Ukraine NATO Membership Not on Agenda: German FM Steinmeier says NATO membership ‘fans flames’ – Video

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Ukraine NATO Membership Not on Agenda: German FM Steinmeier says NATO membership #39;fans flames #39;
NATO membership for Ukraine is not on the agenda. That #39;s what German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier told German broadcaster ZDF over the weekend. Steinmeier said discussing NATO...

By: UKRAINE TODAY

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Ukraine NATO Membership Not on Agenda: German FM Steinmeier says NATO membership 'fans flames' - Video

NATO to form rapid-response force amid tensions in Ukraine, Middle East

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BRUSSELS NATO officials said Tuesday that they will form an interim military force equipped to deploy quickly if the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spill across borders.

The spearhead force, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, will use 3,000 to 4,000 troops from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It is expected to be ready early next year and marks NATOs biggest military expansion since the Cold War.

The decision to have a rapid-reaction force in place soon is a tacit recognition of how events on the periphery of nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have outpaced the alliances ability to respond.

NATO decided at its summit in September that it needed a permanent rapid-response force of as many as 6,000 troops, reflecting growing concerns among foreign ministers from all 28 alliance members, including U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

But with Russian troops helping pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine, Russian military planes repeatedly probing NATO airspace, and Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq posing a threat to alliance member Turkey, NATO decided that it could not wait a year for a permanent force to be ready.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of businesses have been seized from their owners in Crimea under new pro-Moscow leaders since the region was annexed in March. (AP)

Monday, several officials expressed alarm about the potential for a broader confrontation with Russia after Moscow announced that it will increase military exercises next year.

What we are doing is in response to Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. More military presence on the border, more staff exercises, more military activities in the air increase the danger, from accidents and misunderstandings, that the situation can spiral out of control.

Kerry said every country in the alliance needs to help defend NATOs borders.

Declaring that every ally has to pull their weight, he said: We cant have 21st-century security on the cheap.

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NATO to form rapid-response force amid tensions in Ukraine, Middle East

NATO slams Russia over Ukraine

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BRUSSELS NATO officials said Tuesday that they will form an interim military force equipped to deploy quickly if the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spill across borders.

The spearhead force, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, will use 3,000 to 4,000 troops from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It is expected to be ready early next year and marks NATOs biggest military expansion since the Cold War.

The decision to have a rapid-reaction force in place soon is a tacit recognition of how events on the periphery of nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have outpaced the alliances ability to respond.

NATO decided at its summit in September that it needed a permanent rapid-response force of as many as 6,000 troops, reflecting growing concerns among foreign ministers from all 28 alliance members, including U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

But with Russian troops helping pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine, Russian military planes repeatedly probing NATO airspace, and Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq posing a threat to alliance member Turkey, NATO decided that it could not wait a year for a permanent force to be ready.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of businesses have been seized from their owners in Crimea under new pro-Moscow leaders since the region was annexed in March. (AP)

Monday, several officials expressed alarm about the potential for a broader confrontation with Russia after Moscow announced that it will increase military exercises next year.

What we are doing is in response to Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. More military presence on the border, more staff exercises, more military activities in the air increase the danger, from accidents and misunderstandings, that the situation can spiral out of control.

Kerry said every country in the alliance needs to help defend NATOs borders.

Declaring that every ally has to pull their weight, he said: We cant have 21st-century security on the cheap.

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NATO slams Russia over Ukraine

NATO alliance approves rapid reaction force

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BRUSSELS (AP) NATO nations on Tuesday agreed to bolster its defenses against Russian aggression, continuing the military alliance's return to its founding mission by focusing on nearby threats as it steps back from more than a decade of combat in Afghanistan.

The 28 member countries approved a new interim quick-reaction military force to protect themselves from Russia or other threats, with an initial unit to be up and running next year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. The interim force will be supplanted in 2016 by a permanent one, Stoltenberg said.

"We are protecting our allies and supporting our partners," Stoltenberg told reporters at an annual meeting of NATO's foreign ministers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. NATO?s chief says alliance foreign ministers are poised to make a number of key decisions, including the shift to a non-combat role for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan beginning Jan. 1. Alliance foreign ministers, including Secretary of State John Kerry, are scheduled to assemble at NATO headquarters later in the day. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool) (Virginia Mayo/AP)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged diplomats from other nations to contribute their fair share to the alliance, noting "we can't have 21st century security on the cheap."

It was likely to be the last meeting of foreign ministers who oversaw the International Security Assistance Force, made up largely of NATO troops, which has sought to stabilize Afghanistan since shortly after the 2001 invasion.

"In one way or another, we have been tested repeatedly by those who want to divide us, or to cause us to retreat from the basic commitments that we have made to one another both within and beyond the NATO arena," Kerry said. "These tests are difficult, and they will continue to be difficult in the new year. But history has shown just how tough the alliance of free nations can be."

