Civilians stand during a swearing in ceremony before joining the newly formed army of Crimea at a military base in Simferopol, Ukraine. Photo / APThe New Zealand Herald – by Bruno Waterfield, Damien McElroy

Ukraine must be ready for a full-scale Russian invasion “at any moment”, the country’s Acting President warned yesterday, as officials announced the emergency call-up of a 60,000-strong national guard force.

Oleksander Turchynov said Moscow was ready to go much further than the annexation of the Black Sea territory of Crimea, which is expected to vote to secede from Ukraine in a referendum tomorrow.   Continue reading “Ukraine orders up 60,000 emergency force to face Russia”

The Raw Story – by Tim Ghianni

NASHVILLE, Tennessee (Reuters) – Tennessee must recognize the legal same-sex marriages of three couples who wed in other states, a federal judge in Nashville ruled on Friday in a limited decision that echoed a similar case in neighboring Kentucky.

Judge Aleta Trauger granted the couples a preliminary injunction that requires Tennessee to recognize their marriages pending a final decision on the constitutionality of Tennessee’s ban on same-sex nuptials.   Continue reading “Federal judge rules that Tennessee must recognize out-of-state same-sex marriages”

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers USS Kidd and USS Pinckney are seen en transit in the Pacific Ocean in this U.S. Navy picture taken May 18, 2011. Kidd and Pinkney have been searching for the missing Malaysian airliner and are being re-deployed to the Strait of Malacca of Malaysia's west coast as new search areas are opened in the Indian Ocean, according to officials on March 13, 2014. REUTERS/US Navy/Seaman Apprentice Carla Ocampo/HandoutReuters – by NILUKSI KOSWANAGE AND SIVA GOVINDASAMY

Military radar data suggests a Malaysia Airlines jetliner missing for nearly a week was deliberately flown hundreds of miles off course, heightening suspicions of foul play among investigators, sources told Reuters on Friday.

Analysis of the Malaysia data suggests the plane, with 239 people on board, diverted from its intended northeast route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing and flew west instead, using airline flight corridors normally employed for routes to the Middle East and Europe, said sources familiar with investigations into the Boeing 777’s disappearance.   Continue reading “Radar data suggests missing Malaysia plane deliberately flown way off course”

The Wall Street Journal – by MIN ZENG

Foreign central banks’ Treasury bond holdings parked at the Federal Reserve dropped by the most on record in the latest week. Some analysts think the crisis in Ukraine is sparking the move.

Their theory: Russia is shifting its Treasury bond holdings out of the Fed and into offshore accounts. That way, Russia would be able to buy or sell its portfolio if the U.S. and its European allies impose economic sanctions amid growing geopolitical tensions in Ukraine.   Continue reading “Did Russia Just Move Its Treasury Holdings Offshore?”

cannCollective Evolution – by Arjun Walia

Pediatric cannabis therapy is saving children. Awareness is the most important thing at this moment. This young lady is finishing up her last bit of required chemotherapy (because she is a child,  her parents had no choice) treatment, so take a moment to send her your love and healing vibes, and then read away. You can stay updated on her story via the links throughout this article (in bold), which will take you to her Facebook page which is run by her parents, and her website.   Continue reading “Oregon’s Youngest Medical Cannabis Patient Is Curing Her Cancer – See How She’s Doing It”

Tech Dirt – by  Mike Masnick

This week’s This American Life is an entire hour devoted to investigating the FBI’s killing of Ibragim Todashev along with a companion piece in Boston Magazine. You probably heard about the basics of the Todashev story. Todashev was a friend of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the older of the two brothers implicated in the Boston Marathon bombings (and the one who was killed when law enforcement tried to capture them), who was being interviewed by the FBI and was then shot multiple times and killed — with a whole variety of conflicting stories coming out soon after as to what he did to lead to his death. Continue reading “How The FBI Has Been Working Hard To Deport Friends Of Guy They Killed During Interview About Boston Bombing”

Zero Hedge – by Tyler Durden

With Interfax reporting that Belarus has begun full-scale military drills in a “readiness check”, images from Russia and Ukraine suggest the worst-case scenario – that Russia is making preparations to invade Ukraine, not just Crimea but perhaps as far west as Kharkiv, or even beyond – is more possible. Talks have broken down:   Continue reading “The Tanks Are Coming While Russia, US “Remain At Odds” Over Ukraine”

All Gov – by Noel Brinkerhoff

President Barack Obama has insisted he should not get involved in the current political fight between his Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the Senate’s intelligence committee over documents related to the CIA’s former detention and interrogation program. But the fact is Obama has been directly involved all along, beginning long before the disagreements and accusations began to fly between the CIA and the committee.   Continue reading “Obama Refuses to Turn Over 9,400 CIA Torture and Interrogation Documents to Congress”

The Guardian – by Matthew Weaver and Tom McCarthy

Welcome to our continuing coverage of the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane almost a week after it disappeared over the South China Sea with 239 people on board.

Here’s a summary of the latest developments:    Continue reading “MH370: First week of searching produces no tangible clues”

Computer keyboardDescrier

Hackers have successfully compromised all major web browsers as part of the Pwn2Own contest at the CanSecWest security conference in Vancouver, Canada, with zero-day exploits demonstrated against Google Chrome, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox, and Adobe Flash Player.

A group from French security research firm Vupen hacked Google Chrome by exploiting a use-after-free vulnerability that exists in both the WebKit and Blink rendering engines, and then successfully managed to bypass Chrome’s sandbox to execute code on the underlying PC.   Continue reading “All major web browsers compromised at Pwn2Own hacking contest”

milk glass 263x164 Study Suggests Organic Milk has Better Balance of Healthful Fats, is HealthierNatural Society – by Elizabeth Renter

While common sense tells us organic products are better for us than nonorganics, the science-based evidence is sometimes lacking. Sure, we know vegetables sprayed with pesticides carry more health risks than those that do not, but what about when it comes to things like dairy cows and the milk they produce? One new study sought to determine scientifically if organic milk was better than conventional milk. And they were successful.   Continue reading “Study Suggests Organic Milk has Better Balance of Healthful Fats, is Healthier”

The Watchers

Earthquake registered as M 6.1 (JMA) struck Kyushu, Japan on March 13, 2014 at 17:07 UTC (02:07 JST on March 14). JMA is reporting depth of 80 km. USGS is reporting M 6.3 at depth of 82.9 km (51.5 miles).

Epicenter was located 13 km (8 miles) N of Kunisaki-shi and 30 km (19 miles) ENE of Bungo-Takada-shi, Japan. This earthquake poses no tsunami risk.   Continue reading “Magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck Kyushu, Japan”