Our government has been cooking the books on employment for many months now. So the 100 thousand Americans who cannot find a decent paying job are blaming themselves for their predicament. In the meantime, Janet Yellen, is planning the Fed's next move based on the false data exposed here. Whatever this leads to can't be good for anyone but the top 1%.

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Something Strange Is Going On With Nonfarm Payrolls

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 03/17/2015 17:30 -0400




Let's start with the basics: why is there a majority consensus that the Fed will hike rates after it removes its "patient" language tomorrow? One simple reason: non-farm payrolls. As reported earlier in the month, following the report of March's expectations smashing 295,000 jobs added, there have now been a 13 consecutive months of 200K+ payroll months...

 

... something which together with the 5.5% unemployment rate, is for the Fed is a clear indication that the slack in the labor is about to disappear and wages are set to surge.
Sadly, as we showed before, wages are not only not rising, but for 80% of the population they are once again sliding.

Falling wages aside (a critical topic as it singlehandedly refutes the Fed's bedrock thesis of no slack in a labor force in which there are 93 million Americans who no longer participate in the job market) going back to the original topic of which economic factors are prompting the Fed to assume there is an economic recovery, without exaggeration, all alone.

Is there nothing else that can validate the Fed's rate hike hypothesis? Well... no.

Below is a selection of the economic data points that have missed expectations in just the past month.

MISSES

1. Personal Spending
2. Construction Spending
3. ISM New York
4. Factory Orders
5. Ward's Domestic Vehicle Sales
6. ADP Employment
7. Challenger Job Cuts
8. Initial Jobless Claims
9. Nonfarm Productivity
10. Trade Balance
11. Lab
12. Unemployment Rate
13. or Market Conditions Index
14. NFIB Small Business Optimism
15. Wholesale Inventories
16. Wholesale Sales
17. IBD Economic Optimism
18. Mortgage Apps
19. Retail Sales
20. Bloomberg Consumer Comfort
21. Business Inventories
22. UMich Consumer Sentiment
23. Empire Manufacturing
24. NAHB Homebuilder Confidence
25. Housing Starts
26. Building Permits
27. PPI
28. Industrial Production
29. Capacity Utilization
30. Manufacturing Production
31. Dallas Fed
32. Chicago Fed NAI
33. Existing Home Sales
34. Consumer Confidence
35. Richmond Fed
36. Personal Consumption
37. ISM Milwaukee
38. Chicago PMI
39. Pending Home Sales
40. Personal Income
41. Personal Spending
42. Construction Spending
43. ISM Manufacturing
44. Atlanta Fed GDPNow

So a pattern emerges: we have an economy in which jobs and only jobs are acting as if there is a strong recovery, while everything else is sliding, disappointing economists, and in fact hinting at another contraction (whatever you do, don't look at the Fed's internal model of Q1 GDP).

To be sure, economists these days are better known as weathermen, and so they are quick to blame every economic disappointment on the weather. Because, you see, they were unaware it was snowing outside when they provided their forecasts about the future, a future which should be impacted by the snowfall that day, and which they promptly scapegoat as the reason for their cluelessness. Yet one wonders: why didn't the harsh snow (in the winter) pound February jobs as well? Recall last year's payroll disappointments were immediately blamed on the weather which was just as "harsh" as this year. Why the difference?

And yet, today this rising "anomaly" between Nonfarm Payolls "data" and everything else, hit a crescendo, and some - such as Jim Bianco - have had it with the lies anomalies, which prompted him to ask the following:

Why Are Construction Jobs and Housing Starts Telling Different Stories? Is The Problem Non-Farm Payrolls

Bloomberg.com  – Housing Starts Plunge by the Most in Four Years

Housing starts slumped in February by the most in four years as bad winter weather in parts of the U.S. prevented builders from initiating new projects. Work began on 897,000 houses at an annualized rate, down 17 percent from January and the fewest in a year, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday in Washington. The median estimate of 80 economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for 1.04 million. “It was just the weather, basically,” said Richard Moody, chief economist at Regions Financial Corp. in Birmingham, Alabama. Still, “my view of the recovery in single-family housing is that it’s coming more gradually than others think.”

Comment

The red line above shows seasonally adjusted housing starts for February plunged by one of the largest amounts in the post-crisis period.

The chart below shows a subset of the February non-farm payroll report, residential construction jobs. Seasonally adjusted these jobs increased by 17,200 in February, the most in two years (Feb 2013 was greater) and the second most in four years.

The vast majority of residential construction jobs are due to new housing starts. Existing housing does not create a lot of construction jobs. So while economists are blaming the weather for the plunge in housing starts, residential construction jobs were fairly robust in February. This makes no sense.

Could remodeling have accounted for this discrepancy? Was there a big rush to redo kitchens in February? In Home Depot’s February 24 investor conference call, they made no mention of an unusual or a big increase in remodeling. Remodeling is so important to Home Depot that they partnered with Harvard University to create an economic series to help track sales (noted in the conference call).

If remodeling was not responsible for this discrepancy, we are left with a theme we have brought up on multiple occasions over the past few weeks. Payrolls data continues to paint a rosy picture of the economy while the rest of the economic data is doing quite the opposite.

Economists seem to start with the premise that the non-farm payroll data is correct and everything else needs to be dismissed by weather and other factors. Maybe we should ask why the non-farm payrolls number is different from everything else.

* * *
Here is another way of seeing the above "anomaly":

So, instead of asking why everything else is showing an abnormal - and rapid - slowdown in the US economy (and blaming everything on snow) is it about time that everyone - the Fed included - finally asks: just what is going on with the "data" that is reported every month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

Paul Craig Roberts: "Wolf Blitzer (CNN, March 13) used the cover of a news program to broadcast a propaganda performance straight out of the Third Reich or perhaps from George Orwell’s 1984. The orchestration presented Russia as a massive, aggressive military threat. The screen was filled with missiles firing and an assortment of American General Strangeloves urging provocative measures to be deployed against the Russian Threat. Blitzer’s program is part of the orchestrated propaganda campaign whose purpose is to prepare Americans for conflict with Russia." The Blogger: "Had he not commited suicide, Goebbels would have been hung for doing precisely what Blitzer is doing now. Wake up America!"