The ministers also authorized the launch of an advisory mission in Afghanistan on Jan. 1, when NATO-led combat operations there are scheduled to end.

"We are determined to master our destiny, to overcome our past," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said.

The foreign ministers also approved maintaining measures through 2015 initiated to reassure NATO nations nearest Russia, Stoltenberg said. Such measures include stepped-up air patrols over the Baltic Sea and the continuous rotation of NATO military units in and out of countries like Poland and Baltic republics.

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NATO alliance approves rapid reaction force

U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting

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TIME World europe U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute gives a press conference on Dec. 1, 2014, at the organization's headquarters in Brussels. John ThysAFP/Getty Images The war of words between the Western military alliance and Moscow heated up ahead of a NATO gathering in Brussels on Tuesday

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute accused the Russian military on Monday of engaging in irresponsible aerial maneuvers that put civilian aircraft in unnecessary danger.

The envoys remarks follow the alliances public announcement in late October that accused the Russian military of conducting an unprecedented number of unannounced aerial forays into Europes skies. NATO says it has scrambled its own aircraft over 400 times in response to Russian incursions this year a more than 50% increase than the total number during 2013.

These Russian actions are irresponsible, pose a threat to civilian aviation and demonstrate that Russia is flagrantly violating international norms, said Lute during a press conference in Brussels ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

NATO says Russian forces have repeatedly refused to submit flight plans to civilian air traffic control stations when flying exercises and, in multiple instances, have flown with their transponders turned off.

The Kremlins alleged indifference toward civilian aviation procedures is seen as particularly concerning to NATO members following Washingtons insistence that a Russian-supplied weapons system was responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in southeastern Ukraine this summer. Russia vehemently denies responsibility.

As relations between Moscow and the alliance continue to sour, NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg boasted on Monday of the organizations increased presence in Eastern Europe.

This year has been one of aggression, crisis and conflict. But NATO stands strong, said Stoltenberg during a press conference. Russias aggressive actions have undermined Euro-Atlantic security.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin unleashed its own criticisms of NATO and panned the alliance for destabilizing northern Europe and the Baltics.

They are trying to shake up the most stable region in the world, which is Europes north, Alexei Meshkov, Russias deputy foreign minister, told his nations Interfax news agency. Those endless military exercises, rebasing of aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the Baltic nations. This is the reality, a very negative one.

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U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting

Letter: NSA water service

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I was astonished and appalled to read in a recent article (Utah lawmaker questions city water going to NSA, Nov. 19) that Rep. Marc Roberts had actually proposed a bill and discussed at a legislative committee hearing to cut off water service to the National Security Agency storage facility south of Salt Lake City because he didnt like what the NSA was doing.

When I voted for my state representative and state senator, I did not give them permission to perform such mischief in my name.

Pete Ashdown of the Internet provider XMission says the NSA center is a stain upon the state. If the water is cut off and delays the NSAs work, causing it to miss important information needed to protect us, what kind of stain would it be then?

Civil disobedience should be taken seriously. In my opinion, such an act as proposed might go beyond civil disobedience it smacks of sabotage.

Myrna Borg

Murray

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Letter: NSA water service

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Trial ordered for Lansdale man accused of harrowing domestic assault incident

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LANSDALE >> A Lansdale man accused of a harrowing domestic assault last month during which police said he choked his pregnant girlfriend, threatened to kill her, and then tied her up and told her she was going to watch him die as he shot up heroin was ordered Nov. 20 to stand trial on several criminal counts after a dramatic preliminary hearing in which the alleged victim took the witness stand, unsuccessfully tried to plead the Fifth Amendment to keep from testifying, then recanted the statement she gave to detectives on the day of the alleged incident.

Steven DiPanfilo, 33, of the 800 block of Derstine Avenue, faces trial on two counts of misdemeanor simple assault, one count each of misdemeanor terroristic threats, misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person and misdemeanor false imprisonment, and summary counts of harassment and disorderly conduct.

Sitting at the defendants table inside Lansdale District Judge Harold Boreks courtroom next to his attorney, Robert McGuckin, DiPanfilo who is free on $25,000 bond drew Boreks ire early in the proceedings when, after McGuckin objected to a Lansdale police detective taking the stand to read the entire statement given by the victim but was overruled by the judge, DiPanfilo began to loudly object as well.

Youre going to get a $100,000 bail if you continue, Borek snapped as DiPanfilo sank bank into his chair.

The detective then read the statement in full while DiPanfilo and the victim, who had been subpoenaed to appear at the hearing and sat behind the prosecutors table, both stared at the floor.

According to the statement, the woman said that in the early morning hours of Oct. 30, DiPanfilo woke her up and began arguing with her about their relationship the altercation escalated to the point where he told the woman he was going to knock her [expletive] teeth in, then grabbed her, put his hand over her mouth and held her down on the bed.

