UKRAINE BULLETIN – AT 8:58 A.M. ET:  It appears something very big is happening in Ukraine.  Facts are sketchy, but this could truly be an international explosion.  From CNN:

Kiev, Ukraine (CNN) -- Pro-Moscow rebel forces in eastern Ukraine, backed by Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers, battled government forces on two fronts Thursday, a Ukrainian military official said.

The fighting was taking place southeast of Donetsk, and along the nation's southern coast in the town of Novoazovsk, about 12 miles (20 km) from the Russian border, according to Mykhailo Lysenko, the deputy commander of the Ukrainian Donbas battalion.

"This is a full-scale invasion," Lysenko said, referring to the fighting in the south.
U.S. officials also said Russian troops were directly involved in the latest fighting, despite Moscow's denials.

Intelligence now indicates that up to 1,000 Russian troops have moved into southern Ukraine with heavy weapons and are fighting there, a U.S. official told CNN on Thursday.

Ukraine's National Defense and Security Council said that Russian forces were in full control of Novoazovsk as of Wednesday afternoon.

COMMENT:  We understand that Ukraine has asked for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council.  We haven't yet heard from Field Marshal Obama, who is undoubtedly assessing the situation from his command bunker at the 16th hole. 

One thing we must watch for, if Ukraine explodes and the Islamic State continues its run in Iraq, is a crisis erupting somewhere else, as in Asia, if some adversary believes we're now distracted and stretched thin.  It isn't hard to believe that, considering who's in charge in Washington.

August 28, 2014