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CNN Is Beating the Drums of War — Paul Craig Roberts

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March 14, 2015 | Original Here                                            Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter

CNN Is Beating the Drums of War

Paul Craig Roberts

President George W. Bush’s national security advisor, Condi Rice, warned Americans that Saddam Hussein’s (nonexistent) weapons of mass destruction could result in a mushroom cloud going up over an American city. No such threat existed. But today a very real threat exists over all American cities, and the national security advisor does not notice.

The threat issues from Washington and arises from the demonization of Russia and its leadership.

Wolf Blitzer (CNN, March 13) used the cover of a news program to broadcast a propaganda performance straight out of the Third Reich or perhaps from George Orwell’s 1984. The orchestration presented Russia as a massive, aggressive military threat. The screen was filled with missiles firing and an assortment of American General Strangeloves urging provocative measures to be deployed against the Russian Threat. Blitzer’s program is part of the orchestrated propaganda campaign whose purpose is to prepare Americans for conflict with Russia.

It was such irresponsible propaganda and so many blatant lies for a media organization to sponsor that it was obvious that CNN and Wolf Blitzer had no fear of being called on the carpet for spreading war fever. The so-called “mainstream media” has been transformed into a Ministry of Propaganda.

Similar propaganda is being spread in the UK where defense minister Michael Fallon declared Russia to be a “real and present danger” to Europe. US troops and tanks are being rushed to the Baltics on the pretext that Russia is going to attack.

That such blatant lies can issue from high government officials without a shred of evidence and without shame should scare you to death. We are witnessing the total disrespect for truth and human life by high government officials and the presstitute media.

The propaganda is driving the world toward war. The propaganda has destroyed the trust between nuclear powers and has resurrected the threat of nuclear armageddon. The Russian government sees that Washington and its NATO vassals are conjuring a nonexistent Russian Threat. Clearly this conjured threat has a purpose that intends Russia harm.

Washington’s propaganda spread by the presstitutes is the most irresponsible act in human history. Reagan and Gorbachev succeeded in removing the threat of nuclear war, and the crazed neoconservatives and their media whores have brought it back.

Washington’s propaganda attack on Russia and Vladimir Putin is like Washington’s attack on Afghanistan and Osama bin Laden, Iraq and Saddam Hussein, Libya and Gaddafi. Does this mean that Washington intends to attack Russia in a pre-emptive nuclear strike?

If so, it means the end of the world. Clearly, the threat to the United States and the entire world resides in Washington and not in Moscow. The threat is the crazed neoconservative ideology of US world hegemony supported by the unbridled greed of American corporations to control the resources of the world

Putin understands the seriousness of the situation and is working hard to diffuse it, but Washington has made it impossible to diffuse. Washington’s price is that Putin must hand over Crimea and the Russian Black Sea naval base, abandon the Russian populations in southern and eastern Ukraine, and accept NATO military bases in Ukraine. Washington’s demand is a demand for Russia’s pre-emptive surrender.

In the CNN propaganda show, Wolf Blitzer failed to report that German intelligence challenges Washington’s claims about Russia and that the French and German governments have finally realized that Washington is insane and are working desperately to stop Washington’s drive toward war.

Washington and its UK puppet have spent the entirety of the 21st century creating death and destruction. Seven countries have been invaded, bombed, or droned in order “to spread democracy.” Iraq is destroyed, as is Afghanistan, Libya and Somalia . Syria nearly so, and Pakistan and Yemen are politically and socially destabilized by incessant US air attacks. The democratic, elected, governments of Honduras and Ukraine have been overthrown by US coups. Venezuela is next in line, with Bolivia, Ecuador, Argentina and Brazil waiting their turn.

Washington has given the world 14 years of brutal and inhumane war. Isn’t this enough evil? Does Washington have to give us more?

Washington and the presstitutes have lost their humanity. They have become agents of evil. If mushroom clouds appear, the responsibility will lie with Wolf Blitzer, CNN, and the presstitutes who beat the drums of war.

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How many Americans know anything about Russia? I've been there twice in 1991 (counting Latvia) for scientific conferences held only a few months before the fall of the Soviet Union. There I met for the first time many scientists whose names I knew well from reading their published works in my field. A number of them have since become life-long friends and occasional collaborators in research. In both Riga and Saint Petersburg I was invited into people's homes. It was truly hard times for them but they put out their best for me. I am happy to have had the opportunity to reciprocate when three of my former-Soviet colleagues came for a 1997 topical conference in Williamsburg, Virginia (see the four of us and my wife at our former home in the photo below). I am still working with Anatoly (far right) as authors or coauthors of each other’s works. Now, with the lying neocon US government forcing unjustified sanctions on Russia, I am pleased to read below of the flowering of a new Russian Renaissance ...one that includes Russian science students having four years of biology, chemistry, physics, and both integral and differential calculus BEFORE entering the university! In contrast most American children are now being taught to learn nothing more than how to pass a standard test …qualifying them for serfdom. Thus I celebrate the new Russia and cry for my once-great country.

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Russia’s Remarkable Renaissance

By F. William Engdahl                                                                         Region: Russia and FSU Global Research, March 10, 2015                                            Theme: Culture, Society & History

New Eastern Outlook

Something remarkable is taking place in Russia, and it’s quite different from what we might expect. Rather than feel humiliated and depressed Russia is undergoing what I would call a kind of renaissance, a rebirth as a nation. This despite or in fact because the West, led by the so-called neo-conservatives in Washington, is trying everything including war on her doorstep in Ukraine, to collapse the Russian economy, humiliate Putin and paint Russians generally as bad. In the process, Russia is discovering positive attributes about her culture, her people, her land that had long been forgotten or suppressed.

