Beginning in July, two-dozen member agencies will be fined up to four times their regular rates for demanding excess water. Those penalties will range from $1,480 to $2,960 per acre-foot of water. The cutbacks are expected to last a year, with opportunities each month to amend the system. A formal reconsideration is scheduled for December, during the rainy season.

If Brown’s statewide plan succeeds, businesses and residents will use only three-quarters of the amount they used in 2013. The savings would amount to some 1.5 million acre-feet of water in the next nine months, just as the state snowpack is at its lowest level on record.

“To Berlin!” says a page on the biker gang’s website dedicated to the rally, which is set to begin on 25 April, in an allusion to the Red Army’s famous battle cry. The commemorative event comes with tensions running high between Russia and the west over the crisis in Ukraine. The plan sparked controversy in central Europe, with some welcoming the Russians and others saying they should be banned from European Union territory. The Polish foreign ministry dubbed the ride a “problem”.

The bikers insist their journey is not politically motivated. “This is a memorial rally,” said Andrei Bobrovsky, the organiser. “The main goal is to pay respects to those killed on WWII battlefields in the struggle against Hitler’s Nazis – soldiers and innocent civilians,” he told AFP. “Another goal is to develop and strengthen good neighbourly ties.” During their journey the bikers will visit war memorials, Auschwitz and Dachau death camps and Berlin’s Treptower Park, famous for its Soviet war memorial. Bobrovsky said many Europeans wanted to join the rally, including Germans.

Unfortunately in its recommendations, the DGAC didn’t really come out and tell us the whole truth, which would go something like this:

“Americans should eat less, or rather no red and processed meat from filthy, inhumane factory farms or feedlots, where the animals are cruelly crammed together and routinely fed a diet of herbicide-drenched, genetically engineered grains, supplemented by a witch’s brew of antibiotics, artificial hormones, steroids, blood, manure and slaughterhouse waste, contributing to a deadly public health epidemic of obesity, heart disease, cancer, antibiotic resistance, hormone disruption and food allergies.”

If the DGAC had really told us the truth about America’s red meat horror show (95 percent of our red meat comes from these Confined Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs), we’d be having a conversation about how we can get rid of factory farms, instead of a rather abstract debate on the ethics of eating meat. We are what we eat. We must get rid of factory farms and put the Earth’s billions of confined farm animals back outside on the land, grazing and foraging, where they belong.

The six banks that I am talking about are JPMorgan Chase, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. When you add up all of their exposure to derivatives, it comes to a grand total of more than 278 trillion dollars. But when you add up all of the assets of all six banks combined, it only comes to a grand total of about 9.8 trillion dollars. In other words, these “too big to fail” banks have exposure to derivatives that is more than 28 times greater than their total assets.

This is complete and utter insanity, and yet nobody seems too alarmed about it. For the moment, those banks are still making lots of money and funding the campaigns of our most prominent politicians. Right now there is no incentive for them to stop their incredibly reckless gambling so they are just going to keep on doing it.

So precisely what are “derivatives”? Well, they can be immensely complicated, but I like to simplify things. On a very basic level, a “derivative” is not an investment in anything. When you buy a stock, you are purchasing an ownership interest in a company. When you buy a bond, you are purchasing the debt of a company. But a derivative is quite different. In essence, most derivatives are simply bets about what will or will not happen in the future. The big banks have transformed Wall Street into the biggest casino in the history of the planet, and when things are running smoothly they usually make a whole lot of money.

The truth is that we are in the midst of a historic stock market bubble, and we are witnessing all sorts of patterns in the financial markets which also emerged back in 2008 right before the financial crash in the fall of that year. When some of the most prominent bankers at some of the biggest banks on the entire planet start issuing ominous warnings, that is a clear sign that time is running out. The period of relative stability that we have been enjoying has been fun, and hopefully it will last just a little while longer. But at some point it will end, and then the pain will begin.

If Athens doesn't get its next €7.2 billion ($7.58 billion) bailout tranche by the April 24 Eurogroup meeting of European finance ministers, default becomes a lot more likely, and it seems as if the government is already preparing for the worst.

Here's the FT: Greece is preparing to take the dramatic step of declaring a debt default unless it can reach a deal with its international creditors by the end of April, according to people briefed on the radical leftist government’s thinking.

The government, which is rapidly running out of funds to pay public sector salaries and state pensions, has decided to withhold €2.5 billion of payments due to the International Monetary Fund in May and June if no agreement is struck, they said.

