It appears to me that the Lithium-Ion battery discussion is unrelated to the disappearance of MH370. The battery issue should be discussed in the tech forum, not here. A fire scenario has been eliminated as a possibility in this forum unless I've missed something.
The battery discussion obfuscates the discussion of the potential scenarios, it is a red herring.
I agree that the batteries are a red herring - however, they do raise the question of what else was in the cargo that hasn't been disclosed.