Society's Child
It makes me dizzy just to think of all the crimes that have been laid at that particular doorstep. I could spend the rest of this column simply listing them, from the deaths of numerous Russian journalists to the extinction of Hillary Clinton's presidential ambitions - that and so much more! The omnipotent Russian President has apparently poisoned so many Russian expatriates in Britain that the streets are awash in polonium, novichok, and god knows what else. Why, it only took a few thousand bucks spent on some Facebook ads that practically no one saw to steal the presidential election from the rightful winner. Vlad the Bad is the all-powerful villain at the center of so many sinister conspiracies that it's hard to keep track of them.
The anti-Russian campaign that the media has been hyping ever since Trump took office isn't anything new. Those of us born during the cold war years - the first cold war, that is - remember all too well the atmosphere of hysteria and unreason that prevailed in those days. The fear of Communist agents under every bed was exploited by the War Party to no end - no good end, that is - and one would've thought that the collapse of communism and the end of the cold war would put a stop to it.

Plaintiff Dewayne Johnson leaves the courtroom after hearing the verdict to his case against Monsanto at the Superior Court of California in San Francisco on Aug. 10.
The jury ruled that the plaintiff, Dewayne "Lee" Johnson, developed cancer from repeated exposure toRoundup, Monsanto's widely used glyphosate-based weedkiller, and ordered the company to pay $289 million in damages.
The landmark jury ruling, which could open the door for roughly 4,000 similar U.S. lawsuits against Monsanto, sparked outcry around the world.
The travel company took the decision to evacuate its remaining customers at the Red Sea resort "as a precaution" following the deaths of John and Susan Cooper.
The couple, from Burnley, Lancashire, were on holiday at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada with their daughter, Kelly Ormerod, and her three children when tragedy struck.
Describing the "horrendous ordeal", Mrs Ormerod said her parents "had no health problems at all" before their holiday, adding that the family are in "utter shock" as they await results of post-mortem examinations.
As the cause of their deaths is investigated, Mrs Ormerod reportedly told local officials she believes an alleged faulty air conditioning unit might have been involved in her parents falling ill.
The first operation took place late Friday, August 17, when soldiers secured a Cessna plane with approximately 470 kilograms of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl in a remote area known as the San Fernando Canyon, according to local reports.
Personnel of the II Military Region were dispatched to search for an aircraft spotted in the area when they came upon an abandoned white Cessna.
Curling flames could be seen erupting from the Central Bank's building, located in central Moscow, photos from the scene show. The fire was likely caused by a short-circuit, TASS reported, citing a source from the emergency services.
As the fire broke out, ten people left the building ahead of the emergency crews' arrival.

