After Ukrainian troops killed five protesters today in Slovyansk, the odds of the protesters simply giving up and embracing the pro-US government are slim to none, and the Obama Administration is still holding out hope Russia can somehow “order” the protesters to stop their protesting. It’s not so much a hope as a demand, really, as the White House and the State Department are both presenting it as an obligation Russia has under the terms of last week’s Geneva deal, at least near as the US sees it. President Obama insists the next round of anti-Russia sanctions are all “teed up” and ready to go, saying Russia needs to publicly condemn the “malicious” protesters seeking autonomy in Ukraine’s east. Secretary of State John Kerry also insisted Russia was obliged to force an end to the protests, saying their refusal to do so would be an “expensive mistake” and would leave the US with no choice but to enact more sanctions. Russia [correctly] has insisted that they don’t have the authority to order the protesters to abandon their calls for autonomy, and has chided the US for endorsing military action against them as an acceptable solution.

Yahoo: [Arrogant & Conceited] John Kerry Just Gave Russia A Final Warning
RT.com: Ukraine army launches next stage of military op 'to isolate Slavyansk'
MoA: Kerry Lies, Repeats Debunked State Department Claim
Justin Raimondo: Ukraine: Out of Control

Bill Van Auken: Does Washington want war with Russia? ■ In the last 48 hours, the Pentagon has announced the deployment of US paratrooper units to Poland and the three former Baltic republics of the Soviet Union—Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania—bringing US troops to Russia’s very border. Another American warship has been dispatched to the Black Sea and more US forces are slated to deploy to Ukraine itself this summer under an exercise known as Operation Rapid Trident. These military moves by Washington are unfolding in the context of an acute crisis within Ukraine that, thanks to the machinations of Washington and its puppets, threatens to erupt into full-blown civil war. Less than one week after signing a joint statement with Russia, the US and the European Union in Geneva pledging to end all violence in Ukraine and disarm illegal groups, the US puppet regime in Kiev has ordered its military to carry out an “anti-terrorist” crackdown against the restive Russian-speaking population in the country’s industrial southeast. To that end it has dispatched not only troops, tanks and warplanes, but also armed thugs from the neo-fascist Right Sector.

John Kerry has attacked RT for its coverage of the Ukraine crisis, calling it a “propaganda bullhorn.” Neglecting to address the US’ role in the conflict or back up his assertions with any evidence, Kerry said Russia was behind the unrest in Ukraine.

During a press conference with the State Department on Thursday, Secretary of State John Kerry rounded on RT, lashing out at its Ukraine coverage. “The propaganda bullhorn that is the state-sponsored RT program has been deployed to promote – actually, RT network – has been deployed to promote President Putin’s fantasy about what is playing out on the ground,” Kerry said. Furthermore, he said RT almost spends all its time “propagandizing and distorting what is happening, or not happening, in Ukraine.” Dismissing the entire eastern Ukrainian, anti-Maidan movement as sponsored and controlled by Moscow, Kerry did not address allegations of American involvement in Ukraine. Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that America was “running the show in Ukraine” and referenced the visits to Kiev of CIA head John Brennan and Vice-President Joe Biden.

Lavrov decried John Kerry’s latest comments about RT as “uncivilized” and “prosecutorial.” “[The West] was convinced for some time that it had a full monopoly on mass media,” said Lavrov in a statement. “Russia Today has won a large audience in the US and Western Europe, not to mention in Latin America and the Arab world."

RT.com: Lavrov: Kerry's 'prosecutorial' RT assault unacceptable
VoR: RT demands apology for US Kerry's 'propaganda bullhorn' comment
Stephen Lendman: Lavrov - Profile of a World Class Diplomat

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden will announce a package of technical assistance focused on energy and economic aid distribution during a two-day visit to Ukraine that began on Monday, a senior administration official said. ● Biden is the highest ranking U.S. official to visit the country since the crisis with Russia erupted months ago. His trip is largely symbolic. But during talks with Ukrainian leaders on Tuesday he will announce U.S. assistance, primarily of technical know-how to boost energy efficiency as well as production in Ukrainian natural gas fields and extraction of "unconventional" gas resources, a senior administration official told reporters traveling on board the vice president's plane. A U.S. team was also in Ukraine to help deal with the issue of securing gas flows from EU countries such as Slovakia and Hungary in the event that Russia cuts off Ukraine's supply, the official said.

