Under the banner “No more cuts!” hundreds of thousands of workers, pensioners and youth took to the streets Saturday in Spain’s capital, Madrid. They were demonstrating against austerity measures, evictions, unemployment and poverty. The genesis of the demonstration was one month ago when eight columns of protesters, which organisers called the “Marches of Dignity”, set out from different cities across Spain to converge on Madrid. Hundreds of thousands more people joined on Saturday, travelling by train, cars and buses. According to organisers, the demonstration was 1 million strong.

● If it was the intent of the West to bring Russia and China together - one a natural resource (if "somewhat" corrupt) superpower and the other a fixed capital / labor output (if "somewhat" capital misallocating and credit bubbleicious) powerhouse - in the process marginalizing the dollar and encouraging Ruble and Renminbi bilateral trade, then things are surely "going according to plan."

● For now there have been no major developments as a result of the shift in the geopolitical axis that has seen global US influence, away from the Group of 7 (most insolvent nations) of course, decline precipitously in the aftermath of the bungled Syrian intervention attempt and the bloodless Russian annexation of Crimea, but that will soon change. Because while the west is focused on day to day developments in Ukraine, and how to halt Russian expansion through appeasement (hardly a winning tactic as events in the 1930s demonstrated), Russia is once again thinking 3 steps ahead... and quite a few steps east.

● While Europe is furiously scrambling to find alternative sources of energy should Gazprom pull the plug on natgas exports to Germany and Europe (the imminent surge in Ukraine gas prices by 40% is probably the best indication of what the outcome would be), Russia is preparing the announcement of the "Holy Grail" energy deal with none other than China, a move which would send geopolitical shockwaves around the world and bind the two nations in a commodity-backed axis. One which, as some especially on these pages, have suggested would lay the groundwork for a new joint, commodity-backed reserve currency that bypasses the dollar, something which Russia implied moments ago when its finance minister Siluanov said that Russia may refrain from foreign borrowing this year. Translated: bypass western purchases of Russian debt, funded by Chinese purchases of US Treasurys, and go straight to the source.

Senate staffers say the agency tortured prisoners in ways that went beyond what the Bush-era DOJ approved, according to an Al-Jazeera America report. ● The Senate report on CIA torture is still being suppressed. But details are leaking out, according to a report by Jason Leopold. Citing Intelligence Committee staffers, he writes that "at least one high-value detainee was subjected to torture techniques that went beyond those authorized by George W. Bush's Justice Department." In addition, "harsh measures authorized by the Department of Justice had been applied to at least one detainee before such legal authorization was received." The notion that Bush-era interrogations were lawful has always been highly dubious. This latest news plucks away even the fig leaf afforded by Bush Administration attorneys. Some say it would be unfair to prosecute anyone told that a tactic was permitted. Will they call for a criminal investigation of these incidents?

Russian Prime Minister Medvedev said in a meeting with President Vladimir Putin on Friday that in total Ukraine owes Russia $16 billion, local news agencies reported. ● Medvedev said that Ukraine owes Russia $11 billion because the treaty under which Russia provides Ukraine with cheap gas in return for the Sevastopol naval base was "subject to denunciation". In addition, he said that Ukraine owes Russia $3 billion for a recent loan in the form of Russian purchase of Eurobonds, and that around $2 billion is owed to Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas concern.

The West has so far refused to legitimize Crimea’s decision to secede from Ukraine. Yet Kosovo, which was a part of Serbia, also broke away from its parent country, but has been recognized by the US and most of the EU. But what makes one breakaway more justifiable than another, in the eyes of the world community?

