Vlad: The Beat Goes On in Ukraine

    As I have mentioned most recently(yesterday), Vlad the Mad is not a happy man.   Today, a civilian aircraft flying at 33,000 feet over Ukraine, was hit by a missile from the ground.   The 295 passengers did not survive.  The aircraft departed a few hours earlier from Amsterdam bound for Kuala Lumpur.   The aircraft was a Boeing 777 owned by Malaysian Airways, the company that lost a plane in the Indian Ocean just months ago(not found yet).
      The Ukraine Government claimed the missile was launched by Russian -backed separatists in eastern Ukraine, near the border with Russia.   It could not have been a shoulder-fired type, but a more sophisticated SAM-type of known capabilities.   US Intelligence sources our scrambling to identify the exact launching site, and who controlled the area.  It is doubtful the separatists have the skills or organization to carry out the attack on a high flying multi-engined aircraft.   However, it won't be long before the investigation begins to put the event into sharp focus.   Financial markets were spooked, and indexes were all lower across the board.
      Pres. Obama gave a speech in Wilmington, Delaware and expressed his concerns for the families of the plane's passengers and crew members.   He also expressed his concerns directly to Pres. Vlad Putin during a prearranged  phone call, intended to discuss the sanctions announced on Tuesday that would affect Russian companies, including banks and manufacturers.
   Vlad: are you listening?
     Perhaps it's time that the governments of Russia's trading partners start calling a spade a spade: that is, Mr. Putin, you are unfit to govern a modern state, despite your cultural heritage and your past service in the KGB.  What are the chances on this day of Angela Merkel's birthday?