Paul Craig Roberts: Western Looting Of Ukraine Has Begun [03/31/14]
Rick Rozoff: USAID and “Democracy Promotion” in Ukraine
William Engdahl: Ukraine’s Delusional Energy Calculus full of Shale
Jack Rasmus: Ukraine’s IMF Deal Means Greece-Like Depression
Jack Rasmus: Who Benefits from the Ukraine Economic Crisis?
Steve Horn: ExxonMobil, Russia and Ukraine
Kyiv Post: Chevron has no plans to end fracking agreement with Ukraine

Ecuador has ordered all 20 defence department employees in the US embassy's military group to leave the country by the end of the month, Associated Press says. The group was ordered to halt operations in Ecuador in a letter dated 7 April, said embassy spokesman Jeffrey Weinshenker. AP was first alerted to the expulsions by a senior Ecuadorean official who refused to be identified by name due to the information's sensitive nature.

VoR: Ecuador kicks out 20 US military specialists as there were 'too many of them'

Naveed Shinwari hasn’t seen his wife in 26 months. He suspects it’s because he refused to become an informant for the FBI. ● Shinwari is one of four American Muslims in a new lawsuit who accuse the FBI of placing them on the no-fly list, either to intimidate them into becoming informants or to retaliate against them for declining. [...] In February 2012 Shinwari, who has lived in the US since he was 14, flew to Afghanistan to get married. He says that before he could get home to Omaha, Nebraska, he was twice detained and questioned by FBI agents who wanted to know if he knew anything about national security threats. A third FBI visit followed when he got home. The following month, after Shinwari bought another plane ticket for a temporary job in Connecticut, he couldn’t get a boarding pass. Police told him he had been placed on the US no-fly list, although he had never in his life been accused of breaking any law. Another FBI visit soon followed, with agents wanting to know about the “local Omaha community, did I know anyone who’s a threat”, he says.

Michael Snyder ■ An all-time high 53 percent of all Americans believe that neither party “represents the American people”. || No wonder so many Americans are so angry. Things are not nearly as good as they used to be. Unfortunately, even though so many people are angry and frustrated, there is very little consensus on the solutions to our problems. Many Americans even want to throw out the principles that this country was founded upon entirely. For example, one recent survey discovered that 59 percent of all Americans believe that the U.S. Constitution is “outdated”. That is a very chilling number. We live at a time when Americans are becoming increasingly ignorant about who we are, where we came from and how we got here.

Margaret Kimberley: Freedom Rider: Democracy is Dead

The UK scrambled fighter jets this week to intercept two Russian military aircraft in international air space north of Scotland. ● The two Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters identified the planes as Tupolev TU-95s, mainly used by Russia for reconnaissance. The headline in the Daily Mail falsely claimed the Tupolevs had “stray[ed] into British airspace”. This was contradicted by a Ministry of Defence (MOD) spokesman, who later confirmed that the Russian planes “remained in international air space at all times”, saying this was something “they are perfectly entitled to do”. He also added that Russian military flights have “never entered sovereign UK airspace without authorisation”. Royal Navy vessels are also reportedly shadowing a Russian destroyer, which is sailing past the UK. The MOD and the Guardian tried to downplay the link between these incidents and the explosive tensions between NATO and Russia following the installation of a pro-West regime in Kiev with the support of far-right and fascist forces. They said it was not “related to the Ukraine crisis”, but was a “relatively routine” occurrence. Such statements were flatly contradicted, however, by reports in the Daily Telegraph, which wrote: “Senior commanders have said they are prepared for such incidents to increase, if tensions over Ukraine flare further.” They occur as the Western-backed Kiev regime’s crackdown on pro-Russian protesters in eastern Ukraine is bringing Europe to the brink of war between Russia and Ukraine, and NATO builds up its military forces aimed at Russia throughout northern and eastern Europe.

