The solar wind is a quick 465 km/sec and there are 8 sunspots on the Sun today. Sunspot AR2158, the cource of last week’s close call X-Class flare is now in decay. Sunspot AR2158, the source of last week's powerful X-flare, is decaying as it turns away from Earth. This is decreasing the chance of another geoeffective explosion. NOAA forecasters put the odds of an X-flare today at a waning 25%
The Selling of a War
A Russian fighter jet blatantly provoked American warship the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea this weekend, and the military is not happy about it. The White House, however, is yet to make a statement about the incident.
The USS Donald Cook, which is used to transport helicopters, set to sea last week from Romania in response to Russia’s takeover of the Crimean region of Ukraine.
According to Army Col. Steve Warren, the Russian jet made “numerous close-range low-altitude passes” over the ship, and “did not respond to multiple queries and warnings from the Donald Cook.” The Navy made several attempts to contact Russia, but received no response.
Luckily, the event ended without incident, after lasting over an hour.
“This provocative and unprofessional Russian action is inconsistent with international protocols and previous agreements on the professional interaction between our militaries,” Col. Warren noted.
Witnesses state that the jet appeared to be unarmed.
Still, Col. Warren deems the behavior of the Russians to be “unwarranted” and “not conducive” to an “already unstable environment.”
What do you think? Should Obama keep trying to buddy up with Russian President Vladimir Putin? Or should he start taking action?
There is so much wrong with this article. A US Navy ship wasn't attacked. The Donald Cook is a guided missile destroyer that is capable of carrying one helicopter, not a helicopter transport ship. The video linked shows the T-50 prototype, not a SU-24. The plane that buzzed the ship did so at 500 feet altitude 3/4 of a mile away. Provocative, sure. But we do it to them, and they do it to us. I'm sure the AEGIS on the Cook was operating and painting that plane with enough EM radiation to guarantee that pilot will have funny looking kids.
And what is the alternative that you'd propose? Shoot down a showboating Russian plane? How would that be good for anyone? which Crimeans democratically voted to join Russia for their own benefit rather than be dictated to by a junta imposed by external forces? American media sure hates democracy, but then America is an oligarchy not a democracy.
The Russian Perspective
The number of NATO ships in the waters of the Black Sea today is larger than it was during the days of the Soviet Union. Even during the war with Georgia in 2008, the Alliance and the U.S. did not send so many cruisers, frigates, patrol and reconnaissance vessels to the Black Sea. Today, there are nine of them, but Russian defense officials say that there is nothing to fear. In case of aggression against the Russian Federation, nine NATO ships will be able to stay afloat for a few minutes only.
"In the Black Sea basin, there is Vella Gulf cruiser of the U.S. Navy, French frigate Surcouf, two reconnaissance boats of France and Italy, Dupuy de Lome, and reconnaissance boat of the Italian Navy Elettra," a source said. In addition, an Italian patrol ship, Italian and Turkish minesweepers and a British anti-mine defense ship take part in NATO exercises as well.
In accordance with the Montreux Convention from 1936, warships of non-Black Sea countries may stay in the waters of the Black Sea for 21 days. Noteworthy, during Maidan riots in Ukraine and after the closing of the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, diplomats and military officials noted that the U.S. and NATO violated the convention in terms of tonnage and the time of presence of warships in the waters of the Black Sea.
Interestingly enough, the Black Sea Fleet of Russia completed the deployment of vessels in the Black Sea for naval exercises as well. It was said that the drills would take place on the territory of the entire Black Sea. Warships fire missiles, and aircraft practice massive target bombings; the units of coastal missile and artillery troops operate as well to practice the destruction of enemy fleets and landings from mainland.
Officials with the Defense Ministry of the Russian Federation said that the goal of the drills is to "defend sea communications and deployment areas," including, missile launches, launches of cruise missiles, bombardment of complex target positions and missile launches by coastal defense systems.
NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow has recently stated that in light of the Ukrainian crisis, NATO declared Russia an adversary, rather than a partner. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen acknowledged recently that Russia "fights smarter and faster than NATO." He added that even in case of peacekeeping or military intervention of Russia in Ukraine, NATO will not fight with Russia.
"The NATO navy poses no real threat. This is a form of pressure on the Russian Federation, a way to support Ukraine and comfort ... junior partners of NATO," a senior officer of the Russian defense ministry told politonline.ru. "The vessels that are now staying in the waters of the Black Sea, would not be able to cause significant damage either to Russia's Black Sea Fleet, or to the territory of Russia, even if they wanted to. In case of aggression against Russia, they would live for five or ten minutes, but no one needs a nuclear strike that may follow," the officer said.
The official also said that the imitation of the attack of the Russian bomber Su-24 on USS Donald Cook produced a "demoralizing effect" on the crew. Foreign media reported that "27 sailors of the U.S. Navy destroyer Donald Cook wrote reports of resignation, while military psychologists had to work with others who stayed."
It was also reported that "Russian sailors involved in large-scale maneuvers in the Black Sea, will monitor the activities of NATO ships.
NATO's foolishness in provoking WWIII by having NATO ships in the Black Sea right on Russia's border reminds me of a famous story of the not-too-bright British imperialist's ship, the Amethyst, that was partially sunk and trapped by the Chinese in 1949 on the Yangtzhe river. The Bilderbergers/CFR/Trilateral commission "elites" are all getting desperate. They need a war to distract attention from the sinking dollar and thus the reduced ability of the West to project fascist power. The problem is that these political and banking "elites" are not physicists and don't understand the awesome power of nuclear weapons that can destroy most of the complex life on this earth via nuclear winter. These are scary and "interesting" times.
The independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine will not be acheived by singing "Kumbayah" and chanting "F**k the Islamists." The West and Russia are very different. Ukraine has made its choice and Russia has shown its true colors. Words like "terrorist" and "fascist" mean nothing anymore. Any lawless group is either fascist or a mob, or both, and terrorism is a tactic, not an ideology.
Russia Issues War Warning To NATO Russian Admiral Eduard Balin (former commander of the Russian Black Sea Fleet) was quoted by Russian news media as saying: "Despite the apparent strength of the NATO naval group in the Black Sea....a single salvo from the Moskva missile cruiser and two or three missile boats would be enough to annihilate the entire group. Within twenty minutes the waters would be clear." The Moskva is the world's only currently serving 'heavy battle cruiser' and the most powerful non-carrier surface ship in the world. There are various theories as to why the United States (or more specifically why the neo-cons who control the US government) would want to push Russia into a global war; just as there are various theories why tiny Israel would want to involve itself in a battle against a massive nuclear power like Russia, who could turn Iran and Syria into nuclear armed states overnight if it chose to. Many say that the neo-cons are simply crazy and that their maneuvers have failed. Others would say that the neo-cons are simply pawns in a larger Grand Strategy game that the global banking families have been playing for a couple of centuries and that a Third World War is required to establish the New World Order/global government that they intend to establish and establish soon. If the latter is the case, a little thing like advanced 21st Century warfare will get in the way. There is simply NO WAY that mankind can survive a Third World War. The levels of destructive firepower and technology are simply too great.Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
China created 40,000 new millionaires in 2013, bringing the total to 1.09 million, according to a new study. See full article below
The growth of 3.8 percent is a bit of an improvement from last year's 3 percent gain. But it's still only about half the growth rate of 2010 and 2011, suggesting that China's economic slowdown and the government's crackdown on corruption is slowing its millionaire manufacturing machine.
According to the Hurun Research Institute, the number of people in China with personal wealth of 10 million yuan—or $1.6 million—in mainland China reached 1,090,000, up from 1,050,000 in 2012. The number of people in China worth 100 million yuan, or $16 million, increased by 2,500 people to 67,000.
...Beijing and Guangdong have the most millionaires, with 192,000 and 180,000 respectively, followed by Shanghai with 159,000. Yet Shanghai had the fastest growth of millionaires, adding 12,000 millionaires in 2013. Beijing and Guangdong each added 8,000 millionaires, and Shenzhen added 4,000. The slower millionaire growth comes as sales of high-end luxury goods in China—everything from watches and wine to handbags and Lamborghinis—have also cooled. But Rupert Hoogewerf, chairman and chief researcher of the Hurun Report, said this year's millionaire growth was still solid.
Read MoreTop cities for multimillionaire second homes
"Although we have been seeing a slowdown in spending, the money is still very much there," he said in the report.
Read MoreChina the perfect fit for London's $6,000 tailors
The report said 55 percent of the millionaires are private business owners. One in 5 are senior executives at large companies and 15 percent are listed as "real-estate investors." Only 10 percent are described as "professional stock market investors," or those whose main source of income is stocks and financial investments.
Beijing and Guangdong have the most millionaires, with 192,000 and 180,000 respectively, followed by Shanghai with 159,000. Yet Shanghai had the fastest growth of millionaires, adding 12,000 millionaires in 2013. Beijing and Guangdong each added 8,000 millionaires, and Shenzhen added 4,000.
Estimating people's private wealth in China is a difficult task, given the lack of transparency and unreported wealth and income. Hurun Report said it uses a "bottom-up" and "top-down" approach, looking at sales of high-end real estate, sales volume of luxury cars, income-tax returns, the registered capital of companies and other high-end consumer indicators. It also uses measures of gross domestic product and gross national product.
And, just when everyone is telling you that China is really doing great, let’s compare the same time period for the USA. The number of U.S. households with a net worth of $1 million or more, excluding primary residence, rose to 9.63 million in 2013, according to a new report from Spectrem Group, a consulting and research firm.
That's more than a 600,000 leap up from 2012, and the highest number on record.
This is the first year that the number has surpassed the pre-recession high of 9.2 million in 2007. Once the global financial meltdown hit and the bottom fell out of the market, the number tanked to 6.7 million in 2008.
"The last few years, we've seen the number continually increase, but this was the first year that we're finally beyond the economic crisis," said George Walper, Jr., president of Spectrem Group.
What can you buy with a Wall St. bonus
He said that the market reaching all-time highs last year, coupled with an improving real estate market, drove the rich to get even richer.
The ultra-wealthy weren't lagging behind. Walper said both the number of households with a net worth of $5 million and above and $25 million or more reached the highest numbers since Spectrem started tracking the figures.
There were 1.24 million households with a net worth of $5 million or more last year, up from 840,000 in 2008. Those with $25 million and above climbed to 132,000 in 2013, up from 84,000 in 2008.
"Because of their levels of wealth, they increased their exposure to equities during the downturn and were making investments in real estate when the market was at the bottom," he said. "That's why now they've benefited the most from the return in the economy."
The Corporate Government
Have people already subconsciously accepted fascism?
Have people already been so overwhelmed with the power of the corporations in directing our legislation and government that they have become accepting of it as a given, unable to take action -
Before I continue, let me ask one more question: Could it be that the main challenge in addressing this issue of the rising fascist corporate state, is that as fascism creeps in (as it tends to do in every society where it has manifested itself), the vast majority of the population remains unaware that that's what's happening?
I've been warned by polite liberals (via private messaging) that the main challenge I face (as I write about this topic over and over again) in convincing people about the true nature of what's going, is my use of that word (fascism), because people tend to associate it with the imagery of jack-booted thugs bursting through your doors in the middle of the night, putting a hood over your head, and taking you to some detention camp to be tortured.