Cheat Sheet - Why Putin Did It

Today: Did Christie Go Easy on a Human Trafficker Just to Bust a Small-Time Pol? , Putin TV Wants You to Think Italy Is a Bigger Story Than Crimea , Ukraine: Russians Killed Soldier March 18, 2014 LISTEN UP 1. Why Putin Did It The Russian president's speech today announcing the annexation of Crimea was full of grievances against the West. "What is white is called black, what is black is called white," Putin said. Why would he risk war and sanctions over a sliver of Ukraine? The answer is simple if invisible to Western eyes, writes Christopher Dickey: pride. Read it at The Daily Beast JUSTICE DENIED 2. Christie and the Sex Slave Ring Chris Christie built a reputation as U.S. Attorney for being tough on crime in New Jersey, but he went soft on a disturbing prostitution ring of undocumented immigrants, Olivia Nuzzi reports. Instead of nailing a restaurant owner who had girls as young as 14 forced into servicing men, Christie let her off with six months' house arrest in exchange for information on a local Democratic politician. Read it at The Daily Beast SKEWED 3. Putin TV Wants You to Think Italy Is a Bigger Story Than Crimea While most of the world was dissecting Russia's offensive on Crimea, the Italian region of Veneto also kicked off a referendum over the weekend that could see it separate from Italy. Haven't heard about it? You're not watching enough of Putin's RT network, writes James Kirchick. Read it at The Daily Beast SHOTS FIRED 4. Ukraine: Russians Killed Soldier The Ukrainian prime minister has accussed Russia of committing a "war crime" after a Ukrainian serviceman was shot and killed by unknown forces at a Crimean military base Tuesday. Another Ukrainian officer was reportedly shot as well. Ukrainian military spokesman Vladislav Seleznyov told Reuters it was unclear who had staged the assault, but described the attackers as "unknown forces, fully equipped and their faces covered." Read it at The Guardian BACK TO THE FUTURE 5. NSA Has a 'Time Machine' The National Security Agency has apparently built a surveillance system capable of recording "100 percent" of a country's telephone calls, according to documents released by Edward Snowden. The RETRO tool, short for retrospective retrieval, enables the agency to rewind and review phone conversations from up to a month back, storing billions of them in a 30-day rolling buffer. According to the classified summary, RETRO allows NSA officials to reach "into the past" to replay the voices from any call without requiring that a person be identified in advance for surveillance. Though RETRO was applied to foreign countries, present and former U.S. officials confirmed a large number of conversations involving Americans were gathered by this means. Read it at Washington Post TWIST MH370 Path Altered Via Computer Say anonymous U.S. officials. TERRIFYING Seattle News Chopper Crash Kills 2 Went down near Space Needle. NEVER FORGET Auschwitz Guard, 93, Arrested For accessory to murder. TOLD YA SO Romney Takes Victory Lap on Russia Says he was right about Obama and Putin. GOLDEN YEARS? One Third Have Less Than $1K Saved Retirement in question. GQ How to Work Out…Via Skype Wonderwall How Much Did Harry Styles Drop on His New Pad? Rolling Stone President Obama is Really Bad at March Madness GET The Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of news and must-reads from across the Web. You'll love the featured original stories on politics, entertainment, and more from The Daily Beast's diverse group of contributors. GET Culture Beast Weekly cultural recommendations from The Daily Beast. Pussy Riot to Join WITW Summit by Women in the World Tips from ESPN's Bracket Champ by Ben Teitelbaum Not the Next 'Hunger Games' by Kevin Fallon

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