Is everyone enjoying the show? You know...the ridiculously transparent attempt by the entire Western media and their political 'elite' masters to use the alleged shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 as part of their 'asymmetric' warfare against Russia and Vladimir Putin. Even the supposedly 'leftist' UK Guardian newspaper has been running headlines like World demands answers from Russia after Malaysia Airlines plane's destruction over Ukraine and Hilary Clinton (wasn't she fired?) wasted no time in declaring authoritatively that Russian rebels were responsible for the downing of the plane and that "Putin has gone too far". Clinton's statement clearly exposes her own and her former government's complete lack of respect for due process, truth, and the extreme prejudice with which they both view the Russian Federation. It's also clearly complete and utter BS because no one could possibly know who was responsible for the shooting down of Flight MH17 just a few hours after it fell out of the sky.

Then again, the US government never did let the facts get in the way of a good dose of propaganda, and to be fair, from the point of view of Clinton and her ilk, Putin has gone 'too far', but it has nothing to do with any Malaysian aircraft.

Vice President Biden and his entourage visited Brazil in mid-June to attend the USA versus Ghana World Cup game, a trip that also included meetings with both the president and vice president of Brazil.

Although the vice president spent only one night in Brazil before moving on to Colombia, the entire delegation, presumably including the advance team plus all communications, logistics, security, and operations personnel, required four different hotels for the Brazil leg of the trip.

The total cost for the hotel space alone was estimated at $2,245,343.30:

Exclusive: Whistleblower says NSA revelations mean those with duty to protect confidentiality must urgently upgrade security

 - Watch Snowden's interview with the Guardian in Moscow

- Read the full interview with Snowden by Alan Rusbridger and Ewen MacAskill on Friday

The NSA whistleblower, Edward Snowden, has urged lawyers, journalists, doctors, accountants, priests and others with a duty to protect confidentiality to upgrade security in the wake of the spy surveillance revelations.

Snowden said professionals were failing in their obligations to their clients, sources, patients and parishioners in what he described as a new and challenging world.

"What last year's revelations showed us was irrefutable evidence that unencrypted communications on the internet are no longer safe. Any communications should be encrypted by default," he said.

The response of professional bodies has so far been patchy.

UNRWA apologizes to Israel, condemns a 'flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises' and promises investigation; Israel calls on UN to 'act strongly'

Some 20 rockets were found Wednesday in a school in Gaza operated by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, the organization confirmed Thursday.

The weapons were found in "the course of the regular inspection of its premises," UNRWA said in a statement, adding that the school was vacant.

"UNRWA strongly condemns the group or groups responsible for placing the weapons in one of its installations. This is a flagrant violation of the inviolability of its premises under international law," the statement read.

The discovery would seem to confirm Israel's oft-repeated claim that Hamas and other Gazan terror groups use civilian infrastructure to hide weapons.

In the history of civil aviation there have been a number of tragic incidents when passenger planes have been shot down, often accidentally, even as recently as 2001.

The crash of Malaysia Airline's Boeing-777, in which almost 300 have died on Thursday, may become the latest and deadliest in the series of such tragic incidences when the experts get access to the flight recorders and reconstruct the events.

Back In 2001, all 78 passengers and crew members were killed when Ukraine accidentally shot down a Russian airliner, sending it plummeting into the Black Sea after it was accidentally hit by a S-200 rocket during military exercises.

Independence supporters in the southeast of Ukraine have not captured Ukrainian anti-aircraft missiles, Ukrainian Prosecutor General Vitaly Yarema said Friday.
"After the passenger plane was shot down, the military reported to the president that the terrorists don't have our missile systems Buk and S-300. Nobody captured these weapons," Yarema said in an interview to Ukrayinska Pravda online newspaper.

On Thursday, the adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, Anton Gerashchenko, wrote on Facebook that the plane was flying at an altitude of 10,000 meters and was shot down by a Buk anti-aircraft missile.

Independence supporters claimed that they had no weapons capable of shooting down a plane at such an altitude.

A Malaysia Airlines Boeing 777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near the town of Torez in the Donetsk Region on Thursday, killing all the 283 passengers and 15 crew members on board.


Ukrainian Army Buk Missile Likely Downed Malaysian Plane

MOSCOW, July 17 (RIA Novosti) - A Ukrainian army battalion of Buk air defense systems was deployed near the city of Donetsk a day before the crash of a Malaysian passenger plane on Thursday, making the downing of the aircraft by one of the missiles highly probable, an expert source said.

"According to reconnaissance data, a Ukrainian army battalion of Buk air defense systems was deployed near Donetsk on Wednesday morning," the source said.

The source added that armed militia fighting Kiev-led forces in eastern Ukraine does not have Buk systems, which are capable of shooting down aircraft flying at altitudes up to 25 kilometers (82,000 feet).

Earlier the same day, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister wrote on his Facebook page that a Buk surface-to-air missile system was indeed used to down the plane, but insisted that the self-defense forces had done that.