"We have come to the end of the road ... If the Europeans won't release bailout cash, there is no alternative [to a default]," one government official said.

Quickly after the FT's story emerged, the Greek government denied that it was planning for a default. But given the country's financial situation, it would probably be careless if it was not at least looking at the scenario. And it's worth remembering the bailout deal on the table is only a stopgap. The bailout was meant to last four months (though it will probably not last that long, even if it's dispensed soon), and then the country will be back in this position again.

As I climbed the steep mountain path above the plain of Nineveh, Iraq, the sound of monks chanting and the smell of incense drifted out of the 4th Century monastery of St Matthew. Once, 7,000 monks worshipped here when Christianity was the official language of the Roman Empire. Almost the whole population was Christian then. Their numbers have dwindled and now there are only six monks - and no pilgrims dare to visit. "We are on the frontline with Isis and people are afraid to come here," Father Yusuf told me. "We are worried about everything: our people, our family, Christianity."

This wave of persecution began not with IS but when Britain and America invaded Iraq in 2003 to topple Saddam Hussein. Under his rule, Christians were free to worship and played a full role in this society. "Saddam's era was the golden age for Christians," said Father Douglas, although he adds that he did not personally agree with Saddam's rule.

As the Western coalition failed to provide security for Iraq, it descended into chaos and Christians became victims of the ugly sectarian power struggle unleashed between Shia and Sunni Muslims. "They looked at the West as infidels and as Christians we were seen in the same way," Father Douglas explained. The priest's church in Baghdad was bombed and he was taken hostage by a militia and held until the Church paid a ransom.

This part of the world, according to analysts, is fast becoming a race for nuclear supremacy between three powers - India, Pakistan and China (while technically not classified as South Asia, the country shares borders with both India and Pakistan). This rivalry in the eyes of many analysts is dangerous in itself but is made even more complex by the mutual suspicions and historical enmities that bedevil the region.

Pakistan… is plagued by economic and political insecurity but is locked in a fight for military bragging rights with India. The country is believed to have one of the world's fastest growing nuclear arsenals. A recent report indicated that it had tripled the number of warheads it had a decade ago. In other developments, the Pakistanis are reported to have test-fired a missile recently that appears capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

Pakistan possesses the medium-range Shaheen-III missile with a range of some 1,700 miles, leaving India easily within range. A recent leader article in the New York Times reported claims that Pakistan continues to develop short-range tactical nuclear weapons. Again, leaving India well within range. No-one should underestimate the rivalry between the two countries, informed by their troubled history, which includes outright wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971.

"What we have seen in the last two decades is a form of physical and moral disarmament… we're in a very dangerous place," said General Sir Richard Shirreff, number two in Nato's military structure until last summer. And the former deputy chief of the US Air Force Lieutenant General David Deptula, explaining how America has bought far too few combat aircraft during the past decade, opined, "we have a geriatric air force".

The military have also contributed to their own misfortunes by conspiring with defence contractors to build ever more expensive weapons that can only be afforded in much smaller numbers than those they are supposed to replace.

Perhaps the starkest warning of all that I heard while making The Edge came from Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Nato's secretary general until last September. "It is my clear view that we have now entered a new era of cold war," he said, "and I think it will last for decades".

"We think we are headed for a good deal," Sherman said. "Is it a perfect deal? No. There is no such thing as a perfect deal… There is no formula or option that will be more effective than the diplomatic track - this is where we are today." Sherman told the reporters that a military operation against Iran would not stop its nuclear program. "A military strike by Israel or the US would only set back the nuclear program by two years," she said. "You can't bomb their nuclear know-how, and they will rebuild everything. The alternatives are there but the best option is a diplomatic negotiated solution."

Sherman also told the Israeli reporters during the briefing that the US is totally committed to Israel's security and is interested in opening a dialogue with Israel's new government to discuss improving Israel's security preparedness after the deal with Iran goes into effect. She said such talks are aimed at maintaining the Israeli army's qualitative edge and ensuring that Israel will be fully capable of defending itself. "Israel's right to exist and Iran's actions in the region will be dealt with on a parallel track," Sherman said. "The US will consult Israel on what it needs for its security."

