In The News:

Malaysian Flight Likely To Remain A Mystery 

Even if searchers are able to miraculously pluck Malaysia Airlines flight 370′s “black box” from the depths of the vast Indian Ocean, experts say it may not solve one of aviation’s greatest mysteries.

Planes, ships and state-of-the-art tracking equipment are hunting for any trace of the passenger jet, which Malaysia said crashed in the forbidding waters after veering far from its intended course.

They face a huge challenge locating the Boeing 777′s “black box”, which holds vital clues to determining what caused the plane to vanish after it took off from Kuala Lumpur en route to Beijing on March 8.

The data recorder details the aircraft’s path and other mechanical information for the flight’s duration, and “should provide a wealth of information”, US-based aviation consultancy firm Leeham Co said in a commentary.

But the cockpit voice recorder — which could reveal what decisions were made by those at the helm and why — retains only the last two hours of conversations before the plane’s demise.

That means potentially crucial exchanges surrounding the initial diversion, which took place halfway between Malaysia and Vietnam, will be lost.

“Clearly, it won’t reveal anything that happened over the Gulf of Thailand — this will have been overwritten by the end of MH370,” it said.

The batteries powering the locator signal of the black boxes will run out in less than two weeks.

A US device capable of detecting that signal even on the ocean floor was being sent to the scene, but weather and treacherous sea conditions have hampered the effort to pinpoint the black box location.

Paul Yap, an aviation lecturer at Singapore’s Temasek Polytechnic, said that if the black box is not found, “chances are we are never going to find out what really happened”.

Russia Not Clinging To G8 If West Does Not Want It

[Unfortunately for the U.S., the G20 has effectively replaced the G8 anyway]

Russia is not clinging to the G8 format, as all major world problems can be discussed at other international venues such as G20, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

“The G8 is an informal club, no one gives out membership cards and no one can expel members,”Lavrov told a media conference at the Hague. “If our Western partners believe that this format has exhausted itself, let it be. We are not clinging to it.”

He went on to say that many believe that the G8 has already fulfilled its mission as many issues are now discussed at the G20 forum.

“Generally speaking, there are also other formats for considering many questions, including the UN Security Council, the Middle East Quartet and the P5+1 on the Iranian nuclear problem,” Lavrov told journalists.

The Minister also commented on earlier reports regarding Australia considering not inviting President Vladimir Putin to the November G20 meeting, which is going to be held in Brisbane.

“The G20 was not established by Australia, which voiced the proposal not to invite Russia to the meeting. We created the format all together,” Lavrov said.

In sharp contrast to the G7 leaders, the BRICS nations have expressed strong support of Russia and its president, the Times of India reported.

Ministers from Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) have met on the sidelines of the nuclear summit and issued a joint statement, in which among other issues they expressed concerns over the statement of Australia’s foreign minister that President Putin should be prevented from attending the G20 summit.

"The ministers noted with concern the recent media statement on the forthcoming G20 summit to be held in Brisbane in November 2014. The custodianship of the G20 belongs to all member-states equally and no one member-state can unilaterally determine its nature and character," the BRICS statement said.

Meanwhile, G7 leaders – Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US – are also holding a gathering at The Hague. According to the media, the Ukraine issue is high on the agenda.

Russia’s top diplomat is in the Netherlands, where representatives of over 50 states and chiefs of the UN, the EU, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the European Police Office have gathered for the Nuclear Security Summit to address the threat of nuclear terrorism.

On the sidelines of the gathering, Lavrov met with US Secretary of State John Kerry and yet again discussed the Ukraine question, which has caused quite a chill in relations between the two powers.

Market Based Approach To Russia

Let's examine what happened from the beginning.  An extreme right wing group, with US and NATO support (according to released internal transcripts), overthrew the legitimate Ukrainian government (illegally) via violent coup.  The fact that this group had western support is not important really, but should be noted.  So according to 'international law' - this 'country' is NOT Ukraine.  Ukraine cease to exist when this happened.  The new 'government' - not popularly elected, seized control by force.  If anything we could call this country (still yet to be defined) the "New Ukraine" - of course if the current 'government' suggested this it would diminish their power; it serves them to mislead the world (those who are uninformed) that this is in fact the Ukraine, the same country that existed before.  Once the legal process breaks down, there's no going back.  

