UPDATE:  And then there were four.   Canada, The United States, Sweden and Finland have all won today and will play in the semi-finals.   (North-America will play each other and then Northern Europe)

#1 Sweden will play #4 Finland and….

…. Yep, The United States Will Play Canada !!    

Both games will be on Friday with the winner of each playing for the gold medal on Sunday and the loser(s) playing for bronze.   The USA women will also face Team Canada in their gold medal matchup.

To say Russia suffered a devastating loss would be to understate the severity of…

…..The Agony of Defeat !

There is a national pride to the Russian hockey program.   A long-standing expectation of excellence.   The Russians are now eliminated from competition.  (read about the game HERE)

(more…)

It appears the Sochi winter Olympic venue is quite a mess.    Hotel rooms missing beds and some still under construction as guests arrive.   Some of the pictures being shared on twitter are quite funny.   You can follow HERE

https://twitter.com/SochiProblems/status/431120611264303105

https://twitter.com/SochiProblems/status/431086821737365504

https://twitter.com/SochiProblems/status/430800007298424833

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We’re not too well versed in Ukrainian politics so we enjoy the perspectives of readers with family, friends to help us understand.   However, we do know the general modus operandi of the Russian political maneuvering; and Yanukovych going to the hospital for a mystery illness is a commonly used strategy.   Generally a hard-line push by the government follows the “illness”.   Perhaps use of the Ukrainian Army is about to take place. 

[BBC]  Protesters in Ukraine have rejected the terms of a new amnesty law aimed at ending the country’s unrest.

Kiev’s parliament backed an amnesty plan for detainees if protesters vacated the government buildings they have occupied and unblocked streets and squares throughout the country.

When Clinton, Rice and Power launched operation R2P in Benghazi Libya they specifically helped the Libyan “Rebels” to overthrown Kaddaffi.   This gave the al-Qaeda operatives, who made up the majority coalition of the “rebels”, immediate access to weapons warehouses and massive stockpiles of ManPads (Man Portable Air Defense Systems), otherwise known as surface to air missiles – the missiles were a specific manufacture coming originally from Russia.   20,000 such missiles immediately went missing.

This past weekend one of those missiles was used.

All five soldiers in the helicopter were killed, security officials said.

“This is what everyone has long assumed could happen, and it is a confirmation of those fears — that substantial and advanced weaponry came into the country in the aftermath of the Libyan war,” said Michael Wahid Hanna, an Egypt scholar at the Century Foundation in New York.

New York Times – Islamist militants shot down an Egyptian military helicopter in the Sinai Peninsula with a surface-to-air missile over the weekend, raising new alarms about the terrorist insurgency that developed there in response to the military takeover last summer.

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RUSSIA – A Chechen warlord who had urged his followers to attack the Olympic Games has been killed, it has been reported.

Doku Umarov, who threatened to attack the Games in Sochi, Russia, is dead according to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov who wrote the unverified claims on his Instagram account.

Kadyrov has made the claims a number of times in the past and no proof has been submitted to verify his death.  News of Umarov’s death came from intercepted communications between rebel leaders who were discussing his replacement, according to Kadyrov. (more…)

I keep wondering why we are not seeing this story in our U.S. broadcast media – the potential cinematography is prime for interest ?  ….In a scene that veered from primeval to apocalyptic, demonstrators used sticks to hit barrels and sheets of metal, creating a savage drumbeat as a backdrop, while billows of smoke rose from piles of burning car tires….

KIEV, Ukraine — With President Viktor F. Yanukovych and antigovernment demonstrators at an impasse here, a cease-fire disintegrated on Friday night as the Ukrainian capital convulsed in renewed violence and fire bombs lit up the night sky.

Civil unrest spread across the country earlier on Friday as protesters laid siege to government buildings in at least nine other cities — occupying some and thronging outside others. (more…)

(Via CNN) A video surfaces threatening the Winter Olympics. Russia’s President vows the Games will be safe. Some U.S. lawmakers warn that they won’t be.   One thing was clear as debate over the situation surged on Sunday: security is a top concern, less than three weeks away from the competition…

…As a transcript of his interview with half a dozen national and international broadcasters was posted on the Kremlin website Sunday, a video that surfaced online again highlighted the security situation. (more…)

( Hat Tip ctdar ) MOSCOW — A Chechen rebel warlord who has plagued the region for decades and most recently threatened to attack the Sochi Olympics is dead, Chechnya’s Kremlin-backed strongman said Thursday, but he offered no proof and his claim couldn’t be verified.

Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said on his Instagram that Doku Umarov, who urged his fighters to strike the Games, had died — a claim he has made repeatedly in the past. The information about Umarov’s death came from intercepted communications between other rebel leaders who were discussing his replacement, he said, but he didn’t make clear when the conversation took place or how it was heard. (more…)

Readers will know by now how often we have spotlighted a historical similarity between the former polish Solidarity Movement, and the ruse behind the current U.S. body politic as narrated by the media.    So it’s a little ironic to see Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa speak openly about how diminished the U.S. influence is.
(via WeaselZippers) The Nobel Peace Prize-winning former president of Poland, Lech Walesa, says President Obama has failed to reclaim America’s role as a world leader.

“When he was elected… there was great hope,” Walesa said. “…. we were hoping Obama would reclaim moral leadership for America,” adding: “That failed.”
“…. in terms of politics and morality, America no longer leads the world,” he said. “…America did not regain its leadership status. We were just lucky there were no big conflicts in the world,” saying the world has relied on a strong America to maintain the balance of power around the globe.
“… It’s a dangerous situation so we are awaiting a president who will understand that,” he said. (link)

The market place trolly was about 2 miles away from the Train Station bombing.
VOLOGRAD RUSSIA – A suicide bombing in the Russian city of Volgograd has killed at least 10 passengers on a trolley bus. The explosion comes a day after a terrorist attack in the city which killed 17 people and injured scores of others.

Правоохранители считают, что новый теракт в Волгограде схож по почерку с 2 предыдущими (ФОТО) http://t.co/PhKqSptxyM pic.twitter.com/NNoZIoFuwX

— RT на русском (@RT_russian) December 30, 2013

At least 15 people were injured by the blast on Monday morning. A  one-year-old baby is reported to be among the victims.
The explosion was set off by a suicide bomber, spokesman for the  Russian Investigative Committee, Vladimir Markin, confirmed. (more…)