Sixty years ago this day, on March 1, 1954, the United States conducted its first hydrogen bomb test at the Bikini atoll in the Pacific. It was the largest US nuclear explosion ever with a yield of 15 megatons of TNT. The blast was much more powerful than predicted and led to massive radioactive contamination.

Ukraine accused Russia on Saturday of sending thousands of extra troops into Crimea as the Kremlin vowed to help restore calm on the flashpoint peninsula and Washington warned of "costs" to Moscow should it use force. ● Defence minister Igor Tenyukh told the Ukrainian government's first cabinet session that Russia's armed forces had sent in 30 armoured personnel carriers and 6,000 additional troops into Crimea in a bid to help local pro-Kremlin militia gain broader independence from the new pro-EU leaders in Kiev. Tenyukh accused Russia of starting to send in these reinforcements on Friday "without warning or Ukraine's permission". The defence chief spoke as dozens of pro-Russian armed men in full combat gear patrolled outside the seat of power in Crimea's capital Simferopol, a day after similar gunmen seized control over airports and government buildings in the territory. The rugged peninsula jutting into the Black Sea — host to a Kremlin fleet and with an ethnic Russian majority — has now effectively been cut off from mainland Ukraine, with airports shut down and a pro-Kremlin militia establishing a tightly-controlled checkpoint on the main road from the mainland.

Oriental Review: The costs you are about to pay in Ukraine, President Obama ■ So Moscow’s message to President Obama is simple. We are the real guarantors of the Ukrainian sovereignty. We are protecting the life of its incumbent president, elected by the people of Ukraine at the free and competitive poll in 2010, from the direct personal threat from illegitimate “new authorities”. For the last three months, unlike you, we were not interfering into internal political process in Ukraine while your Assistant Secretary of State was handing buns to the “peaceful protesters” in Kiev and talking smuts about your European dialogue partners. We followed the letter and spirit of the international law whether we liked it or not. And today we are giving hope to millions of the Russian Ukrainians who categorically reject banderist authorities in Kiev. We are defending their right to determine their future. Therefore you will be brought to account for the billions of dollars invested for years long into the chimera project of the Orange revolution in Ukraine, which in its second incarnation turned Brown. You will be charged for months of explicit incitements for riots and civilian disobedience to legitimate authorities in Ukraine, committed by your officials and congressmen. And you will be responsible for the recognition of the Kievan shady “cabinet”, not only lacking any public support in Ukraine, but also any real resources to secure minimal level of life and the rule of law in this 45-million strong nation, lost in a non-existent “transition”, invented by your insolvent foreign policy consultants. These are the costs you are about to pay in Ukraine, President Obama.

PressTV: Ukraine’s Crimea witnesses huge pro-Russia rally
ITV: Russia has 'brought in extra 6,000 troops' to Ukraine
RIA Novosti: Russian Parliament Approves Military Action in Ukraine
The Guardian: Russian parliament approves use of military against Ukraine - live updates
Associated Press: How Crimea differs from the rest of Ukraine

Riots in Ukraine have resulted not only victims among the protestors fighting for the overthrow of the Yanukovich regime. People were dying on the other side of the barricade, which proves the extremely rough video! (Czech language/Google Translate)(Video)

A disgusting scandal involving police officers performing illegal anal cavity searches with the intent to “degrade and humiliate” dozens and dozens of victims has come to an apparent conclusion, which some feel amounts to little more than a slap on the wrists for those involved. ● Between February 2010 and February 2012, a small group of Milwaukee officers took part in a string of serial assaults on subjects pulled off the streets. In many cases, the officers demanded the subjects produce the drugs they assumed were being hidden somewhere on their person. When they were not satisfied with the cooperation from the subjects, an officer would jam his hand into the subject’s underpants, touch his genitals, and insert a finger into his anus on the side of the road. Some of the complaints stated that drugs were planted during these searches. At least one complainant was a juvenile, and one stated that he was fingered so hard that his anus bled afterwards.

The London gold fix, the benchmark used by miners, jewelers and central banks to value the metal, may have been manipulated for a decade by the banks setting it, researchers say. ● Unusual trading patterns around 3 p.m. in London, when the so-called afternoon fix is set on a private conference call between five of the biggest gold dealers, are a sign of collusive behavior and should be investigated, New York University’s Stern School of Business Professor Rosa Abrantes-Metz and Albert Metz, a managing director at Moody’s Investors Service, wrote in a draft research paper.

Paul Craig Roberts and Dave Kranzler: Market Manipulations Become More Extreme, More Desperate
Paul Craig Roberts and Dave Kranzler: The Hows and Whys of Gold Price Manipulation
Paul Craig Roberts and Dave Kranzler: Why is the Fed tapering?

Full draft text of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership leaked

Humans are NOT to blame for global warming, says Greenpeace co-founder, as he insists there is 'no scientific proof' climate change is manmade. ● There is no scientific proof of man-made global warming and a hotter earth would be ‘beneficial for humans and the majority of other species’, according to a founding member of environmental campaign group Greenpeace. The assertion was made by Canadian ecologist Patrick Moore, a member of Greenpeace from 1971 to 1986, to U.S senators on Tuesday. He told The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee: ‘There is no scientific proof that human emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) are the dominant cause of the minor warming of the Earth’s atmosphere over the past 100 years. If there were such a proof it would be written down for all to see. No actual proof, as it is understood in science, exists.’