My first of many visits to Russia was more than twenty years ago, in May, 1994. I was invited by a Moscow economics think-tank to deliver critical remarks about the IMF. My impressions then were of a once-great people who were being humiliated to the last ounce of their life energy. Mafia gangsters sped along the wide boulevards of Moscow in sparkling new Mercedes 600 limousines with dark windows and without license plates. Lawlessness was the order of the day, from the US-backed Yeltsin Kremlin to the streets. “Harvard boys” like Jeffrey Sachs or Sweden’s Anders Aaslund or George Soros were swarming over the city figuring new ways to rape and pillage Russia under the logo “shock therapy” and “market-oriented reform” another word for “give us your crown jewels.”

The human toll of that trauma of the total collapse of life in Russia after November 1989 was staggering. I could see it in the eyes of everyday Russians on the streets of Moscow, taxi-drivers, mothers shopping, normal Russians.

Today, some two decades later, Russia is again confronted by a western enemy, NATO, that seeks to not just humiliate her, but to actually destroy her as a functioning state because Russia is uniquely able to throw a giant monkey wrench into plans of those western elites behind the wars in Ukraine, in Syria, Libya, Iraq and well beyond to Afghanistan, Africa and South America.

Rather than depression, in my recent visits to Russia in the past year as well as in numerous discussions with a variety of Russian acquaintances, I sense a new feeling of pride, of determination, a kind of rebirth of something long buried.

Sanctions Boomerang

Take the sanctions war that the Obama administration has forced Germany, France and other unwilling EU states to join. The US Treasury financial warfare unit has targeted the Ruble. The morally corrupt and Washington-influenced Wall Street credit rating agencies have downgraded Russian state debt to “junk” status. The Saudis, in cahoots with Washington, have caused a free-fall in oil prices. The chaos in Ukraine and EU sabotage of the Russian South Stream gas pipeline to the EU, all this should have brought a terrified Russia to her knees. It hasn’t.

As we have earlier detailed, Putin and an increasing number of influential Russian industrialists, some of the same who a few years ago would have fled to their posh London townhouses, have decided to stand and fight for the future of Russia as a sovereign state. Oops! That wasn’t supposed to happen in a world of globalization, of dissolution of the nation-state. National pride was supposed to be a relic like gold. Not in Russia today.

On the first anniversary of the blatant US coup in Kiev that installed a hand-picked regime of self-professed Neonazis, criminals, and an alleged Scientologist Prime Minister Andriy Yansenyuk, hand-picked by the US State Department, there was a demonstration in downtown Moscow on February 22. An estimated 35,000 to 50,000 people showed up—students, teachers, pensioners, even pro-Kremlin bikers. They protested not against Putin for causing the economic sanctions by his intransigence against Washington and EU demands. They protested the blatant US and EU intervention into Ukraine. They called the protest “Anti-Maidan.” It was organized by one of many spontaneous citizen reactions to the atrocities they see on their borders. Internet satirical political blogs are making fun of the ridiculous Jan Paski, until last week the fumbling US State Department Press Spokesperson.

Not even an evident False Flag attempt in the London Financial Times and Western controlled media to blame Putin for “creating the climate of paranoia that caused” Boris Nemtsov’s murder is being taken seriously. Western “tricks” don’t work in today’s Russia.

And look at US and EU sanctions. Rather than weakening Putin’s popularity, sanctions have caused previously apolitical ordinary Russians to rally around the president, who still enjoys popularity ratings over 80%. A recent survey by the independent Levada Center found 81 percent of Russians feel negatively about the United States, the highest figure since the early 1990s “shock therapy” Yeltsin era. And 71 percent feel negatively about the European Union.

The renaissance I detect is evident in more than protests or polls, however. The US-instigated war in Ukraine since March 2014 has caused a humanitarian catastrophe, one which the US-steered German and other western media have blocked out of their coverage. More than one million Ukrainian citizens, losing their homes or in fear of being destroyed in the insane US-instigated carnage that is sweeping across Ukraine, have sought asylum in Russia. They have been welcomed as brothers according to all reports. That is a human response that has untold resonances among ordinary Russians. Because of the wonders of YouTube and smart phone videos, Russians are fully aware of the truth of the US war in eastern Ukraine. Russians are becoming politically sensitive for the first time in years as they realize that some circles in the West simply want to destroy them because they resist becoming a vassal of a Washington gone berserk.

Rather than bow to the US Treasury’s Ruble currency war and the threat that Russian banks will be frozen out of the SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) international interbank clearing system, something likened to an act of war, on February 16, the Russian government announced that it had completed its own banking clearing network in which some 91 domestic credit institutions have been incorporated. The system allows Russian banks to communicate seamlessly through the Central Bank of Russia.

That is inside Russia among banks that otherwise were vulnerable even domestically to a SWIFT cut. Russia joined the Brussels-based private SWIFT system as the Berlin Wall crumbled in 1989. Today her banks are the second largest users of SWIFT. The new system is inside Russia. Necessary, but not sufficient, to protect against SWIFT cutoff. The next step in discussion is joint Russia-China interbank clearing independent of SWIFT and Washington. That is also coming.

The following day after Russia’s “SWIFT” alternative was announced as operational, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cheng Guoping said China will build up its strategic partnership with Russia in finance, space and aircraft building and “raise trade cooperation to a new level.” He added that China plans to cooperate more with Russia in the financial area and in January Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov said that payments in national currencies, de-dollarization, were being negotiated with China. China realizes that if Russia collapses, China is next. Failing empires try desperate measures to survive.

Russians also realize that their leaders are moving in unprecedented ways to build an alternative to what they see as a morally decadent and bankrupt American world. For most Russians the disastrous decade of poverty, chaos and deprivation of the Yeltsin era in the 1990’s was reminder enough what awaits should Russia’s leaders again prostitute themselves to American banks and corporations for takeover, Hillary Clinton’s infamous “reset” of US-Russian relations she attempted when Medvedev was President. Russians see what the US has done in neighboring Ukraine where even the Finance Minister, Natalia Jaresko, is an American, a former State Department person.

Russia and its leaders are hardly trembling behind Kremlin walls. They are forging the skeleton of a new international economic order that has the potential to transform the world from the present bankruptcy of the Dollar System. Moscow and Beijing recently announced, as I discussed in a previous posting, their project to create a joint alternative to the US credit rating monopoly of Moody’s, S&P and Fitch. President Putin’s travel agenda in the past year has been mind-boggling. Far from being the international paraiah Washington and Victoria Nuland hoped for, Russia is emerging as the land which has the courage to “just say No!” to Washington.

