Malaysia Airlines jet crashes in Ukraine

Yeah, that was a really brilliant one, no?

Better dead than red.

He says as China blows the doors off the USA.

But it's certainly typical of the profound ignorance that is such a large part of the USA.

Joseph Goebbels, Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda shouting "Lieber rot als tot" (better dead than red) in the early 1940's for the first time:

(Disclaimer: any similarity to above poster is purely coincidental.)

Don't worry Walter. When I suggest that the US should do whatever it takes to protect our allies from Putin's aggression, I am not counting Germany as an ally.

Rest assured that as far as I'm concerned, Putin is free to ravage your country as he sees fit.

The USA doesn't have allies. That's like saying the top mafia family has allies.

A spokesperson for the Dutch Public Prosecutor said Monday that their office has opened a war crimes investigation into last week's crash of Malaysia Airlines MH17 in Ukraine.
Prosecutors are investigating allegations of murder, war crimes and intentionally downing an airliner, and a representative is reportedly in Ukraine as part of the investigation.
Under the Netherlands' Law on International Crimes, the government can prosecute any individual who committed crimes against a Dutch citizen. (Out of the 298 passengers and crew members killed in the crash, 193 were Dutch citizens.)

Sources: Dutch media, Openbaar Ministrie, reuters

Ah-hahahahahahaha . . .

You're livin' in the 1950s, Dude--Putin and company are right-wing capitalists now, just your kind of folks.

Saw the Ukrainian PM call the those who launched the missile 'bastards' and explain that it was the Ukrainians removing the bodies and placing them in refrigerated rail cars - they got access after some difficult negotiation with the pro Russian forces that hold the area.

A UN supported resolution for unrestricted access to the crash site has just come through. Russia has supported the resolution but wanted some changes to the language of the resolution to make it less harsh. For instance, I heard they changed "shot down" to "downing", and other things of that nature.

Minor word change isn't going to absolve Russia of their part in this tragedy.

I agree. The Australian, US and Dutch ambassadors let it be known that they are not happy. I was particularly surprised with the US ambassadors strong assertions against Russian influence and involvement. What i wasn't surprised about was Russia's deflection of blame towards the Ukrainians.

Thanks for the update. I had confidence in the Ukrainians. Been *quite* infatuated with them for a long time re their 'relationship' with Stalin, their heart during the demise of the Soviet bloc. Yay, Ukraine! I'm fond of many of the newish EEs and hope they can remain out from under Putin's thumb.

Wrenching to see what looks like them slipping back under.

The Cold War may be over, but the US is still willing to burn the planet in defense of our allies.

Our ICBM force may be reduced to 450 warheads, but all of our ICBMs remain on maximum alert. It would only take our military about 80 seconds to launch 99% of our ICBMs after receiving a valid launch order, and that's even if no one is expecting the order.

From twitter

@cnnbrk CNN Breaking News

Pro-Russian rebels are handing over Flight 17 black box data recorders to a Malaysian delegation in Ukraine, CNN’s Phil Black reports.

The shoot down of a civilian aircraft cruising at 33,000 feet is something that should chill the marrow of every nations bones. Sadly, inhumanity seems to flourish when the world averts it's eyes. The only thing that keeps the entire globe from collapsing into anarchy is the humanity of people who refuse to allow anarchy free reign. If you ever had to supervise 4 teen boys on an overnight school trip, you know it's not easy, but it's vital to maintain civilization.

That's what I thought would happen, but it looks like (Putin) Russia is going to get away without much pain.

Too early to tell. World leaders will talk sternly and with grave concern. World diplomats will be working overtime, shaking hands, reading tea leaves, scrambling for insight. Every country's intelligence operations compromised by Ed Snowdon are rebuilding relationships. Too early to tell what this really means for all nations grandchildren. In the meantime, drunk Russian nationalists load bodies into rail cars under Putin's protection.

Are they waiting for more evidence to be destroyed? Maybe that's their strategy so they won't have to take the actions necessary to let Putin know shooting down commercial aircraft is not allowed in this world.