Ukraine: Dysfunctional Politics

Dysfunction Sidelines Ukraine’s Parliament as Governing Force,” is the title of an article published this week by The New York Times in one of the few political critiques that has appeared in the Western press recently. It took two years after the Russian invasion for the grace period of absence of political comments on the Ukrainian authorities to be broken, although always partially and only temporarily. It was the news that included Vitali Klitschko’s words against what he perceived as authoritarian drift that opened the door. Like the current information, that news also lacked the contextualization that politics requires, and it was left unmentioned that the criticism of the mayor of Kiev and the measures by which the protesters were part of a confrontation that went back almost to the beginnings of the presidency of Zelensky. The origin of the rivalry lies in the struggle for power and control of the resources of the State between the two protagonists. What is more, the attempt to Zelensky snatch administratively, the mayor of Kiev Klitschko, a man with powerful connections and political contacts, especially in Germany, is one of the examples that show that the authoritarian drift of Volodymyr Zelensky is not justified in the wartime situation today, but that precedes it in several years to the military intervention of Russia.

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Children and crocodile fountain – Railway station square – Stalingrad

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More on the USSR

Children and crocodile fountain – Railway station square – Stalingrad Barmaley Fountain

The Barmaley (Russian: Бармалей) is an informal name of a fountain in the city of Volgograd (formerly known as Stalingrad). Its official name is Children’s Khorovod (Round Dance). The statue is of a circle of six children dancing the khorovod around a crocodile. While the original fountain was removed in the 1950s, two replicas were installed in 2013.

Children and crocodile fountain – Railway station square – Stalingrad

Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?

As Congress debated Section 702 – the authority within the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that allows U.S. intelligence agencies to surveil foreign threats located abroad – the FBI solemnly informed lawmakers that the use of Section 702 is essential to allowing the bureau to catch domestic terror plots. In fact, the FBI claimed Section 702 was used to derail a “potentially imminent terrorist attack” against critical U.S. infrastructure.

Did the FBI Just Get Caught Lying to Congress About the Efficacy of “Backdoor Searches”?

Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks listed as ‘everyday American’ RNC speaker

Billionaire Diane Hendricks, one of the richest people in Wisconsin, will apparently be speaking as an “everyday American” when she takes the stage Thursday at the Republican National Convention.

Hendricks is the co-founder of ABC Supply, the largest wholesale distributor of roofing supplies and a major distributor of siding and windows in North America. She started the Beloit-based company in 1982 with her husband, Ken, and has been the chairwoman and sole owner since his death in 2007.

Wisconsin billionaire Diane Hendricks listed as ‘everyday American’ RNC speaker (archived)

By calling herself a self-made woman, Hendricks is discrediting her deceased husband! They made ABC Supply, together! She practically owns the City of Beloit. Housing is unaffordable due to the rapid pace of economic development.* When I lived in Beloit, in the late nineties, my rent was only $800 for a two-story, three-bedroom, two-bath home that I shared with two others and that was before I worked for General Motors. The minimum wage is still $7.25 in Wisconsin.

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In film, Walker talks of ‘divide and conquer’ union strategy

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Kylie Minogue: I Was Gonna Cancel

I Was Gonna Cancel:

Musically, the song is influenced by disco and funk, which noted similarities from William’s previous work and Daft Punk. Lyrically, the song was based on Kylie’s conception of having a bad day. “I Was Gonna Cancel” received positive reviews from music critics, many recognizing it as the more “interesting” song on the record and praised William’s production.

[2017] The Trump-Media Circus and Continuity of Agenda

The Trump-Media Circus and Continuity of Agenda

How the US Presidency Really Works


Imagine the United States is a corporation. It thus has a board of directors (Wall Street). It has a CEO (the US President). The candidates for CEO and the CEO are all chosen by the board of directors merely under the guise of “democratic elections.” The CEO then implements the desires of the unelected board of directors, serving also as a spokesperson for the board and a representative of the board’s overarching agenda.

This explains how, over the past 16 years from US President George Bush Jr. to now President-elect Donald Trump, singular agendas, including unending war in Iraq and Afghanistan, still rage and expanding confrontations with Russia, China, and Iran continue unabated regardless of who is president, and regardless of the alleged principles, political ideals, and campaign promises they respectively represented.

Rhetorically and ideologically, Presidents Bush Jr. and Obama could not have been any more diametrically opposed, yet the continuity of agenda from one 8-year administration to the other was almost seamless. Upon closer examination of the actual corporate-financier interests underpinning both presidencies’ policies, we find the same profiteering special interests and their agendas at play; from big-defense and big-auto to big-oil and mega-finance. From big-pharma to big-ag, and all of these industries sponsoring the same circle of “policy experts” within the halls of corporate-financier funded “think tanks.” 

The presidency of Donald Trump will be no different. There is nothing about either Trump or those he has surrounded himself with that makes him any more “independent” from the defacto “board of directors” that runs corporate America than the administrations of Bush or Obama.

Milwaukee Shipped in 4,500 Cops From Across the US to Suppress Protest at RNC + More

Contestations over the Republican National Committee’s efforts to foreclose avenues for lawful protest outside this week’s Republican National Convention (RNC) were already heated months before GOP delegates started booking their flights to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the convention.

Milwaukee Shipped in 4,500 Cops From Across the US to Suppress Protest at RNC

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Milwaukee officers will accompany all visiting police units after fatal shooting

Columbus police have killed more than 60 people since 2013

Columbus police shoot and kill more people than most of their peer cities, according to an analysis of police shootings data by the Columbus Dispatch, part of the USA TODAY Network.

ACLU of Wisconsin: Files open records requests seeking answers about police killing of Samuel Sharpe Jr.