Russia’s president has been in Cyprus where possible basing for the Russian navy was discussed, in Egypt where General al-Sisi warmly welcomed the Russian leader and discussed significant economic and other joint cooperation. Late last year Russia and the BRICS states agreed to form a $100 billion infrastructure bank that makes the US-controlled World Bank irrelevant. The list grows virtually every day.

The special human side

For me, however, the most heartening feature of this Russian renaissance is in the generation which is today in their late thirties to early forties—young, highly intelligent and having experience of both the depravity of Soviet communist bureaucracy but as well of the hollow world of US-led so-called “free market capitalism.” I share some examples from the many Russians I have come to know in recent years.

What is unique in my mind about this generation is that they are the hybrid generation. The education they received in the schools and universities was still largely dominated by the classical Russian science. That classical Russian science, as I have verified from many discussion with Russian scientist friends over the years, was of a quality almost unknown in the pragmatic West. An American Physics professor from MIT who taught in Moscow universities in the early 1990s told me,

“When a Russian science student enters first year university, he or she already has behind them 4 years of biology, 4 of chemistry, of physics, both integral and differential calculus, geometry…they are starting university study at a level comparable to an American post-doctoral student.”

They grew up in a Russia where it was common for young girls to learn classical ballet or dance, for all children to learn to play piano or learn a musical instrument, to do sports, to paint, as in classical Greek education of the time of Socrates or Germany in the 1800s. Those basics which were also there in American schools until the 1950s, were all but abandoned during the 1980s. American industry wanted docile “dumbed-down” workers who asked no questions.

Russian biology, Russian math, Russian physics, Russian astrophysics, Russian geophysics—all disciplines approached their subject with a quality that had long before disappeared from American science. I know, as I grew up during the late 1950’s during the “Sputnik Shock,” where we were told as high school pupils we had to work doubly hard to “catch up to the Russians.” There was a kernel of truth, but the difference was not lack of American students working hard. In those days we worked and studied pretty hard. It was the quality of Russian scientific education that was so superior.

Teaching of the sciences especially, in Russia or the Soviet Union, had been strongly influenced by the German education system of the 1800s, the so-called Humboldt Reforms of Alexander von Humboldt and others.

The strong ties in Russian education with classical 19th Century German culture and science went deep, going back to the time under Czar Alexander II who freed the serfs in 1861, following the example of his friend, Abraham Lincoln. The ties were deepened to German classical culture later under Czar Alexander II prior to the 1905 Russo-Japanese War when the brilliant Sergei Witte was Transport Minister, then Finance Minister and finally Prime Minister before western intrigues forced his resignation. Witte translated the works of the German national economist Friederich List, the brilliant opponent of England’s Adam Smith, into Russian. Before foreign and domestic intrigues manipulated the Czar into the disastrous Anglo-Russian Entente of 1907 against Germany a pact which made England’s war in 1914 possible, the Russian state recognized the German classical system as superior to British empiricism and reductionism.

Many times I have asked Russians of the 1980s generation why they came back to Russia to work after living in the USA. Always the reply more or less, “The US education was so boring, no challenge…the American students were so shallow, no idea of anything outside the United States…for all its problems, I decided to come home and help build a new Russia…”

Some personal examples illustrate what I have found: Irina went with her parents to Oregon in the early 1990s. Her father was a high-ranking military figure in the USSR. After the collapse he retired and wanted to get away from Russia, memories of wars, to live his last years peacefully in Oregon. His daughter grew up there, went to college there and ultimately realized she could be so much more herself back in Russia where today as a famous journalist covering US-instigated wars in Syria and elsewhere including Ukraine, she is making a courageous contribution to world peace.

Konstantin went to the USA to work as a young broadcast journalist, did a master’s degree in New York in film and decided to return to Russia where he is making valuable TV documentaries on dangers of GMO and other important themes. Anton stayed in Russia, went into scientific and business publishing and used his facility with IT to found his own publishing house. Dmitry who taught physics at a respected German university, returned to his home St Petersburg to become a professor and his wife also a physicist, translates and manages a Russian language internet site as well as translating into Russian several of my own books.

What all these Russian acquaintances, now in their late 30s or forties share is that they were born when the remnants of the old Soviet Russia were still very visible, for better and for worse, but grew to maturity after 1991. This generation has a sense of development, progress, of change in their lives that is now proving invaluable to shape Russia’s future. They are also, through their families and even early childhood, rooted in the old Russia, like Vladimir Putin, and realize the reality of both old and new.

Now because of the brazen open savagery of Washington policies against Russia, this generation is looking at what was valuable. They realize that the stultifying bureaucratic deadness of the Soviet Stalin heritage was deadly in the USSR years. And they realize they have a unique chance to shape a new, dynamic Russia of the 21st Century not based on the bankrupt model of the now-dying American Century of Henry Luce and FD Roosevelt.

This for me is the heart of an emerging renaissance of the spirit among Russians that gives me more than hope for the future. And, a final note, it has been policy among the so-called Gods of Money, the bankers of London and New York, since at least the assassination in 1881 of Czar Alexander II, to prevent a peaceful growing alliance between Germany and Russia. A prime aim of Victoria Nuland’s Ukraine war has been to rupture that growing Russo-German economic cooperation. A vital question for the future of Germany and of Europe will be whether Germany’s politicians continue to kneel to the throne of Obama or his successor or define their true interests in closer cooperation with the emerging Eurasian economic renaissance that is being shaped by President Putin’s Russia and by President Xi’s China.

Ironically, Washington’s and now de facto NATO’s “undeclared war” against Russia has sparked this remarkable renaissance of the Russian spirit. For the first time in many years Russians are starting to feel good about themselves and to feel they are good in a world of some very bad people. It may be the factor that saves our world from a one world dictatorship of the bankers and their military.

F. William Engdahl is strategic risk consultant and lecturer, he holds a degree in politics from Princeton University and is a best-selling author on oil and geopolitics, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.