Returning from a long trip to the Middle East that included stops in Iraq, Israel, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, Boehner spoke to a small group of reporters about the war against the Islamic State and the general situation in the region as well as the Obama administration’s nuclear deal with Iran. He said there was great skepticism among Iran's neighbors about the emerging agreement between it and the P5+1 world powers, and he shared those concerns.

“I don’t know how you cut a deal with the devil and think the devil is going to keep his end of the deal,” Boehner said of Obama and his advisers. “All they’ve done this far is talk about a delay of their development of a nuclear weapons for a few months or a year, in exchange for the rehabilitation of their entire economy? I think they are desperate for a deal at any cost and I think this is a prescription for disaster.”

Boehner also responded to White House spokesman Josh Earnest’s March 29 statement on ABC’s "This Week" that Boehner’s opposition to the nuclear negotiations meant he wanted war with Iran, and that he "should have the courage of his convictions to actually say so." On the contrary, Boehner said, he was not for war with Iran, and if the administration had kept up sanctions pressure it could have gotten “a real agreement” rather than the "unverifiable" pact the framework suggests.

Pressed on what that meant, Boehner said: “An agreement that would allow unfettered access to the inspectors to go anywhere at any time. That would be a real agreement.”

The United States government with its refinements, technological advances, and a more sophisticated approach to the destruction of human freedom has degenerated into a cesspool of communists that have taken over the country. They seek to drive Americans into joblessness, poverty, homelessness and despair. The invaders being flown into the country at taxpayer expense has to be stopped. Our Congress knows all about this, they complain, and yet are allowing it to happen. What happened to the will of the people?

The military is a path to citizenship for immigrants, if the military is going to be filled with foreign invaders then they won’t have a problem confiscating our guns and killing Americans. Illegal alien invaders who have proven their willingness to flout our laws by sneaking into the country, are becoming full US citizens by serving in the military. Others being flown into the country by the thousands are given better treatment than the solders that serve the country.

The USA remains on course to add 100 million legal immigrants within 30 years. That includes the immigrants, their offspring and their chain-migrated relatives. Adding that many people equates to doubling the population of our 35 most populated cities. How do we water, feed, house, warm, transport, educate, medicate that many people and still maintain our environment? Answer: we won't. Nobel Laureate Dr Henry W Kendall said, “If we don’t halt population growth with justice and compassion, it will be done for us by nature, brutally and without pity – and will leave a ravaged world.”

Roman pontiffs are in a better position than most chief executives to speak undiplomatic truths. They have no career prospects to worry about, and since they (along with most of the world’s 1.2 billion baptised Catholics) believe they are God’s chief representatives on earth, they feel they have a moral duty to tell it like it is — or, at least, how they believe it to be.

In deciding to ignore Turkish entreaties, the pope and his diplomatic advisers in the Secretariat of State will have weighed two factors. On the one hand, there is no Muslim state with which the Holy See has built warmer relations than Turkey. Both Francis and Benedict have visited the country, and Vatican officials recognise that under its current president, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey has gone further than ever in acknowledging what happened to the Armenians.

But such goodwill apparently counted for less than the Vatican’s growing desperation over Islamist persecution of Christians, and what officials see as the failure of Muslim clerics and politicians to effectively oppose it. Recent months have seen mass killings of Christians by Muslims in Nigeria, Libya and Kenya. Top of the Vatican’s list of concerns are Iraq and Syria, where the pope and his advisers believe they are witnessing a decisive phase in the eradication of Christianity from countries where it has been present for millennia. Turkey’s equivocal response to the activities of Islamic State has not helped.

For more than a decade, the Vatican has been the scene of a tug-of-war between proponents of careful dialogue with Islam and advocates of bluntness. The latter group feel that tact has got Christians nowhere, and that plain speaking is required even if it proves offensive. This group clearly had the upper hand under Benedict. Francis’s latest comment suggests they are back in the ascendancy.

Dioceses in the UK, Italy, Spain and elsewhere have noticed a dramatic increase in the number of people claiming to be possessed and have responded by training more priests in the dark arts of how to perform exorcisms.

A week-long exorcism conference, held this week at the Pontifical University of Regina Apostolorum in Rome and endorsed by the Vatican, is being attended by around 160 Catholic priests from around the world, who insist that demonic possession is very real.

"Pope Francis talks about the Devil all the time and that has certainly raised awareness about exorcisms," said Father Cesare Truqui, a Mexican priest trained as an exorcist. "But all Latin Americans have this sensibility – for them, the existence of the Devil is part of their faith."