Putin points to NATO threat in new security strategy (Source CNN) Russian President Vladimir Putin has endorsed a new security strategy, which points to NATO expansion as a threat to the country. The document outlines the national interests and strategic priorities of the nation. Putin signed the executive order Thursday, establishing a new posture toward the NATO bloc, which has seen its relationship with Russia deteriorate since the crisis in Ukraine, which began in 2014. Russian news agency Tass quotes the strategy, which cites a NATO military buildup, and “the alliance’s approach to Russia’s borders,” as a threat to Russia’s national security. The document says the organization is illegally extending its reach. “The buildup of the military potential of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and vesting it with global functions implemented in violations of norms of international law, boosting military activity of the bloc’s countries, further expansion of the alliance, the approach of its military infrastructure to Russian borders create a threat to the national security,” it says.

How the Obama Administration Changed Our Missile Defense Strategy (Source cnnews.com) Recently the Russian strategic missile forces’ commander Col. Gen. Sergei Karakayev said Russia’s new missiles will have the capability to neutralize any future U.S. missile defense system. For now, Karakayev is right – not because the missiles are invincible – but because the Obama administration is deliberately limiting the United States’ ballistic missile defense program. This must change. Background on U.S. Missile Defense Strategy. After the U.S. withdrew from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense Treaty in 2002, the United States focused on developing a layered ballistic missile defense system. The Bush administration concentrated on quick deployment of the ground-based midcourse defense (GMD) system for the protection of U.S. homeland. This system is made up of ground based missiles and radars, which can incept incoming missiles. To augment the protection within the United States, the Bush administration planned on deploying a radar to the Czech Republic with two-stage ground-based midcourse defense interceptors in Poland. In order to address intermediate, and shot-range ballistic missile threats, the Bush administration developed and deployed Aegis ship-based missile defense system, the Theatre High Altitude Area Defense System, and the Patriot system. Change of Plans Under Obama. The U.S. missile defense plans changed, however, under the Obama administration. Our current administration decided to pursue a European Phased Adaptive Approach, a modified missile defense plan emphasizing medium-range ballistic missile threat, instead of putting a radar and two-stage ground-based interceptors in Europe. The Obama administration was to augment protection of the U.S. homeland in the 2020 timeframe. But the Obama administration decided to cancel that aspect of the plan and focus on short- and medium-range missile defense protection for the European allies (Russia happened to object to this part of the plan most). The United States therefore is deliberately pursuing a missile defense program to be able to intercept only a handful of incoming ballistic missiles of first, not as technologically advanced, generations. Given the spread of ballistic missiles – their increasing sophistication, range, and lethality – it is time to put U.S. missile defense policy on a sound track. Additionally, Russia’s aggressive behavior and a desire to use its nuclear and ballistic missile leverage to blackmail the U.S. and its allies, the United States should plan in a comprehensive-layered ballistic missile defense system capable of shooting down all ballistic missiles. To do so, the United States will have to pursue a space-based ballistic missile defense layer as well as continue to work on future technologies, for example directed energy.

Buffet Dumping Stocks?(Source Yahoo) This is a fascinating story with implications for every American. Warren Buffett – one of the most successful investors of our time – recently made a series of stunning financial moves… moves that suggest he could be anticipating a big movement in the value of the dollar. What is he doing exactly? Over the past couple of years, Buffett has sold off or reduced his holdings in businesses that depend on consumer spending, like Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson. He’s purchased hard assets such as one of the largest railways in North America. which includes real assets such as rights of way, adjacent mining rights, rail, and rolling stock.He also acquired huge oil and natural gas resources in Canada. Why do some think these moves are in preparation for a major dollar movement? Well, these moves appear to follow a script produced by one of the richest men of the 1920s… German tycoon Hugo Stinnes.Stinnes owned interests in the coal, steel, and shipping industries… and leveraged those interests to not only protect, but also to grow his fortune during extreme hyperinflation.

Revealed: Russia’s Plans for Lethal New S-500 Missile System (Source nationalinterest.org) Russia will soon be fielding the powerful S-500 integrated air and missile defense system, which is currently under development by the Moscow-based defense firm Almaz Antey. Is not clear if the new weapon—which is referred to as both the S-500 Prometey and as the 55R6M Triumfator-M—is an upgraded variant of powerful S-400 that Russia recently deployed to Syria or a clean-sheet design. However, what is known is that the new S-500 boasts impressive capabilities and will pose an even greater threat to allied air power than its predecessors once it becomes fully operational. Igor Korotchenko, director of the Russian think-tank Center for Analysis of World Arms Trade and chairman of the Russian ministry of defense’s public council, told the state-owned media outlet Sputnik last Friday that the new weapon would enter service shortly. “We heard figures indicating that the Russian Aerospace Forces will soon receive more S-400 systems. The S-500 will soon finish state tests and enter service,” Korotchenko said following a Russian defense ministry board meeting. Earlier reports had suggested that the S-500 would enter service in 2017. There is little solid information about the new missile defense system available—but there are some indications that it is a completely new design. “Work is underway to create a new fifth-generation air defence system S-500 which can destroy aerodynamic and ballistic targets of all types at all altitudes used in combat,” Russian deputy defense minister Yuri Borisov told TASS in 2014.