The US government lies about everything, while the despicable mainstream media "verifies" them. But the "Elephant in the Room" is the fact that 100 million working age Americans don't have a decent job at this moment ...whereas some Federal Reserve officials believe that the US economy is already at "full employment". Hmm... Maybe it's a good time to sell those officials a bridge we all know of.

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Nearly At ‘Full Employment’? 10 Reasons Why The Unemployment Numbers Are A Massive Lie

By Michael Snyder, on March 8th, 2015

On Friday, we learned that the official “unemployment rate” has fallen to 5.5 percent. Since an unemployment rate of 5 percent is considered to be “full employment” by many economists, many in the mainstream media took this as a sign that the U.S. economy has almost fully “recovered” since the last recession.  In fact, according to the Wall Street Journal, some Federal Reserve officials believe that “the U.S. economy is already at full employment“.  But how can this possibly be?  It certainly does not square with reality.  Personally, I know people that have been struggling with unemployment for years and that still cannot find a decent job.  And I get emails from readers all the time that are heartbroken because they are suffering through extended periods of unemployment.  So what in the world is going on?  How can the government be telling us that we are nearly at “full employment” when so many people can’t find work?  Could it be possible that the government numbers are misleading?

It is my contention that the official “unemployment rate” has become so politicized and so manipulated that it is essentially meaningless at this point. The following are 10 reasons why…

#1 Since February 2008, the size of the U.S. population has grown by 16.8 million people, but the number of full-time jobs has actually decreased by 140,000.

#2 The percentage of working age Americans that have a job right now is still about the same as it was during the depths of the last recession. Posted below is a chart that shows how the employment-population ratio has changed since the beginning of the decade. Does this look like a full-blown “employment recovery” to you?…

#3 The primary reason for the decline in the official “unemployment rate” is the fact that the government now considers millions upon millions of long-term unemployed workers to “no longer be in the labor force”.  Just check out the following numbers…

The number of Americans participating in the labor force has been on a decline for the past few years. Nearly 33 percent of the Americans above age 16 are not part of the workforce, the highest number since 1978. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report issued recently has found 92,898,000 Americans above age 16 not a part of the labor force of the country as on February 2015.

When President Obama took over the office in January 2009, nearly 80,529,000 Americans were not a part of the labor force. The number has increase by nearly 12 million over the last few years.

#4 Over the past couple of years, the labor force participation rate in this country has been hovering near mutli-decade lows…

The labor force participation rate hovered between 62.9 percent and 62.7 percent in the eleven months from April 2014 through February, and has been 62.9 percent or lower in 13 of the 17 months since October 2013.

Prior to that, the last time the rate was below 63 percent was 37 years ago, in March 1978 when it was 62.8 percent, the same rate it was in February.

#5 When you add the number of “officially unemployed” Americans (8.7 million) to the number of Americans “not in the labor force” (92.9 million), you get a grand total of 101.6 million working age Americans that do not have a job right now.  Does that sound like “full employment” to you?

#6 The quality of our jobs continues to decline.  Right now, only 44 percent of U.S. adults are employed for 30 or more hours each week.

#7 Millions upon millions of Americans have been forced to take part-time jobs because that is all they can find, and wages for American workers are at depressingly low levels.  The following numbers come directly from the Social Security Administration…

-39 percent of American workers make less than $20,000 a year.

-52 percent of American workers make less than $30,000 a year.

-63 percent of American workers make less than $40,000 a year.

-72 percent of American workers make less than $50,000 a year.

#8 The average duration of unemployment for an unemployed worker is still about twice as long as it was just prior to the last recession.

#9 Most Americans feel as though the Obama administration has done little to nothing to help the middle class.  Just consider the following poll numbers…

According to a new poll by the Pew Research Center, Americans see government policies under the Obama administration as having mostly benefited wealthy people, large corporations and financial institutions.

Seventy-two percent of respondents said government policies have done little or nothing to help the middle class, and 65 percent said they have done nothing to help the poor. Sixty-eight percent said the policies have done nothing to help small businesses.

Meanwhile, 45 percent said the policies have done a “great deal” to help large banks and financial institutions, 38 percent say they have helped large corporations, and 36 percent say they have helped the wealthy.

#10 If the unemployment rate was calculated honestly, we would all be talking about the horrific “unemployment crisis” that we were currently enduring.  According to John Williams of shadowstats.com, the real unemployment rate in the United States right now is above 23 percent.

Our politicians and the mainstream media are attempting to convince us that everything is just fine.

But what they are telling us simply does not match the cold, hard reality on the streets.

And since the talking heads on television are proclaiming that we are nearly at “full employment”, that just makes millions upon millions of Americans that can’t seem to find work no matter how hard they try feel even worse than they already do.

If jobs are “easy to get”, then those that are chronically unemployment must have “something wrong” with them.  That is the message that we are being given.  If the mainstream media says that unemployment has gone way down, then anyone that is still unemployed must be really “lazy”, right?

When you are unemployed for an extended period of time, it can really suck the life right out of you.  It can be really tempting to believe that you are viewed as a failure by your family and friends.  And for the government to lie to us like this just makes things even harder.

If you are unemployed and can’t find a job right now, I want you to understand that you are caught in the midst of a long-term downward economic spiral which is going to get a lot worse.

When the government tells you that we are in a “recovery”, they are lying to you.

And when the government tells you that things are about to get a lot better, they are lying to you.

Everyone has times in their lives when they get knocked down.

The key is to always get back up and to never, ever stop fighting.

Yes, we are facing some really hard economic times.  But that does not mean that your life is over.  Never give up, and never give in to fear.  Just do what you can with what you have today, and tomorrow get up and fight with everything that you have got.
The truth is that the best chapters of your life could be just around the corner.

Just don’t sit back and wait for the government to save you.  If you are waiting for the government to save you, then you are going to be deeply disappointed.

Stephen Lendman is an unfettered journalist of current events. He writes in short paragraphs of only one or two sentences. Each of his paragraphs reveal something profound. He used to publish on OpedNews but now posts only on his blog. Here Paul Craig Roberts has reposted his latest. It’s about our lying government. Stephen says that Obama is a congenital liar. But he reports that: “Scholars recently rated John Kerry America’s worst Secretary of State in the past 50 years – along with Hillary Clinton perhaps the worst two ever.” Americans and Russians should take heed.