PressTV: Russia slams new EU sanctions as ‘divorced from reality’

Heart-breaking pictures have emerged of the moment a giraffe said goodbye to a terminally ill zoo worker, who had spent most of his adult life cleaning the animal's enclosures. Maintenance worker Mario has terminal cancer and had asked to be taken into the giraffe enclosure at Rotterdam’s Diergaarde Blijdorp zoo. ● The 54-year-old was wheeled into the enclosure on his hospital bed. Within minutes, the giraffes approached him and began to nuzzle and kiss him. The Ambulance Wish Foundation, which transported Mario to the zoo, said Mario has little mobility and finds speaking very difficult. "However, his face spoke volumes", they said. "These animals recognised him, and felt that (things aren’t) going well with him,’ Kees Veldboer, the founder of the AWF told Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad. "(It was) a very special moment. You saw him beaming." Mario, who has a mental disability, was also given the chance to say goodbye to his colleagues at the zoo, where he has worked for almost 25 years.

"Pater Tenebrarum" ■ Valiant Knight of Government-Approved Information Rides to the Rescue. || Look who is warning us again about the great harm conspiracy theories are doing to the minds of impressionable citizens everywhere: Cass Sunstein has emerged at Bloomberg, to once again plead for 'correction' of the many conspiracy theories that are disseminated on that pesky new medium, the intertubes, seemingly without inhibition. Contrary to the infamous paper in which he described how to precisely combat the spreading of false information that lacks the government's seal of approval, he doesn't list his favored censorship and disinformation techniques outright this time, but it is certainly implied that 'something must be done'.

Kenny's Sideshow: Dangerous Ideas

Russian troops have surrounded a Ukrainian airbase in Crimea and issued an ultimatum to forces inside to surrender, the deputy commander of the base in Belbek, near Sevastopol, said on Saturday. ● The base, above which the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag was flying, is one of the few military facilities on Crimea still controlled by Ukraine after the annexation of the peninsula by Russian forces. "The Russian troops at our aerodrome gave us an hour to surrender or they will start storming. We are going nowhere, let's see what this storming is," Oleg Podovalov told Reuters. The ultimatum was due to expire at 0730 am ET, but there was no sign of the Russians moving in on the base. The Russian takeover of the Black Sea peninsula has been largely bloodless, though one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and two others wounded in a shooting in Simferopol earlier this week.

RIA Novosti: 2,000 out of 18,000 Ukrainian Troops to Leave Crimea

Report says Israel made systematic effort to ‘change the ethnic composition’ of East Jerusalem. ● A UN human rights investigator today accused Israel of “ethnic cleansing” in pushing Palestinians out of East Jerusalem and cast doubt that the Israeli government could accept a Palestinian state in the current climate. He spoke against a backdrop of deadlocked peace talks and accelerating Israeli settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem which Palestinians say is dimming their hope of establishing a viable state on contiguous territory. Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, told a news conference that Israeli policies bore “unacceptable characteristics of colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing”. “Every increment of enlarging the settlements or every incident of house demolition is a way of worsening the situation confronting the Palestinian people and reducing what prospects they might have as the outcome of supposed peace negotiations.” Asked about his accusation of ethnic cleansing, Mr Falk said that more than 11,000 Palestinians had lost their right to live in Jerusalem since 1996 due to Israel imposing residency laws favouring Jews and revoking Palestinian residence permits. “The 11,000 is just the tip of the iceberg because many more are faced with possible challenges to their residency rights.” Orange employees help the DGSE create and develop new tools to collect and analyze data. Contrarily to PRISM, it’s not just an agreement between the government and big Internet companies, it’s an implicit “joint venture” that has been going on for around 30 years.

RT.com: 'Colonialism, apartheid and ethnic cleansing': UN rapporteur on Palestine blasts Israel
PressTV: Israeli troops have killed four Palestinians in a nighttime attack in the occupied West Bank
Antiwar.com: Israeli Officials Confirm Progress on 2,269 More Settlement Homes

Orange has been cooperating allegedly illegally for years with France’s main intelligence agency (the DGSE). According to a newly found report by Edward Snowden and an investigation by Le Monde, the DGSE was given access to all of Orange’s data (not just metadata). Orange is the leading telecom company in France with more than 26 million clients. These clients have communicated with tens of millions of non-Orange clients. Nearly everyone in France is concerned by today’s revelation. No regulating agency has a say in this special relationship between France’s intelligence agencies and Orange. Data is shared with allies, such as the GCHQ in the U.K.

