/know-your-value) that begin in Philadelphia go on sale today. Everyone should support it. I am not even a female and still may go but that is only because its Mika doing it. Thanks for hearing that plus out today but again, go buy tickets for the Know Your value events that are coming to a few cities soon (Philly, DC, Orlando, Boston and Chicago (where the 50th Anniversary Grateful dead shows are being held this summer)) Gp tp here to get a ton of information about those events: http://www.msnbc.com/know-your-value!
Regardless of it all, Please stay in touch!
Tomorrows full recap will be late (I have a dental appointment at 830 my time) but I'll post the early part before I leave for my appointment.
Tomorrows full recap will be late (I have a dental appointment at 830 my time) but I'll post the early part before I leave for my appointment.