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As Stephen Lendman makes clear, the Obama regime is a congenital liar.

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March 6, 2015 | Guest Contributions | Original Here                   Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter

As Stephen Lendman makes clear, the Obama regime is a congenital liar.

The Great American Lying Machine 

by Stephen Lendman

It’s unprecedented in outrageous lies on Ukraine. Everything from calling US-installed Nazis democrats to phantom Russian hordes pouring across the border Wehrmacht-style.

US officials recite one Big Lie after another. Media scoundrels regurgitate  them like gospel. Mindless Americans believe whoppers anyone paying minimal attention would reject. 

Wars without end persist. Millions die. Survivors suffer horrifically. Ukraine is in the eye of the storm. 

It’s just a matter of time before full-scale conflict resumes. Perhaps with US combat troops involved and/or shock and awe terror-bombing. Maybe setting the entire continent ablaze.

Megalomania and delusions of grandeur define US ambitions. George Clemenceau once said “(w)ar is too important to be left to the generals.” He should have added rogue politicians like Obama and neocons infesting his administration.

In his State of the Union address, Obama shamelessly accused Russia of “aggression” in Ukraine.

Earlier he said it’s “provable” that “Russian combat forces and tanks” moved into Ukraine. 

“(T)hese are the facts. They are provable. They’re not subject to dispute.” No proof whatever was presented. Not earlier. Not now. None exists.

No Russian forces operated in Ukraine at any time during months of conflict. Nor does Moscow supply rebels with weapons.

“(S)how us” proof, Sergey Lavrov repeatedly says. “Present proof” or stop making baseless accusations.

On numerous occasions, Lavrov said “no (Russian) military intervention” in Ukraine exists. His comments fall on deaf ears. Truth is conveniently buried.

Whenever she gets a chance during Security Council sessions, neocon US envoy Samantha Power rants about nonexistent “Russian aggression” in Ukraine.

“Russian troops fight alongside” rebels, she claims. Invisible ones no one can see.

Scholars recently rated John Kerry America’s worst Secretary of State in the past 50 years – along with Hillary Clinton perhaps the worst two ever.

Both reflect brazen imperial arrogance. They’re shameless demagogues, war criminals multiple times over, an embarrassment to legitimate governance, and indifferent to human suffering.

No just just society would tolerate their high crimes. America glorifies them. Kerry’s brazen lying is notorious.

He bellows “Russian aggression” every chance he gets. He turns truth on its head accusing Putin of invading Ukraine, violating its sovereignty, and spurning international law.

“You just don’t…invad(e) another country on a completely trumped up pretext,” he said. The whole world knows Russia didn’t invade Ukraine.

It knows since WW II alone, Washington directly or through proxies lawlessly invaded North Korea, Lebanon, Cuba, southeast Asia, Indonesia, Latin America, Somalia, Haiti, Yugoslavia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Yemen, Syria and Ukraine.

It partners with Israel in all its wars of aggression. Post-9/11 alone, It’s responsible for millions of death, mass destruction and appalling human suffering.

“Let there be no doubt about who is blocking the prospect of peace” in Ukraine,” Kerry blustered recently.

“Russia with impunity…acted to cross (its) border at will with weapons, with personnel, with the instruments of death.”

“Russia’s continued aggression” is Ukraine’s greatest threat, he ranted. “(W)e cannot close our eyes to (its) tanks crossing the border…”

“We cannot close our eyes to Russian fighters in unmarked uniforms…leading companies of so-called separatists in battle.”

“We cannot close our eyes” to Kerry’s Big Lies throughout months of conflict through current very shaky ceasefire conditions.

Deputy NATO Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow runs the organization. Jens Stoltenberg is a convenient US stooge – a front man representing Washington.

No nation threatens world peace, security and stability more than America. None works harder to resolve Ukraine’s conflict diplomatically than Russia.

Washington bears full responsibility for Ukrainian crisis conditions – including illegitimate fascist governance and naked aggression on its own citizens.

Last month, Vershbow lied saying “Russia has torn up the international rule book. It has returned to a strategy of power politics.”  

“It threatens not just Ukraine, but European and global security more generally…Russia’s aggression against Ukraine is not an isolated incident, but a game-changer in European security.”

“Russia has used force to alter legally recognized borders and to actively subvert the government of a neighboring state.”

On March 3, US General Ben Hodges urged Washington supply Kiev with more heavy weapons than already.

He ludicrously calls doing it “giv(ing) muscle to diplomacy.” He lied claiming “Russia has 12,000 (troops) in eastern Ukraine.”

He provided no evidence proving it. None exists. No Russian hordes operate anywhere in Ukraine.

Hodges wants Kiev heavily armed for more war. He wrongfully accused Putin of “want(ing) to destroy (NATO), not by attacking it but by splintering it.”

He ludicrously added “(i)f you don’t believe Russia is directly involved in Ukraine now, you’ll never believe it. You don’t want to believe it.”

Hodges heads US Army Europe (USAREUR). He ignored Kiev’s military chief Viktor Muzhenko saying Ukrainian forces “engaged in (no) combat operations against Russian regular units.”

Assistant State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf was asked about Hodges’ claim. Instead of answering, she asked why the question was asked.

“I am not going to be more specific,” she said. She lied saying “(o)bviously (there’s) a huge (Russian) presence (in Ukraine), not just of people but of weapons and other things.”

“But I’m not going to give more detail on that.”

“And where did you get your numbers,” she was asked?

“I can check and see,” she responded. “I’d refer you to the Department of Defense on their numbers that their officials put out, but I can check and see with our team.”

A previous article discussed Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland’s House Foreign Affairs Committee testimony.

It was beginning-to-end Big Lies. She called year ago US responsibility for violence using well-trained Nazi thugs “peaceful protest(s) by ordinary Ukrainians.”

She turned truth on its head about nonexistent Russian involvement claiming “Russia and its separatist puppets unleashed unspeakable violence and pillage.”