Though the decisions hadn’t been officially announced to the public yet, Israel’s defense ministry has confirmed major steps toward two new rounds of settlement expansions adding up to 2,269 new homes in the occupied territories. ● The committee signed off on 1,015 homes in one case, meaning they’re effectively a done deal barring unforeseen opposition from Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon, while the other 1,254 have been approved in theory, but are awaiting a period of public comment. It was likely that Israel was holding off the official announcement until the upcoming prisoner release date, when they always announce major settlement expansions to placate MPs who oppose the peace process. The matter was brought to public attention by Peace Now. The settlements will be yet another major blow to the peace process, as Palestinian officials have been reluctant to approve any extension of the process beyond the April 29 deadline, and this will be one more indication that the talks have netted much more settlement growth and very little substance. [Video: Gilad Atzmon]

CounterPunch: America's Role in the Creation of the State of Israel

Ukraine's [illegitimate] prime minister has pulled his nation closer into Europe's orbit by signing a political association agreement with the EU at a summit of the bloc's leaders. ● Friday's agreement between Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and the EU leaders was part of the pact that former President Viktor Yanukovych backed out of last November in favor of a $15 billion bailout from Russia. That decision sparked the protests that ultimately led to his downfall and flight last month, setting off one of Europe's worst political crises since the Cold War. Russian forces took control of Crimea two weeks ago in the wake of Yanukovych's ouster and President Vladimir Putin this week annexed the strategically important Black Sea peninsula.

BBC: Ukraine crisis: EU signs association deal || EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a statement that the accord "recognises the aspirations of the people of Ukraine to live in a country governed by values, by democracy and the rule of law". [Orwell rolling in his grave...now Fascism is Democracy.]

When the Ukrainian government under Viktor Yanukovych refused to sign the Association Agreement, the United States, Germany and other EU states including Poland and Hungary organised and financed right-wing and fascist parties as well as extreme right-wing shock troops to carry out an overturn in Kiev and bring a government to power dominated by ultra-nationalists and fascists. (Ulrich Rippert)

Rehmat's World: Ukraine: A Jewish Takeover
Finian Cunningham: Ukraine: Shady Ashton's role in regime change
Norman Pollack: Ukraine as Stalking Horse: The Rise of Fascism in the West
John Pilger: The forgotten coup - and how the godfather rules from Canberra to Kiev
Alex Lantier: Anti-Russia propaganda and the fabrication of a new pro-war consensus
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya: A Distorted Lens Justifying An Illegitimate Ukrainian Government

● Crimea’s secession from Ukraine was just like Kosovo’s secession from Serbia, and any arguments otherwise are just attempts to bend the West-advocated rules that were applied to the Kosovo case, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. The statements came as Putin was addressing the Russian parliament to convince lawmakers to ratify a treaty, which would make Crimea part of the Russian Federation. In the speech he challenged Washington’s position, which says that Kosovo was a unique case and could not justify any other move towards independence in the world. “Our western partners created the Kosovo precedent with their own hands. In a situation absolutely the same as the one in Crimea they recognized Kosovo’s secession from Serbia legitimate while arguing that no permission from a country’s central authority for a unilateral declaration of independence is necessary,” Putin reminded, adding that the UN International Court of Justice agreed to those arguments. “That’s what they wrote, that what they trumpeted all over the world, coerced everyone into it – and now they are complaining. Why is that?” he asked. ● Putin dismissed the argument that Kosovo was unique due to the large number of victims during the Balkan wars and the dissolution of Yugoslavia. “It’s beyond double standards,” Putin said. “It’s a kind of baffling, primitive and blatant cynicism. One can’t just twist things to fit his interests, to call something white on one day and black on the next one.” ● The president dismissed the allegations that Russia is violating international law with its actions in Ukraine. “Well’ it’s good that they at least recalled that there is international law. Thank you very much. Better late than never,” Putin said adding that in fact nothing of this kind happened.