BBC: RAF pilots up close to Russian bombers

xymphora ■ I've mentioned the American technique of regime change, which is to carpet bomb civilians in a country until the country's leader is forced to leave just to save lives. This has been applied in Serbia and Libya. Now we have the logical, if utterly psychopathic, conclusion, bomb Syria in order to force Putin to acquiesce to American plans for Ukraine:

1. "Stopping Russia Starts in Syria"
2. "Killing Syrians For Ukraine"
3. "'Bomb Syria…For Ukraine’s Sake!': The True Colors of the 'Humanitarian Interventionist' and 'Responsibility to Protect' Crowd"

The psycho is the aptly named Anne-Marie Slaughter, and if I lived in her neighborhood I'd have the police keep an eye on her lest she try to poison my cat or strangle my children. This is simply one of the most insane things anybody has ever written.

Former US drone operator Brandon Bryant says that he risks being killed by the US government if he decides to return to his country. “They could kill me if they want to, but when I go back home, I’m homeless, like I’m a disabled homeless veteran. I have no income. I’m nothing,” he told in an exclusive interview with Press TV. Bryant, who has operated drones from different US bases and flown them over several countries, attended a panel debate in Oslo which was followed by an exclusive pre-screening of a documentary about US drones. The Norwegian-produced documentary, DRONE, is the latest film on the US covert drone war and will be released this month.

NBC News: Former drone operator pretends to feel remorse for 1,600 deaths [06/08/13]

After being forced to vacate public lands by ranchers and peaceful protesters, Uncle Sam left the most disturbing calling card of all at the Bundy Ranch. This week farmers and public officials have unearthed more fresh evidence proving the existence of US taxpayer-funded mass animal graves – left behind at the Bureau of Land Management’s field operations compound. So far, it is believed a least a dozen previously healthy animals have been found either shot in the head, discarded and buried. [...] In addition to the livestock debacle, it is now conformed that the BLM had been systematically vandalizing and destroying water troughs on the ranch for the animals. It is not know when the orders were given to intentionally ruin the water supply and fences, but residents are now suspicious of the possibility that these orders may have been given after the BLM knew they would might be vacating the site prematurely – a spiteful move by a federal government in retreat (certainly be an interesting question for a grand jury hearing). To think, all of this, perpetrated under the BLM’s alleged banner as “conservationists” acting on behalf of US the Federal Government to save an endangered Desert Tortoise – who it turns out is now being euthanized by the very same government.

21st Century Wire: Chinese Takeaway: Globalist Gangsters Use Agenda 21 for Nevada Land Grabs

In a video that is quickly going viral, a shocked father recorded TSA agents giving his young children full-body pat-downs. His son was just two years old, while his daughter was six years old. ● In his recent post on YouTube, the angry father explained that he was selected "as usual" for extra security screening because of his name. Writing under the name "khanzahir100," he recalled that the TSA agents said the kids had to be patted down because they were in contact with him and he had been chosen for additional screening. The man accused the TSA agents of patting down his children and wife in a "very rude manner." The family involved has not identified themselves, and the exact date and location of the incident is unclear.

Carl Herman ■ Critical mass public-awakening of Americans to US “leaders’” unlawful and lie-started Wars of Aggression raises several related and OBVIOUS issues that must be resolved if the 99% are to end the 1%’s War Crimes:

● US corporate media was/is REQUIRED and criminally complicit to lie in omission and commission to “cover” these War Crimes from public recognition.
● Both US political parties were/are REQUIRED and criminally complicit to lie and vote for these War Crimes.
● “Developed” nations are criminally complicit in these War Crimes by direct participation and/or refusing to enforce war law to stop OBVIOUS unlawful and lie-started Wars of Aggression.