“Hundreds of Russian heavy weapons and (thousands of)
 troops poured across the border, fueling the conflict,” she blustered.

She ludicrously called Ukraine ” a manufactured conflict controlled by the Kremlin, fueled by Russian tanks and heavy weapons; financed at Russian taxpayers’ expense and costing the lives of young Russians…”

Media scoundrels regurgitate these Big Lies like gospel. Obama lies. Joe Biden lies. Kerry lies. His assistant secretary, spokespersons, UN envoy and ambassadors lie. 

Congress lies. Virtually everyone connected to government in Washington lies.

The great American lying machine has many voices. Truth is their mortal enemy. It’s buried to suppress US high crimes – to conceal its ruthless imperial agenda.

People are willfully deceived. America’s maniacal drive for world hegemony risks WW III. 

Its determination to eliminate Russia and China as major rivals may make it unstoppable. Fascist extremism headquartered in Washington may end life on earth.

Its common thread is unchallenged dominance through mass slaughter, vast destruction, unspeakable human misery, and transforming people everywhere into exploited serfs getting poverty or sub-poverty wages. 

The business of America is war – cold-blooded naked aggression against weak countries easy to roll over.

Except when ordinary people rise up and resist – from North Vietnamese to Afghans to Syrians, to Donbass freedom fighters.

Anti-fascist patriots unite. Survival depends on confronting this monster and crushing it.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled “Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III.”

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

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It was because of their hatred of Jews and Russian-speakers that neo Nazis burned alive many peaceful demonstrators in Odessa, the event that drove the Crimeans to rejoin with Russia ...and the Russian-speaking people of Southeast Ukraine to secede from Kiev. Here is the story of the secession of Donetsk People's Republic.

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Southeast Ukraine: “We Have Built an Independent State”. Interview with Deputy PM, Donetsk People’s Republic, Mikhail Mnukhin

By Mikhail Mnukhin                                                                               Region: Russia and FSU

Global Research, March 07, 2015                                                Theme:  US NATO War Agenda

The Last Defense                                                                In-depth Report:  UKRAINE REPORT

We have the honor of interviewing First Deputy Prime Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Donetsk People’s Republic, Mikhail Mhukhin. He speaks to us about the ongoing crisis in the DPR, the history of Donbass and its relationship to Ukraine, and initiatives currently being implemented to end the conflict. For further correspondence, you can visit the official MOFA DPR website at mid-dnr.ru/en/.

HANEUL: One year after the US-backed Euromaidan coup, Ukraine is still engaged in a long and bloody civil war. What progress have you made in the fight against the fascist Ukranian military, Svoboda, and Right Sector?

MIKHAIL: First and most importantly, we have built an independent state. Even though some parts of our territory are still controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the state system of the DPR is fully functional and controls all vital operations. We can pay salaries and social dowries, form state budgets, and arrange foreign trade.

At present, the DPR has legitimately elected authorities: the Head of the Republic, [Prime Minister] Alexander Zakharchenko, and the supreme legislative body, the People`s Council. The elections for local Councils will take place soon.

It should be stressed that we have achieved all these goals during unceasing hostilities and blockades made by the Ukrainian authorities, in addition to the critical humanitarian situation in the region. In our opinion, all of these problems are the main arguments in the fight against our enemy. We managed not only to survive, but also to develop a full-fledged state.

Militarily, the DPR Army has demonstrated to the whole world its ability to act effectively, and the number of magnificent victories over Ukrainian troops vindicates this. One should note that the number of UAF soldiers exceeds ours, as does their military equipment.

Nevertheless, we will always insist on and continue to desire a peaceful resolution to the conflict. We have never sought to annihilate Ukraine and the Ukrainians; however, our key issue is to provide the security of our people and to create the conditions for a normal, peaceful life. We are always ready for dialogue, even with Kiev.

HANEUL: After the May 11th referendum, the DPR declared itself independent from Ukraine, yet the international community has denounced your right to do so. Can you tell me what this signifies about democracy building?

MIKHAIL: The issue of DPR recognition remains urgent, indeed. This is the main priority for our Ministry`s work today, and we make progress gradually in this direction. The Republic of South Ossetia has officially recognized the DPR, and we are establishing diplomatic contacts now. The Republic of Abkhazia also announced its readiness to recognize the DPR.

Furthermore, we work in other areas of cooperation and with all countries on any continent. Some of them are officially recognized and some are not. Additionally, we are now actively promoting cooperation with other social and political movements to support the self-determination of their territories. This process is rather long and complex.

As for the position of a number of Western countries towards us, we understand extremely well the reasons of it. One should decide whether or not to recognize our Republic; it does not depend on us. From our side, we can ensure this process by proving our consistency as a full-fledged member of the international community. It is paradoxical that, even though the citizens of our state are similar to those in the USA, Britain, or Japan, we still have to prove our right to exist. In this regard, we have huge expectations of the public’s opinion, especially in western countries, as it starts to change. People from all over the world are getting to learn more truths about us, and we hope that your authorities will take an objective stance towards the DPR.

HANEUL: Can you give us a history of the Donetsk Oblast and its history in relation to Russia? Why did the DPR decide to remain autonomous instead of integrating into the Russian Federation like Crimea?

MIKHAIL: Donbass was always a place of enormous accumulated human resources’—the place where people of all nationalities united in order to labor together and use Russian as their common language. As a result, a unique political platform has arisen in Donbass; the consequences of which we can observe today. All this explains why Donbas has always strived for autonomy and independence.

Crimea has made its own long journey and has finally returned to Russia. However, we are two distinct regions and have formed differently. We do not have the goal to join Russia as a priority now, but instead follow our path to forming an independent state. We have resolved the social and economic problems brought about by Ukraine’s military aggression and complete transport and economic blockade of our land.

HANEUL: Historically, Ukrainians experienced the 1941 pogroms in Lyiv in which the Ukrainian Insurgent Army worked with the Nazis to murder thousands of Polish and Ukrainian citizens. Do you believe that you are reliving this nightmare? Who should be held accountable for this?