When Russia went into Crimea, they claimed that they were protecting Russian citizens (who are the overwhelming majority there), which at the time sounded as an excuse for 'annexation' of Crimea (although Crimea was always part of Russia and mostly Russians are living there).  Is it possible that Russian intelligence received such real threats to Russians in Crimea?  Also to note the vehement anti-Russian stance of Western Ukrainians, at least those in power.  

Russia is depicted in the media as a wasteland.  Moscow has built a downtown filled with skyscrapers comparable to many international business districts.  A growing middle and upper class in Russia puts in on par if not more advanced than Western economies:

Stable gross domestic product growth, declining inflation and a record-low unemployment rate are pointing to positive consumer purchasing power in Russia. The Russian middle class, which stands at 104 million strong, is fueling that power. This segment of the population is projected to rise 16 percent between now and 2020, at which point it will represent 86 percent of the population and amount to $1.3 trillion in spending—up 40 percent from 2010, based on a global study of the emerging middle class and related databases by Dr. Homi Kharas of the Brookings Institution.

“There is an equal share of money at the top and in the middle,” said Dr. Venkatesh Bala, chief economist, The Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. “Russia’s middle class today has the same share of income as the upper class and has remained an untapped opportunity by many international corporations.”

Some important facts to note about Russia:

• 40% of EU energy comes from Russia.
• 45% of EU cars are sold to Russia.
• US poverty is 3% higher, than in Russia.
• More billionaires live in Moscow than any other city.
• Russia has no external debt!

U.S. Administration: 'The Greatest Enemy Of Press Freedom' In A Generation

New York Times reporter James Risen called the Obama administration “the greatest enemy of press freedom that we have encountered in at least a generation” on Friday, explaining that the White House seeks to control the flow of information and those who refuse to play along “will be punished.”

Poynter reports that Risen made the remarks while speaking at Sources and Secrets conference — a meeting of journalism , communication and government professionals held in New York City. The foreign policy reporter, who is currently fighting a fierce court battle with the federal government over his protection of a confidential source, warned that press freedom is under serious attack in today’s America.

In a speech kicking off the conference, Risen claimed that the Obama administration wants to “narrow the field of national security reporting” and “create a path for accepted reporting.” Those who stray from that path, he cautioned, “will be punished.”

Homeland Security Exercise Targets 'Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny'

Leaked Homeland Security documents obtained by Infowars reveal details of a joint DHS/FEMA national exercise set to take place this week, one of the components of which revolves around an effort to counter online dissent by a group called “Free Americans Against Socialist Tyranny,” which is disgruntled at the imposition of martial law after an earthquake in Alaska.

The document again underscores the federal government’s obsession with characterizing libertarians and conservatives as some kind of extremist radical threat.

The document (PDF) was leaked by an individual affiliated with Stewart Rhodes’ Oathkeepers organization and passed on to Infowars. It is entitled National Exercise Program – Capstone Exercise 2014 – Scenario Ground Truth.

The document is intended for “U.S. Department of Homeland Security Trusted Agents Only” and is “disseminated only on a
need-to-know basis.” Even the role players involved in the exercise itself are prohibited from seeing the files.

The exercise is designed to evaluate readiness in preparation for a catastrophic incident, natural disaster or major act of terrorism. Some of the scenarios which will be in play during the exercise include a series of earthquakes, tsunamis and a nuclear weapons accident.

On page 125 of the document, a scenario is outlined whereby a group calling itself “Free Americans against Socialist Tyranny” responds to “The U.S. Northern Command mission of Defense Support to Civil Authorities” (or the imposition of martial law) by launching a protest campaign on social media and potentially engaging in cyber attacks.

This is by no means the first time that the Department of Homeland Security has characterized anti-big government Americans as domestic extremists.

A study funded by the Department of Homeland Security, details of which emerged in 2012, characterized Americans who are “suspicious of centralized federal authority,” and “reverent of individual liberty” as “extreme right-wing” terrorists.

As we have exhaustively documented on numerous occasions, federal authorities and particularly the Department of Homeland Security have been involved in producing a deluge of literature which portrays liberty lovers and small government advocates as extremist radicals.