● The US-Russia sanctions war is picking up pace today, with the Obama Administration announcing its “second round” of sanctions against Russia, targeting “wealthy Russians” and their assets in the US. Russia responded just minutes later with sanctions of their own, including a travel ban on several Obama aides and hawkish Senators. ● The US officials hit with sanctions today responded with mocking comments echoing similar statements from Russian MPs hit by the US Monday, insisting the travel bans and asset seizures wouldn’t effect them at all to begin with. ● President Obama suggested the third round of sanctions would target Russia’s primary exports of oil and gas and “could disrupt the global economy.” He added that he believes it is necessary because of his objections to the annexation of Crimea. ● Ukraine, for its part, insists it is going to avoid any trade or sanctions war with Russia if at all possible, and said it is going to rely on the WTO to resolve any disputes that may arise.

Stephen Lendman: Sanctions Wars
EuroNews: Merkel: ‘G8 no longer exists’ as EU plans further sanctions on Russia
RT.com: EU expands Russia sanctions list to 33 people, cancels EU-Russia summit
RT.com: Western sanctions against Russia ‘irrational and designed to assert US dominance' – Russian FM
RT.com: 2014 Gallup International poll: US #1 threat to world peace

The coup government of Ukraine has ordered its troop to leave Crimea. Many of these troops, especially officers, may not follow these orders. Russia is offering them a much better deal: “The pay is five times that offered by Ukraine,” [the captain] said. “The pensions are five times better, and will be offered 20 years sooner. We are told we would serve on the same military base. Defend the same soil, the homeland of many at these bases. Families living quite nearby the bases will be able to remain in their same homes.” Why would any officer, especially those native from Crimea, reject such a fantastic deal? The Russian president already signed a new executive order that will let those officers keep their ranks and will recognize their Ukrainian military education.

Marching lockstep with Washington, the Australian government has imposed asset seizures and visa bans on selected Russian figures and ratcheted up threats of reprisal against Moscow after Crimea’s population voted overwhelmingly to secede from Ukraine and join Russia. In the Ukraine crisis, the Australian political establishment has made clear its commitment to yet another US geo-strategic offensive, directed at establishing Washington’s hegemony over the pivotal and energy-rich expanses of the Eurasian landmass, once part of the Soviet Union. By instigating the coup in Kiev, Washington is seeking to bring Ukraine, like other former Soviet republics, directly into its orbit, with the ultimate aim of subordinating or dismembering the Russian Federation as well.

The Jewish shriek against Putin is at fever pitch. Leading the crusade are Thomas Friedman of the New York Times and Martin Wolf of the Financial Times. Friedman wants to raise gas pump taxes thinking this will lower global oil demand. Who cares if Americans suffer at the pump? This will “punish Putin,” says Friedman, and that’s all that matters. Wolf says the IMF can punish Putin by making Ukraine an economic powerhouse and less dependent on Russian gas and trade. But the first 3 billion of an IMF loan goes straight to Moscow via Russia’s bailout deal Ukraine signed with Putin last December. Wolf’s scheme is a con and Yatsenyuk is his patsy. Everyone knows that loans from the IMF will not “improve” Ukraine’s economy but will make Kiev the slave of Jewish bankers.

How about sanctions? Obama says Russia must “pay the cost” for “grabbing” Crimea. The Russians are laughing. Russia’s deputy prime minister, Dmitry Rogozin—one of the ‘evil eleven’ on Obama’s ‘freeze-their-assets’ list—tweeted back, “Hey Comrade Obama! I don’t own a single asset in the USA.” Victoria Nuland (born “Nudelman”) of the US State Department tried to stop Putin by ‘regime-changing’ Yats the Yid as Ukraine’s prime minister. Instead, it sent Crimea, home of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, flying into the arms of Vladimir Putin. It’s a super deal for Vlad whose Black Sea Fleet lease with Kiev to the tune of 90 million a year will soon be rent free.

