RUSSIA GETTING FRISKY AGAIN – AT 8:52 A.M. ET:  It's been out of the headlines, but Russia's annoyance with Ukraine is still very much a story.  Now the friction might escalate.  From AFP, the major French news agency:

Moscow (AFP) - Moscow is considering targeted strikes against Ukraine after a shell reportedly crossed the border and killed a Russian civilian, the Kommersant daily reported Monday, citing a source close to the Kremlin.

The respected daily quoted a source as saying that Moscow was considering the possibility of "targeted retaliatory strikes" against Ukraine, where escalating clashes between pro-Moscow rebels and government troops threatened to spiral into an all-out civil war over the weekend.

"Our patience is not limitless," the source was quoted as saying, adding that Russia "knows exactly where they (Ukrainians) are firing from."

The source said that Russia was not considering any large-scale action, but only targeted one-off strikes on positions from which fire is directed at Russian territory.

COMMENT:  This could easily blow up.  This is how big wars start from little ones.  Putin is relentless, and I suspect he doesn't like being out of the headlines, any more than Obama does.

July 14,  2014