Svetlana Evai , in the middle, pictures soon after she was found in tundra by her uncle.
A major search in the north of Gydan peninsula found the schoolgirl alive but needing urgent medical care in a 'grave' condition.
She was flown by a search helicopter to a local hospital.
Despite suffering from exposure medics said 'her vital organs are safe' and 'there is no threat to her life'.
'Her blood pressure and heart beat are stable,' said Eldar Faradjev, chief doctor of Tazovsky central hospital.
Comment: Tales of youngsters going missing in Russia's harshest areas don't appear to be such a rare occurrence. In this instance, it probably helped that the girl had a good knowledge of the region and knew how to look after herself:
- Russia: Two boys get lost in woods, take watch shifts and cuddle with dogs to survive night in below freezing temps (PHOTOS)
- Puppy helps find 4yo girl lost in Siberia for almost 2 weeks
- Missing 411? 21-year-old man goes missing after leaving house party in Sun Peaks, BC
- Missing 411?: Boy, six, who disappeared while on holiday with his family is found after THREE DAYS wandering in Azerbaijani forest
- Missing 411? Woman presumed dead after being swept out to sea found 18 months later wearing the same clothes
- Missing 411: Alabama 3-year-old found after local hero drives 2 hours to search for her
- Missing 411: How 1,600 people went missing from public lands without a trace
Funai, or Brazil's government agency for the protection of indigenous people, on Tuesday released the aerial images.
The footage was taken in the innermost region of Brazil's Amazon close to the border with Peru.
The video shows tribespeople walking through jungle, carrying what appears to be a bow and arrow.
Researchers at Funai who have been monitoring isolated tribes in the region say they believe the group in the new footage has never been seen before.
Comment: See also:
- Brazil's 'Uncontacted' Amazon Tribe Attacked by Drug Gang
- Existence of Uncontacted Amazon Tribe Confirmed
- First film footage of remote Amazon rainforest tribe
- After Attack, Reclusive Amazon Tribe Feared Missing
- Massive Amazon wildfire destroys forest in Brazil and threatens uncontacted tribe
According to Yoruk Isik of the Bosphorus Observer, three Russian ships recently sailed through the Bosphorus Strait towards Syria's territorial waters.
The three ships were identified Isik as the BSF Krivak Class frigate Pytlivy, the BSF Tapir class LST Orsk, and the BSF Tapir class LST Nikolay Filchenkov.
Germany's army has "big gaps" in its personnel, Parliamentary Armed Forces Commissioner Hans-Peter Bartels warned last February in a damning report on the condition of the military. He called for reforms to be implemented with "greater urgency."
As part of efforts to boost its personnel from the current 179,000 to 198,000 by 2024, Germany's army - or Bundeswehr - has been using YouTube ads to attract under-18s. This is despite already being called out by the United Nations back in 2014 over its "specific targeting of children" in advertising.
The ads feature on the army's YouTube channel, which boasts more than 300,000 viewers, and have garnered a total of 64 million views. They promise to give behind-the-scene footage of what it's like to be a young soldier in the army.
Pope Francis's planned weekend visit to Ireland for the World Meeting of Families comes at a tumultuous time for the Catholic Church around the globe.
Last week's grand jury report out of Pennsylvania, uncovering years of child sexual abuse at the hands of hundreds of priests across the state, is the latest entry in a laundry list of scandals that have rocked church leaders and parishioners in recent years. In Ireland, historically among the most Catholic countries in the world, churchgoers are experiencing their own nationwide reckoning with sexual abuse of children by priests and a subsequent, systematic cover-up that allowed such abuse to happen.
Comment: According to the recent grand jury report of six dioceses in Pennsylvania, over a period of 70 years, 300 priests abused over 1,000 children in Pennsylvania and church officials repeatedly covered it up. See also:
The grand jury report about Catholic priest abuse in Pennsylvania shows the church is a criminal syndicate: 'It is time to face the horrible truth: The Catholic church is a pedophile ring'.
The embattled pope's visit comes less than a week after he issued a 2,000-word apology for the church's role in the international sex abuse crisis. Though critics say his missive lacked concrete solutions for dealing with this crisis, it'll be his first opportunity to make public amends with Catholics both in Ireland and around the world. But sex abuse is not the only issue that will be on Irish Catholics' minds as the pope makes his arrival.
The past few years have seen this once-devout country shaken by a series of scandals within the Catholic Church, including the revelations of forced labor and systemic physical abuse at many of the country's Catholic orphanages and care homes. Meanwhile, the country has, in recent years, become increasingly secular and liberal, countering traditional, conservative Catholic social policy.
A country in which divorce, homosexuality, and abortion were all illegal has now transformed into the first country in Europe to legalize same-sex marriage by referendum. It is a country that overturned its historic abortion ban just a few months ago, something that would have been all but unthinkable one generation ago. If one thing is clear, it's that the Ireland of 2018 is not the Ireland of nearly four decades ago, when Pope John Paul II became the first sitting pope to visit the country.













Comment: Also see: Grand Deception: The Strangulation of the Russian Economy in the 1990s Was a Deliberate IMF Policy