MIKHAIL: We stress that the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UIA or UPA) did not act alone during World War II. With the support of foreign states, the UIA successfully existed in some regions from 1946 until 1948 as a local instrument of the Cold War. However, the ideologies of Ukrainian nationalists have not changed; just their owners.

Repetition is a peculiar feature of history. The tragedy in Odessa—the repression of dissidents and multiple war crimes—proves this fact. The above-mentioned organizations and people unfortunately follow the examples of their historical leaders and idols. However, they should remember the fate of the UIA and its leaders, which will partially help them to predict their own.

You can see throughout history the actions of the UIA and other nationalist groups, which were directed not only against Poles but also Russians, Jews and representatives of other ethnicities. Those who support neo-Nazism in Ukraine should think about where the Nazis would turn their weapons tomorrow.

HANEUL: Which international organizations are working with your government to provide humanitarian aid to your citizens, and how long do you estimate this crisis to last? How can people around the world become involved in reporting, assisting, or donating to your cause?

MIKHAIL: We are open to dialogue and are always ready to accept help from all organizations and private persons. There are a number of organizations operating in the DPR, such as the International Red Cross, Medicines Sans Frontiers, and dozens of other charity funds and communities.

Our experiences have shown that we are not alone—that many people from numerous countries are ready to help us sincerely and freely. For example, we have received a few trucks with medicaments from all over Germany, collected with the assistance of some Bundestag MPs.

Remember that Donetsk currently has a full economic blockade. The direct deliveries of financial assets, food products, and other goods to the DPR are impossible now, but we are trying to solve this problem everyday. We are very pleased and appreciate the desire of people from the entire world to help us.

HANEUL: Do you believe that PM Alexander Zakharchenko should have taken part in the second Minsk agreement in Belarus? Why didn’t the Normandy Four (Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and France) include Donetsk, Luhansk, and Crimea into the peace talks? How have the peace talks helped ease tensions in Donbass, and do you believe that there should be separate talks between the DPR and other groups?

MIKHAIL: The situation surrounding the DPR, the LPR and Crimea cannot be combined in the negotiation process, as Crimea is already a part of Russia.

The Donetsk People`s Republic is one of several parties in the conflict, so without Alexander Zakharchenko`s participation, a negotiated resolution is impossible. However, we can explain Kiev’s harsh stance and attempts to ignore the DPR and LPR in the Normandy Four negotiations. Ukraine considers the truce as a period to accumulate military forces and prepare for further hostilities, and Kiev has never shown its full readiness for a lasting peace.

The real conflict is between the people of the southeast and Ukrainian government, whom should actually negotiate. Apart from that, the DPR’s entrance into the negotiation process means that it will achieve its new status, which Ukraine is trying to prevent. Alongside this, Ukraine is trying to expand the number of participants involved in the conflict, such as Germany and France, in order to supply them weapons. We hope this will not happen.

We are satisfied with Germany and France’s viewpoint; they have started to change their positions on events happening in Donbass. We expect that, instead of more sanctions, they will initiate humanitarian missions here in order to stop the catastrophe, not deteriorate it.

We are sure that peace will finally come, but we cannot achieve it with regular concessions from one side and continuous breaches from the other. Peace is always a compromise and we are ready for it, but only after ensuring the safety of our citizens.

HANEUL: The UAE has already committed weapons to the Ukrainian military, and the United States has considered arming the junta directly. If this occurs, how will this affect the current situation? Will this escalate to a large conflict between superpowers?

MIKHAIL: According to present information, the weapons contracts made between Ukraine and the UAE are not a significant concern, and we personally believe those contracts were made just for PR. We doubt Kiev managed to convince its partners to supply weapons on credit, and it does not have enough money to buy them. Another issue is the USA’s weaponry. According to confirmed information, they never stopped supplying weapons to Ukraine. Along the whole frontline, after each Ukrainian force’s retreat, one can easily find weapons made in America, including heavy artillery. Besides, the large amount of American personnel training Ukrainian soldiers invokes serious concern. In what way should we estimate [the outcome]? Exposing Washington`s participation in the Donbass conflict is difficult, but direct interventions take place and grow with every passing month, so it is very difficult to predict such consequences.

For more information, please visit The Last Defense at thelastdefense2012.tumblr.com or following us on Twitter at @thelastdefense

Watch the linked video and read the linked article. All Americans have to learn these things, but they won't find them from the despicable mainstream media, which repeat the goverment's lies as though they were the truth.

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Putin has been very patient with the deaf, dumb, and blind West

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March 6, 2015 | Original Here                                            Go here to sign up to receive email notice of this news letter

Putin has been very patient with the deaf, dumb, and blind West

As I often emphasize Washington warmongers are driving us to war with Russia, which means also with China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin pointed this out at the security conference in Munich in 2007. He put Washington and Washington’s European vassal states on notice that the numerous hostile actions taken toward Russia and other countries were undermining international stability. He made it clear that Russia did not accept Washington’s idea that Russia should conform to Washington’s will.

Putin speaks in Russian, but translation is provided across the bottom of the video. It is
worth your time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlY5aZfOgPA

The West was deaf. Mike Whitney reminds us that to ignore firm warnings is to cultivate disaster. http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/03/06/how-putin-blocked-the-u-s-pivot-to-asia/ 

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While the U.S. government decides whether or not to send lethal armaments to Ukraine to supposedly to fight the "invading Russians" the Russian Army has remained in Russia, and a 17 year old female whose boy friend and father were killed by Ukranian troops in an earlier attack on her village has decided to join the Novorossiyan Armed Forces to repell the next Ukrainan attack with no Russian help ...proving that Washington has been lying.

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[eng subs] Interview with 17 years old female NAF soldier, Donetsk Airport

Novorossiyan Armed Forces = NAF

October 24, 2014

http://youtu.be/V5WJ1MLS8MM

For anyone who believes Ukraine needs weapons to fight Russia, see what Ukraine has been doing to its eastern Russian-speaking provinces ...and what the defenders do with those they capture.

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Azov, Dnepr, and Donbass Battalion POWs captured near Ilovaisk – Eng subs

Aug 30 2014

Older footage worth seeing.

http://youtu.be/Mu9Tzg6De5k