The S-500 is expected to able to detect and simultaneously attack up to ten ballistic missile warheads flying at speeds of up to 23 thousand feet per second. It is also reportedly being designed to use hit-to-kill interceptors—a design with similarities to Lockheed Martin’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD). It may have a range as great as 373 miles and hit targets as high as 115 miles. That means the S-500 will be able to intercept warheads incoming from space. Like all modern Russian air defense systems, the S-500 is expected to be highly mobile and will use a network of radars for targeting over vast distances. The missile system is expected to use the 91N6A(M) battle management radar, a modified 96L6-TsP acquisition radar, as well as the new 76T6 multimode engagement and 77T6 ABM engagement radars, according to Missile Threat—which is run by the George C. Marshall and Claremont Institutes. The S-500s are also expected to be networked with their S-400 and S-300 predecessors as part of an overall integrated air-defense network.

Russian Calls for NATO dissolution (Source RT) State Duma Speaker Sergey Naryshkin has said that Russia is very concerned by continuing NATO expansion, adding that global security would benefit significantly from the dissolution of the military bloc. “My attitude to this organization is special – I see it as a cancerous tumor on the whole European continent. It would only be for the better if this organization is dissolved,” Naryshkin said during a meeting with Serbian lawmakers on Thursday. This dissolution could be conducted in several stages, the Duma speaker suggested. “First of all, the USA should be excluded from the bloc and after this it would be possible to painlessly disband the whole organization,” he said. “This would be a good step towards greater security and stability on the whole European continent.” Naryshkin also told Serbian lawmakers that Russia was aware of the fact that large numbers of Montenegrin citizens, possibly even the majority of the country’s population, were resisting their nation’s potential entry into NATO. Moscow has promised that a response would follow if Montenegro joined NATO, but added that the details of any such steps are still under consideration. The head of the Russian Upper House Committee for Defense and Security, Viktor Ozerov, said that the step would force Russia to cut a number of joint projects with Montenegro, including military programs. In mid-December Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the row over possible NATO membership had revealed deep divisions in Montenegrin society.

SECRET DEAL QUADRUPLES FOREIGN WORKERS IN U.S. (Source WND) Buried in the 2,000-page omnibus spending bill released by the Senate Wednesday morning is a secret provision that many senators hope unemployed blue-collar workers won’t find out about. This provision would quadruple the number of H-2B visas for low-skilled foreign “guest workers.” It would allow more than a quarter-of-a-million foreign workers to enter the U.S. each year and work in the construction industry, hotel-motel services, truck drivers, food processing, forestry and many other fields that don’t require a college education. A vote on the spending bill is expected late Thursday night, possibly after midnight, sources on the Hill told WND. The bill also includes funding for all of President Obama’s foreign refugee resettlement program and does nothing to stop the proliferation of so-called “sanctuary cities.” Legal immigration is already at an all-time high, with 1.1 million foreign-born persons coming to the U.S. every year, and a recent Pew Research poll shows 83 percent of the voting public wishes to see the level of immigration frozen or reduced. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., reportedly helped negotiate the omnibus deal. The spending bill also includes full funding for President Obama’s refugee resettlement program, which will cost $1.6 billion and bring in another 85,000 refugees this year, many of them from jihadist hotbeds like Syria, Somalia, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Lead Levels in Michigan Kids’ Blood Prompts State of Emergency (Source newser.com) Flint, Mich., drew its water from the Flint River for about 18 months after ditching Detroit’s water service—but that was enough time to cause lead levels in local kids to spike, which has now led the mayor to declare a state of emergency, Michigan Live reports. Mayor Karen Weaver told the Flint City Council Monday that the city needs federal help in dealing with the crisis. Genesee County first declared a public health emergencyafter a study found that from April 2014 to October 2015, the percentage of babies and children with lead levels in their blood that were higher than average almost doubled throughout the city, while those in particularly high-risk areas saw that percentage almost triple, per Michigan Live. The city is once again hooked up to the Detroit water system, but fears remain high: The WHO notes the “neurological and [behavioral] effects of lead are believed to be irreversible,” adding that affected kids can suffer mental retardation, disruptive behavior, and even coma and death.