After telling the woman to be quiet, DiPanfilo took his hand off the womans mouth and put both hands around her throat and started choking her, while getting on top of her and preventing her from moving.

He then grabbed the woman by the hair and yanked her to the edge of the bed, tied her hands together with a black T-shirt and told her she was going to watch him die because I was a liar and a cheater, according to the statement, as he prepared a syringe full of what she believed to be heroin and injected himself, then kept her tied up against the bed for a few hours while he nodded in and out from the effects of the drug,

During the entirety of the incident, according to her statement, the woman repeatedly begged DiPanfilo to let her go and to let her get her twin 11-year-old sons who were asleep in the house out of the residence, but he said to her, Sit the [expletive] down, you are not going anywhere and that he would kill her if she didnt shut up.

She finally got out of the residence with her two boys and officers responded to the home around 7:30 a.m., police said. Continued...

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Trial ordered for Lansdale man accused of harrowing domestic assault incident

Arguments To Be Heard In Homeless Womans Stun Gun Case

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BOSTON (AP) Jaime Caetano was beaten so badly by her ex-boyfriend that she ended up in the hospital. So when a friend offered her a stun gun to protect herself, she took it.

Caetano, who is homeless, never had to use it but now finds herself at the center of a contentious Second Amendment case headed to the highest court in Massachusetts.

The Supreme Judicial Court is being asked to decide whether a state law that prohibits private citizens from possessing stun guns infringes on their right to keep and bear arms. In an unusual twist, the court is also being asked to examine whether the Second Amendment right to defend yourself in your own home applies in the case of a homeless person.

Arguments before the court are scheduled Tuesday.

Police found Caetanos stun gun in her purse during a shoplifting investigation at a supermarket in 2011. She told police she needed it to defend herself against her violent ex-boyfriend, against whom she had obtained multiple restraining orders.

During her trial, Caetano, 32, testified that her ex-boyfriend repeatedly came to her workplace and threatened her. One night, she showed him the stun gun and he got scared and left me alone, she said.

She was found guilty of violating the state law that bans private possession of stun guns, devices that deliver an electric shock when pressed against an attacker.

In her appeal, her lawyer, Benjamin Keehn, argues that a stun gun falls within the meaning of arms under the Second Amendment. Keehn wrote in a legal brief that the states ban cannot be squared with the fundamental right to keep and bear arms. He also argues that self-defense outside the home is part of the core right provided by the Second Amendment.

Massachusetts is among only five states that ban stun guns and Tasers for private citizens, said Eugene Volokh, a constitutional law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who has written extensively about Second Amendment issues. The devices are used by law enforcement agencies around the country.

A ban in Michigan was overturned in 2012 after the state appeals court ruled that a total prohibition was unconstitutional under the Second Amendment and the Michigan Constitution.

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Arguments To Be Heard In Homeless Womans Stun Gun Case

First Amendment does not justify Facebook threats

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When your parents told you to watch what you post on social media, did you roll your eyes thinking it was an overreaction? Anthony Elonis, a man who posted a threat to his ex-wife as a Facebook status, should have heeded that advice.

According to a CNN article, Elonis case regarding his posts will be heard by the United States Supreme Court, marking the first time an official ruling will take place regarding social media and freedom of speech. His ex-wife, Tara Elonis, moved for a protective order because of the posts.

While the First Amendment protects free speech, including harsh words and commentary, it never should be used to justify a threat. Elonis posted, Fold up your protection from abuse order and put it in your pocket. Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?" He posted several similar status updates that would make anyone consider him as a major threat to society, and especially to Tara.

Elonis attorney, John Elwood, told CNN that the posts were a way to blow off steam, defining them as therapeutic. However, Facebook is not a good place to let off steam. If Elonis had desires to murder his ex-wife, he should have consulted a licensed psychiatrist, not a social media website. When someone spreads panic in a public domain, it should not be protected under the First Amendment.

Solicitor General Donald Verrilli Jr., who will lead the prosecution for the United States during the Supreme Court case, agreed with this assertion, comparing Elonis statements to a bomb threat.

Even if Elonis did not intend to carry out these threats, he should still be liable for the consequences of creating panic. A Pennsylvania jury found Elonis guilty earlier this year, and he was sentenced to 44 months in prison.

Elwood likened Elonis statements to a rap artist blowing off steam in a song, as an artistic and creative outlet. It does not matter how creatively a threat is written. A threat is a threat, no matter how one masks it.

Supporters of Elonis claim that the First Amendment protects the death threats he posted on Facebook. However, the First Amendment cannot protect Elonis ex-wife from a potential gunshot.

The underlying point is that everything we post on Facebook is public, and the author is responsible for what they post. Elonis could have used privacy settings or personal messages to keep his threatening feelings a secret; but the moment he posted them to his wall, he created a panic for his ex-wife.

In this case, Elonis deserved what he got.

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First Amendment does not justify Facebook threats