The document also mentions the threat posed by “disgruntled military and Department of Defense civilians,” which ties into the talking point, repeatedly promoted by the DHS and other federal agencies, that returning veterans pose a major domestic terror threat.

The fact that the DHS is focusing its cyber security efforts during a major national exercise not on targeting foreign state actors or terrorists but on combating online dissent by conservatives is sure to increase concerns that the federal agency once again has libertarians, patriots and small government activists in the crosshairs.

Global Warming Update:

[Yes, I am moderately obsessed with this topic because it is SO symbolic of the lies and distortions of this age AND is a stark reminder of Orwell's "1984" where "War=Peace" and "2+2=5". Kind of like "Obamacare" where the lies aren't working because people actually have pieces of paper which tell them their insurance has been cancelled or prices have dramatically risen - in such a case the typical lies simply don't work...Same with "Global Warming" - people actually walk outside and see more ice and more winter snow/ice storms as we approach APRIL - in such cases the lies and distortions simply don't work - people have actual "data" hitting them in the face daily]

Polar Vortex -- Or Ice Age?

“Coldest Mardi Gras Ever?” asked the New Orleans Times-Picayune as revellers sported long underwear under their costumes to cope with temperatures in the thirties. On the same day it was four degrees Fahrenheit at the Baltimore-Washington International Airport, an all-time low — breaking a record set in 1873. Niagara Falls has frozen over twice this winter, and the ice cover on Lake Michigan reached 90 percent, matching the all-time record.

Record-low temperatures, so much snow that municipalities are running out of salt, and one “polar vortex” after another. What’s going on? Where is the global warming we were warned about?

The temperature of the planet has not risen for the past seventeen years.

The climate models that were supposed to project “climate change” (global warming) on the basis of manmade carbon dioxide emissions have failed. The Climategate scandal gave us a glimpse of a corrupt scientific establishment scrambling to cover up that failure.

Instead, a different set of predictions is turning out to be true. The hard science that accurately predicts future climate trends is based not on alarmism about human activity; as a matter of fact, the entire C02 output of industry and modern transportation since the Industrial Revolution has actually resulted in a wholly beneficial warming of less than one degree Fahrenheit. These predictions show the behavior of the sun is the real driver of major climate changes

The consequences could be dire. As the world cools and the grain belt moves south to soils that are less productive, food prices will rise, threatening our standard of living — and the very livelihoods of millions in nations now wholly dependent on imported grain, particularly in the MENA region extending from Morocco in the West to Afghanistan in the west. Wheat yields in the developing world have already plateaued since peaking in 1996. Developed country grain yields have plateaued since 2000. The supply overhang has been absorbed in the last decade, and now grain prices are running up.

The abundance brought to us by the green revolution pioneered by Norman Borlaug and others — and the warmer Sun — allowed world population to explode from 2 billion in 1930 to 7 billion today. Given our cooler Sun, the Earth will struggle to support that rate of population growth.

My generation has known a warm, giving sun, but the next will suffer a sun that is less giving. A cold Mardi Gras this year will turn into a likely food shortage 15 years from now, and our world needs to focus on preparing for what’s coming.

Weather 'Bomb': Storm Alert For Northeast U.S.

Forecasters have predicted a powerful storm could form over the Atlantic and slam in to North America's Northeast coast late on Tuesday.

If the weather system develops as some have suggested, it could be the most intense since Superstorm Sandy.

Strong winds and cold Canadian air colliding with warm moist air from the south are predicted to explosively intensify the system and produce something meteorologists call "bombogenesis".

That word describes the rapid strengthening of a storm characterised by a large and extremely rapid drop in pressure.

Blizzard warnings are in effect across the area, with up to six inches of snow expected in some places.

Cities further west like New York and Boston may only experience what's been described as a "glancing blow".

The National Weather Service's latest forecast said: "How much precipitation this system spreads inland late in the period and in the hours that follow will depend greatly upon its track - the details of which are still unclear given the variability in model solutions. 

"However, while the amount of precipitation is in question, cold and very windy conditions are certain along the northern Mid-Atlantic and Northeast coasts by Wednesday morning."