AND it looks like neocon Jews Jeffrey Goldberg and William Kristol along with AIPAC’s shill McCain are drumming up war against Putin with the same old lies just like they did against Saddam. The only ones who will “pay a price” are American Gentile boys who will be shipped back from Ukraine in coffins. Jews don’t send their own to die in their wars. Can the Jews stop Putin? Yes they can. When all else fails send in the nukes and bomb Russia to kingdom come…and wipe out the entire human race along with them. If Jews can’t get their way, the Sampson Option comes into play.

Despite two earlier rulings that the US Justice Department needed to provide Kim Dotcom and others involved in Megaupload with the actual evidence being used against them for the extradition trial, an appeals court overturned those rulings and now the New Zealand Supreme Court has agreed in rejecting the request. While the chief judge dissented, the majority found that the extradition treaty does not require the country that has filed the charges against the individuals to provide the information and that the New Zealand courts have no real authority to order the US DOJ to provide the evidence. It does seem rather ridiculous that someone can be sent halfway around the world to face criminal charges without first being able to see the evidence against them, but that's apparently the law in New Zealand. They might want to fix that.

Over 300,000 US citizens have signed petitions for their states to withdraw from the United States of America. ● They make references to the Declaration of Independence, whereby a situation may emerge when it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them with another, to ensure security and happiness, the federal media report. The 300,000 Americans represent a total of 29 states. They want to be granted the right to peacefully secede from the United States or allowed the holding of a referendum on such secession. Those who have signed the petition feel that President Obama's economic reforms have proved ineffective. They claim the government has violated the rights and freedoms of Americans in the past two years.

Despite talks between Iran and West, senior officers tell MKs 10b shekels ($2.9b) allocated to IDF to prepare for possible attack. ● Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have ordered the army to continue preparing for a possible military strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities at a cost of at least 10 billion shekels ($2.89 billion) this year, despite the talks between Iran and the West, according to recent statements by senior military officers. Three Knesset members who were present at Knesset joint committee hearings on Israel Defense Forces plans that were held in January and February say they learned during the hearings that 10 billion shekels to 12 billion shekels of the defense budget would be allocated this year for preparations for a strike on Iran, approximately the same amount that was allocated in 2013. The IDF representatives said the army had received a clear directive from government officials from the political echelon – meaning Netanyahu and Ya’alon – to continue readying for a possible independent strike by Israel on the Iranian nuclear sites, regardless of the talks now happening between Iran and the West, the three MKs said.

RT.com: Israel budgets $3 bn for strike on Iran - report
PressTV: Israel must go solo to strike Iran: Yaalon
Michel Chossudovsky: Israel Prepares to Launch “The First Strike”
Washington Post: Russia warns West it may change its stance on Iran

■ For her public act of protest against Russia Today’s coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory and supposedly advancing the agenda of Vladimir Putin in Washington, D.C., previously unknown news anchor Liz Wahl has suddenly become one of the most famous unemployed people in America. ■ Behind the coverage of Wahl’s dramatic protest, a cadre of neoconservatives was celebrating a public relations coup. Desperate to revive the Cold War, head off further cuts to the defense budget and restore the legitimacy they lost in the ruins of Iraq, the tightknit group of neoconservative writers and stewards had opened up a new PR front through Wahl’s resignation. And they succeeded with no shortage of help from an ossified media establishment struggling to maintain credibility in an increasingly anarchic online news environment. With isolated skeptics branded as useful idiots for Putin, the scene has been kept clean of neoconservative fingerprints, obscuring their interest in Wahl’s resignation and the broader push to deepen tensions with Russia. ■ It is the story, according to former colleagues, of an apolitical, deeply disgruntled employee seeking an exit strategy from a job where, sources say, she was disciplined for unprofessional behavior and had been demoted. Wahl did not return several voice and text messages sent to her cellphone. At the center of the intrigue is James Kirchick, a young neoconservative writer and activist who helped craft Wahl’s strategy and exploit her resignation to propel the agenda of a powerful pro-war lobby in Washington. ■ [Liz Wahl’s handler was neo-con James Kirchick, the guy that called for whistleblower Chelsea (Bradley) Manning to be executed.]