According to various reports, a Malaysia Airlines Boeing-777 flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur crashed near the city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine Thursday. There were 280 passengers and 15 crew members on board.

Malaysia Airlines confirmed that it had lost contact with its plane when it was above the Ukrainian airspace.

"Malaysia Airlines has lost contact of MH17 from Amsterdam. The last known position was over Ukrainian airspace. More details to follow," the company said on Twitter.

Witnesses from the town of Torez in the Donetsk Region told RIA Novosti that plane wreckage and dead bodies have been located in the area.

The shut off of water service for tens of thousands of Detroit residents has generated national and international attention. The scenes of young mothers, children, the elderly, the sick and low-income workers deprived of water for drinking, cleaning and cooking - in what is supposed to be the richest country of the world - have provoked astonishment and revulsion.

This barbaric policy has become a major political question in Detroit. Earlier this week a federal judge overseeing the city's bankruptcy case complained that the shutoffs were producing "a lot of anger" and giving Detroit "a reputation not only in this country but around the world." Opposition generated by the shutoffs, he warned, could threaten the city's plan to impose deeply unpopular cuts to city worker pensions and health care benefits.

The near universal condemnation, which included charges by the UN that the shutoffs were a violation of international human rights, has not led to any shift in policy. In an interview published in the Detroit News Thursday, the city's unelected emergency manager Kevyn Orr, defended the shutoffs.

"I'm very supportive of the water department's and the Board of Water Commissioners' decision to do what every other regulated utility does in the United States, which is, if you use water you've got to pay for it," Orr told the Detroit News .

Ukraine's president, Petro Poroshenko, has claimed that serving Russian military officers are taking part in operations in east Ukraine, after an An-26 transport plane was reportedly shot down near the border.


A statement on the president's website said the aircraft was flying at an altitude high enough to evade any of the weapons that separatists were known to have, and was "probably" attacked from inside Russian territory.


It was not immediately clear how many military personnel were on board the plane, but there were reports that some had managed to parachute to safety and make contact with military HQ in Kiev.

After a lull when all sides appeared to be seeking a way out of the conflict, tension has risen again in recent days as Ukrainian troops have moved to retake towns held by the rebels, and separatist fighters have regrouped in the regional centres of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Russian politicians have demanded targeted strikes on Ukrainian territory after a shell apparently fired by pro-Kiev forces landed in a residential area on the Russian side of the border, killing one person. Russia's foreign ministry warned that the shelling could have "irreversible consequences", while the Ukrainians have been sounding the alarm over what they claim is more overt Russian involvement than ever before.

This is one of the most interesting developments I think we have seen in all of the Obama Presidency. While there is no doubt that Obama has been quietly doing everything he can to take hold of as much power as possible, this has certainly not been actively explored by our wonderful "free" press and "independent" news media.

Now, we are even beginning to see a number of military generals begin to take an active stand against Obama and his policies. Many of these leaders feel very strongly that Obama has created a situation which could lead to the US being run by a ruler, rather than elected official. The first clue we had of Obama's real intentions should have been the firing of General Petraeus when he decided to tell the truth about Obama under oath. Imagine that, an Obama Regime official who actually tells the truth when he gives testimony!

The situation has continued to deteriorate since then. Just listen to this report from the Conservative Tribune:

"Retired US Army Major General Paul E Vallely has been vocal about his belief that American liberty will only be restored through peaceful marches and protests to force the resignations of key political leaders, including President Obama. General Vallely has been joined by Air Force Brigadier General Charles Jones to create a 'citizens council' directly challenging the administration's policy decisions. Obama's treatment of Islamic terrorists, including his trade of several Guantanamo Bay detainees for accused deserter Bowe Bergdahl has drawn fire from two other retired generals, Air Force Major General Bentley Rayburn and four-star Army General Jack Keane."

Although you will notice most of these folks are retired, there has also been at least one current, active duty general to respond to this call. That would be Marine General John Kelly. He has been very outspoken on Obama's refusal to take care of the border crisis, saying it even threatens the existence of the US as a whole. Listen to this, from WND:

"Particularly in regards to the drug trade, murder rates and terrorist activity brewing in Central America, Kelly says, the waves of Latin Americans sweeping through Mexico and illegally into Texas presents a threat to the US every bit as serious as Iran or North Korea.'In comparison to other global threats, the near collapse of societies in this hemisphere with the associated drug and illegal immigrant flow are frequently viewed to be of low importance,' Kelly said in an interview with Defense One. 'Many argue these threats are not existential and do not challenge our national security. I disagree.'"

Homeland security, the US Customs and Border Patrol and other police agencies swarmed Livingston, Illinois. They all parked in the field of a grade school. The peacefulness of the town of 850 was broken by all the excitement.

The law officers would not comment about their operation, even to the school superintendent and they were using the school district's land. The site became an immediate attraction for citizens who say the officers were hospitable, inviting the kids to check out the choppers up close.

A spokesman in the U.S. Attorney's Office said he cannot confirm or deny anything about an ongoing investigation. However we could learn more about this case Friday.