Jean ValJean comments

Some residents of southern Maldives islands reported seeing a large jumbo jet with red markings flying at a very low altitude 7-8hrs after MH 370 went missing.

I bought a new pass for a year at the current, lower cost instead of the usual monthly.

One of the Founding Fathers said it succinctly :

"Peace, commerce and honest friendship with all nations; entangling alliances with none." --- Thomas Jefferson

Guess he was a libertarian then.

No, I don't support Obama. He is the antithesis of the Spirit of America as she was founded.

" You'd think "libertarians" of all people would get this."

Your comment shows just how little you understand about libertarian thinking. To summarize for you, "Peaceful relations with all, entangling alliances with none." Get it?

Of course land prices will rise after devaluating the currency.

The stupid leading the near-sighted Mr Magoo.

Imagine that, the leader of a communist nation calling on another(much bigger) communist nation to pursue :

"… resolution by peaceful means, compliance with international law, and respect for each other’s due rights and sovereignty,” And: “Countries concerned(note: busybodies excluded) should not make the situation complex, but rather exercise self-restraint. They should neither use force nor threaten to use force.”

Excellent post Frungy! Another sensationalist article aimed at a Japanese company by environMENTAL activists. They watch too much CNN.

" Obama invites G7 leaders for meeting on Ukraine"

More like,

"Obama throws toys out of pram, feeling marginalized, invites G8-1 to his own pity-party"

" “They were shooting from the same location at both the self-defense forces and at the p servicemen,” Crimean police force spokeswoman Olga Kondrashova told the Interfax news agency."" So, here again are unknown gunmen firing at both sides, acting as agents provocateurs. Sounds like Kiev.

For Dog's sake, let the citizens determine for themselves whether they wish to align with either or neither.

" Are you reading someone else's posts? I haven't 'walked back' anything. I've been saying the same thing from the start. They (bitcoin, gold and diamonds) don't have an inherent value, and only have perceived value."

Flip-flop, waffle, walkback, obfuscate, call it what you will. It depends on what your definition of "is" is ... at the moment.

As Frungy pointed out, gold has many properties which have made it a highly valued commodity in all ages. Just a rock to you.

Here, where true atrocities have and are occurring, sanctions have been ineffective (unless the desired effect were to injure the lowly citizens), The Enlightened One dares not draw any "red line" for fear that there would be severe repercussions on the economy within his empire. What hypocrisy. The emperor new clothes are revealing.

Maybe Obama just wants to gum Putin until he says uncle. The EU knows if any sanctions with teeth were imposed only the EU would suffer in return.

" Just love all the love the Republic.., er, 'independent conservatives" have for Putin. See how far the worms have spread..."

Ha! That nonsense again??

The people voted. The vote didn't go the way you wanted. You cry "foul" and toss the toys out of the pram.

Yeah, don't recognize the voice of the public. That would be ... um ... nevermind. It's only "legitmate " if it coincides with what The Exceptional Ones say is acceptable.

Superlib, you crack me up. Thanks for the comic relief!

In Kiev, the 82 or so who were shot and killed by snipers were both protesters and police, shot by snipers hired by those directing the protests against the legitmate president(the corrupt sot).

The new self-annointed "leader " is an oligarch and appointed his pal oligarchs to replace the other oligarchs. (Rolls eyes 360゜).

At this point, I find it the height of irony that Putin is in the right.

Please include teen selfies.

" The part you aren't understanding is that they have value for the exact same reasons that bitcoins have value."

No, you're just trying to walk back your claim of having no inherent value and only "perceived" value. It's you who doesn't comprehend the fact that PM have inherent value due to their extremely limited quantities on the planet as well as the difficulty in mining them, as well as their chemical/elemental natures. And in a similar, but virtual, way Bitcoin has value though I obviously prefer PM, gems, etc..

You said,

" The flaw with this theory is that you are basing it on gold having value. It's essentially just a rock that comes from the ground. The only thing that gives it value is that people believe it to have value, and are therefore willing to pay more for this rock than for other rocks. There is nothing else about gold that gives it value. Simply that people believe it to have value."

And,

" Both are valued, but only because people believe them to have value. They have almost no inherent value in and of themselves."

" They have almost no inherent value in and of themselves."

Don't even try to walk that back.

" The rise of the Western Putin lovers is interesting and has come rather under the radar,…"

Here returns the ruse that if one doesn't blindly support the actions of the State(here this time it's led by US/EU, oh, again) then that means(false assumption) that one supports blindly the other(in this case Putin's Russia), when in reality it's support of the will of the people. The resurgence of "You're either with US, or against US" nonsense.

It's funny to me, in a rather twisted way, that those who violently overthrew an elected and legitimate president(though unquestionably corrupt) who would not have won reelection in the near election, in what can only be described as as a coup d'etat by disgruntled oligarchs with EUS backing, are most bizarrely deemed "legitimate " while the clear consensus of the residents of the area in their referendum, their decision is to be invalidated by the so-called "defenders of freedom".

I'm in the market for just such a place.

" I guess any prediction will be corrrect if you use a 60% margin of error."

I think you're very generous. The margin of error is likely larger.

" What remains of Ukraine becomes more Western-leaning."

Not quite. Other areas of eastern Ukraine are calling for similar referenda.

" You have to be paid, stupid or live in the 'West' to believe in made-up stats published by Russia.…"

Wrong on all counts. Facts and figures reported by even western media. Even half of Crimean Tatars voted for Russian integration. Ouch.

" Both are valued, but only because people believe them to have value. They have almost no inherent value in and of themselves."

Right.... and that's why governments keep hundreds and thousands of TONS of that inherently valueless "rock" with a bright yellow hue in extremely well guarded vaults. Go ahead and keep believing in your Flat -Earth monetary misconception.

Meanwhile, if you have any gold, silver, or gems in any form, just add them to the soil in your garden.

" Those people only heard about democracy. Never seen it."

Your opinion, to which you are entitled. The fact is about 95% of the over 80% who voted chose Russia.

As I recall, there were reports that family members had been able to call passengers' mobile phones but without any responses or DNS. That seems likely to have been possible after all.

The vast majority, a super-majority, has DEMOCRATICALLY chosen to reunite with Russia. The will of the people.

" The flaw with this theory is that you are basing it on gold having value. It's essentially just a rock that comes from the ground. The only thing that gives it value is that people believe it to have value, and are therefore willing to pay more for this rock than for other rocks."

Diamond is a rock. Gold is a metal. Both are highly valued.

Bitcoin scares the pants off central bankers because they can't manipulate it like fiat currencies, and it's true that the alphabet soup agencies are on the attack because bitcoin threatens their control of the sheeple.