American anchor on Russian TV resigns on-air over government’s actions in Ukraine [03/06/14]

● The US will not get involved in a “military excursion” in Ukraine, President Barack Obama said, stressing that Washington will pursue diplomatic means in the standoff with Russia over Crimea. "We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine," Obama told San Diego’s KNSD TV. "There is a better path, but I think even the Ukrainians would acknowledge that for us to engage Russia militarily would not be appropriate and would not be good for Ukraine either.” ● At the same time, Churkin told US ambassador to the UN Samantha Power to stop insulting Russia if Washington wants to see Russia’s future cooperation in the UN Security Council. During her speech, Power accused Russia of illegally annexing Crimea. “A thief can steal property, but that does not confer the right of ownership on the thief,” she said. Power "dropped to the level of the tabloid press...it is simply unacceptable to listen to these insults addressed to our country,” Churkin said.

NBC San Diego: President Obama: No U.S. Military Action in Ukraine

Johannes Stern & Alex Lantier ■ The portrayal of NATO as a peaceful opponent of Russian aggression is a political fraud. The majority-Russian Crimean population voted overwhelmingly to join Russia principally due to fear of the anti-Semitic, anti-Russian forces the West unleashed in Ukraine when it backed the February 22 fascist-led putsch in Kiev. This regime now rules Kiev with appeals to anti-Russian chauvinism and by relying on violence to intimidate its opponents. [...] US Vice President Joe Biden outlined a policy of militarily isolating and threatening Russia in his remarks delivered to officials of the Baltic states in Vilnius: “We stand resolutely with our Baltic allies in support of the Ukrainian people and against Russian aggression. As long as Russia continues on this dark path, they will face increasing political and economic isolation.” He added, “The reason I traveled to the Baltics was to reaffirm our mutual commitment to collective defense. President Obama wanted me to come personally to make it clear what you already know, that under Article 5 of the NATO treaty, we will respond. We will respond to any aggression against a NATO ally.”

On Tuesday night, members of the Svoboda party led by Svoboda MPs stormed the offices of Ukraine’s state television, NTU, after NTU broadcast the Russian parliament signing a treaty with Crimea. They broke into the office of NTU President Aleksandr Panteleymonov and forced him to sign a resignation letter.

“Write your resignation! Sit down! I told you, sit down!” they shout. When Panteleymonov refuses, they drag him through the room, punch him in the face and threaten: “Here is a paper, pen, write the resignation now quickly, you animal… You Russian piece of shit. Write your resignation now. You bloody Muscovite, do it.” When Panteleymonov replies, “I am not a Muscovite, I am a Ukrainian,” they hit him again and yell: “You are Ukrainian? You are a piece of shit, not a Ukrainian. You fucking dirtbag. You are a traitor.” At that point, the video ends.

The attack was led by Igor Miroshnichenko, a Svoboda MP and deputy head of the Ukraine government’s committee on freedom of speech [!!!]. Miroshnichenko is infamous for his raging anti-Semitism. In 2012, he insulted Hollywood actress Mila Kunis, whose Jewish family were victims of the Holocaust in Ukraine, calling her a “zhydovka” (dirty Yid). This is the scum with whom the governments in Berlin and Washington are working and cynically presenting as fighters for democracy in Ukraine. The openly anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi party Svoboda played a leading role in the coup and now has a prominent position in the unelected Western-backed government, controlling no less than six ministries.

The top lawyer for the National Security Agency told a civil liberties oversight board on Wednesday that companies such as Google, Yahoo, Apple, Microsoft and Facebook knew all about the NSA surveillance program PRISM, the Guardian reported. That effort extracted user data such as photos, emails and documents stored in the cloud by big Internet services, allowing NSA analysts to track users communications.