SAR #15043

Sometimes it's hard to tell the charlatans from the cranks. Matt O'Brien

Drumbeats: The Commander of US Army Europe says that US soldiers will be dispatched to train Ukranian forces, noting that Russian troops are currently fighting with rebels in Eastern Ukraine. The US is also sending 250 soldiers to Romania in response to Russian threats aimed at Romanian military posts. NATO also announced it will open two command and control centers in the country. The US Air Force has deployed 12 A-10 close-support attack aircraft (which were originally designed to destroy Soviet tanks) to “unspecified locations in Eastern Europe.” A US think-tank notes that shipping additional arms to Ukraine “could lead to escalation of Russian support” for the rebels. With that in mind, Democrat and Republican War Hawks want to send a billion dollars worth of lethal aid to Ukraine, just to keep the pot bubbling. Nobel Peace laureate Barak Obama is also eager to start a war there, to go with the one he's trying to legitimize against ISIS. Russia, rather presciently, would treat the US arming Ukraine as an invitation to war. Almost as an aside, the US announced plans to establish a military base in Kurdistan.

Sticks and Stones: The Council of Foreign Relations has labeled Australian PM Tony Abbott the “most incompetent leader of any industrialized democracy", much to Obama's disapointment. The CFR was being polite.

Clown Car: Wannabe #1, Ted Cruz, has proposed blocking all federal marriage benefits to same-sex couples in states where only boy-girl marriages are legal. Duh. Wannabe #2, Scott Walker declined to commit to knowing whether evolution is 'real'. Wannabe #3, Little brother Bush is holding a $100,000 a plate chicken dinner for Wall Streets' downtrodden while Wannabe #4, Gramma Hillary is the headline attraction at a $295 a head dinner – her first public US appearance this year. 
 
Solomonic Solution: Mississippi and Tennessee have worked out how both states can name the Bible their state book; Tennessee got stuck with the new testament. 
 
Tomorrowland: “Europe’s problem is not that the Greeks voted for a different option from the one that led them to disaster; that is simply democratic normality. Europe’s threefold problem is inequality, unemployment and debt – and this is neither new nor exclusively Greek. Nobody can deny that austerity has not solved this problem, but rather has exacerbated the crisis. Let’s spell it out: the diktats of those who still appear to be running things in Europe have failed.”

Where Do They Get These Guys? Kansas Governor Brokeback Brownback has declared opean season on all LGBT state employees, making it legal to tease, demean, harass, maim, or fire anyone suspected of being different.