Probably because I'm old and spent most of my life calling it that.

That would be diabolical - like people who claim that "New Coke" was just marketing. They can sell Win 7 and Win 8 at the same time, get a bunch of pent up demand for 9, and then release something usable to rave reviews and have a blockbuster quarter. :)

I get that, but at the same time it is not exactly a secret that there is a shooting war going on there. Why the heck even enter the airspace?

And there is no denying that people completely over-react to air incidents. Look at the overemphasis we put on security (due to the overemphasis people place on bringing planes down).

We also seem to get really wound up about passenger ships. Buses, cars, and such can go on killing hundreds of thousands each year, though :)

Well, the Americans are already on their way in.

Russia only has annexed Crimea. You are getting ahead of yourself.

Pretty much, yeah. The "sanctions" imposed by the US and Europe so far are more directed at prestige than anything else.

"Unilateral" isn't really Obama's thing, and US sanctions would have little on Russian in any event.

Latest from CNN.com:

Without some kind of inside information, it certainly is hard to see how European states like Germany could go along with policies which risk turning off the heat and otherwise messing with their healthy trade to Russia.

For some reason, people almost universally completely freak out about airplane crashes. From a political standpoint, it will matter a lot more than the deaths on the ground.

I'm not sure who it would benefit, but it is possible that dragging more parties into the conflict could be perceived as a benefit to the Ukraine.

I share your hope but not your optimism. Disappearing over the Ukrainian/Russian border would be a remarkable coincidence. Then again, a remarkable coincidence started WWI, so...

What a horrible tragedy, and one that changes the political climate considerably. Obama will face much less resistance from Europe if Russia turns out to be responsible. It also gives the Ukraine a reason to call in US "specialists" for help with the investigation.

Agreed - the East India company, in some ways much like modern corporations, was simply an extension of the British Establishment.

That's why I follow the Pope on Twitter.

The difference is that those deeds just codify something that is fairly easy to implement with or without a government: "mine". My kids had "mine" mastered by the time they were 2. You can see it at work in places where government has collapsed and people turn to privateers for protection of their stuff. Certain libertarian types (not me) will even lump property protection in there with the other 3 fundamental rights.