Recent events, such as the overthrow of the government in Ukraine, the secession of Crimea and its decision to join the Russian Federation, the subsequent military campaign against civilians in Eastern Ukraine, western sanctions against Russia, and, most recently, the attack on the ruble, have caused a certain phase transition to occur within Russian society, which, I believe, is very poorly, if at all, understood in the west. This lack of understanding puts Europe at a significant disadvantage in being able to negotiate an end to this crisis.

Whereas prior to these events the Russians were rather content to consider themselves "just another European country," they have now remembered that they are a distinct civilization, with different civilizational roots (Byzantium rather than Rome) - one that has been subject to concerted western efforts to destroy it once or twice a century, be it by Sweden, Poland, France, Germany, or some combination of the above. This has conditioned the Russian character in a specific set of ways which, if not adequately understood, is likely to lead to disaster for Europe and the world.

Lest you think that Byzantium is some minor cultural influence on Russia, it is, in fact, rather key. Byzantine cultural influences, which came along with Orthodox Christianity, first through Crimea (the birthplace of Christianity in Russia), then through the Russian capital Kiev (the same Kiev that is now the capital of Ukraine), allowed Russia to leapfrog across a millennium or so of cultural development. Such influences include the opaque and ponderously bureaucratic nature of Russian governance, which the westerners, who love transparency (if only in others) find so unnerving, along with many other things. Russians sometimes like to call Moscow the Third Rome - third after Rome itself and Constantinople - and this is not an entirely empty claim. But this is not to say that Russian civilization is derivative; yes, it has managed to absorb the entire classical heritage, viewed through a distinctly eastern lens, but its vast northern environment has transformed that heritage into something radically different.

Since this subject is of overwhelming complexity, I will focus on just four factors, which I find essential for understanding the transformation we are currently witnessing.

Students at Crivitz High School will face drug tests throughout the new school year. Administrators say that the tests will be carried out at "random" but many suspect that particular students will be targeted, based on their appearances, while others will be left alone.

"The last couple years, I've noticed here in the high school we've started to get a growing drug problem, I think we've always kind of had a drug problem here in Marinette County," Crivitz High School Athletic Director, Jeff Dorschner said.

"More or less, identifying the problem, getting the parents involved, getting our counselors involved and providing a way for students to get back on the right track," Dorschner added.

Normally, the school would be prohibited from these sorts of "random" drug tests, without probable cause. But the administrators found a loophole.

A former Fairfax County police officer was charged with second-degree murder Monday, nearly two years after he shot and killed an unarmed Springfield man who stood with his hands raised in the doorway of his home.

The indictment of Adam D. Torres in the killing of 46-year-old John Geer, who had a holstered gun at his feet when he was shot, marks the first time in the 75-year history of the Fairfax County Police Department that an officer has faced criminal prosecution in connection with an on-duty shooting.

Geer's slaying in August 2013 sparked protests, shook trust in law enforcement and prompted county officials to begin a broad review of the department's use of force and the way it communicates with the public about police shootings.

"Justice is prevailing," said Don Geer, John Geer's father. "I figured it was going to eventually happen. It's unfortunate we had to wait so long for it to take place. But our judicial system is going through its process, and we will see justice served."

For the last several years, cities across the United States have responded to the problem of homelessness in the way governments tend to tackle dilemmas: by criminalizing the undesired behavior. In addition to banning feeding those without shelter (in some cases criminalizing the elderly for doing so), local governments have outright banned the homeless from sleeping or panhandling in public. Now, however, the Department of Justice is arguing that it is unconstitutional to bar the homeless from sleeping outside.

In a statement of interest filed this week in a little-known Idaho case on the subject, the DOJ explained its position:

"When adequate shelter space exists, individuals have a choice about whether or not to sleep in public. However, when adequate shelter space does not exist, there is no meaningful distinction between the status of being homeless and the conduct of sleeping in public. Sleeping is a life-sustaining activity—i.e., it must occur at some time in some place. If a person literally has nowhere else to go, then enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance against that person criminalizes her for being homeless," it reads.

Why does the Russian media seem to be far more on the ball than the mainstream media in the United States much of the time? Could it be possible that Russian reporters have more freedom to talk about important issues than reporters that work for the major corporate conglomerates in the United States do? Of course the Russian media is far from perfect. They put out pro-Russian propaganda just like the U.S. media puts out pro-American propaganda. But I must admit that I often find that Russian news sources are willing to tackle controversial issues that the mainstream media in the United States would not touch with a ten foot pole. This includes the critical events that are coming up this September.

Even after everything that has been said and written in the alternative media about what is going to happen during September, most Americans are still completely ignorant about the history changing events that are going to take place next month.

First of all, the most important template for global governance that the United Nations has ever dreamed up is going to be launched at a major conference from September 25th to September 27th. The launching of this "new universal agenda" is such an important event that the Pope is going to be traveling to New York City to give the address that will kick off this conference. This new plan is known as "the 2030 Agenda", and it is being called "Agenda 21 on steroids". This is one of the most significant steps toward global government in the history of the world, and yet the mainstream media in the United States is saying virtually nothing about it.

A Jackson man is facing charges after allegedly sexually assaulting a child.

Jeffery B. Moffat, 55, has been charged with first-degree statutory rape and first-degree statutory sodomy involving a 7-year-old.

Moffat allegedly "knowingly had sexual intercourse" and "deviate sexual intercourse" with the girl, according to the complaint filed in the case. The incidents are alleged to have taken place between Aug. 1, 2014, and Jan. 31, 2015, in Cape Girardeau County.

St. Louis Iron Mountain & Southern Railway president Cheryl Huffman said Moffat has volunteered at the railway and portrayed its Santa Claus for almost 20 years.

Huffman said, however, she doesn't believe Moffat would be capable of what he is accused.

"I've known Jeffrey for 25 years, and I just don't believe that a person could snap and change overnight," she said. "He's just such a giving, kind person." She described him as a kind of "Southern gentleman."

Huffman said the train's Santa runs begin the first weekend after Thanksgiving and estimates 1,100 children visited Santa at the railway last year.

"And our reservations are full on [the] Santa trains," Huffman said.

Huffman said the incidents with the girl are alleged to have happened at Moffat's home. But, she said, he had lived in Fruitland with several other people and had often told her how busy the house was. She said she didn't know when Moffat would have had the opportunity to commit the crimes he is accused of while so many people were at the house.

Almost 2 million people in California and the Midwest live on aquifer sites which have up to 180 times the safe level of uranium, according to a recent study by US researchers.

Some 275,000 groundwater samples were taken for evaluation, and it turns out that many Americans live about a kilometer from wells that are uranium-polluted, scientists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln discovered.

Seventy-eight percent of the pollution comes from nitrate, the contaminator deriving from chemical fertilizers and animal waste. Nitrates oxidize uranium, making it soluble in groundwater. The aquifers are under the rich soil layer, which is fertilized by nitrates. That's when they get to the aquifers.

"It needs to be recognized that uranium is a widespread contaminant.

It took 14 San Francisco Police Department officers to take down and restrain a one-legged, black homeless man, armed with crutches and apparently dangerous. The incident is the latest embarrassment for the US police, who face constant accusations of unreasonable use of force.

The confrontation was captured on video released by journalist Chaedria LaBouvier via blog platform Medium, and shows white police officers taking down a one-legged homeless black man on the city's central Market street. According to witnesses, police were called in to the scene to take care of a suspicious man waving some "sticks" around.

The video of the incident which happened on August 4, shows the extent of humiliation and brute force exercised immediately after the man was wrestled to the ground by SFPD officers. As the disabled male struggles to move, cops pin him down.

"These are my crutches. I use these to walk," the man tried to explain. But even after realizing that the man had a prosthetic leg, the police continued to use overwhelming physical restrain and man-handled him, forcing his head to the ground.

In further efforts to subdue a man already on the ground with four people on top of him, the officers stood on his prosthetic leg and "twisted it around even after they had cuffed him and pinned him to the piss-stained concrete," LaBouvier noted.

Beaten to the ground, the suspect at one point said, "what the f**k is you doing this to me?" as more officers arrived to form a cordon around the incident area. "Is this respectable? When I say 'no', is this what you do to me?" the man said.

Inmates in a Tennessee jail are being used as slave labor to benefit the private company belonging to detention center employees, two former prisoners claim. They waited until they were released to speak out, fearing recriminations beforehand.

Larry Stephney and Charles Brew both worked in the building trades department while serving time at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility in Nashville, Tennessee. There, they told AP, they were forced to build items without pay for a company called Stand Firm Designs.

That woodworking company is operated by Rob Hill, a building trades instructor at the Metro-Davidson County Detention Facility; Steven Binkley, a computer instructor who works out of a room adjoining the woodworking shop; and Roy Napper, who formerly worked at the jail, AP reported.

"Stand Firm Designs is composed of retired contractors with over 100 years of combined experience. We design and construct decks, gazebos and storage sheds to your specifications," a cached version of the company's website said. "We are a Christian based organization located in the greater Nashville area."

Police in Allentown, Pennsylvania were caught on video assaulting and arresting a man who was singing in a public place. The encounter came on the heels of a separate police-brutality incident in Allentown that surfaced last week.

In the video, Jim Ochse, described by The Morning Call as a 61-year-old self-employed athletic trainer, is seen singing a Beach Boys song in a public area of downtown Allentown near the Strata Luxury Flats apartment building, outside of Shula's, a pricey steakhouse. A police officer approaches Ochse. Their conversation escalates quickly, as Ochse seems to insist he has the right to sing.

When two suited security guards enter the scene, Ochse points to them and the officer, saying to each, "You get out of here," as he starts walking in the opposite direction. The officer stops him, eventually throwing him to the ground, Ochse screaming in pain and pleading for mercy.

Among his pleas, the man says he has permission from the Allentown Police Department to sing in the area.