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Historically and intuitively, Russia has fought for the survival of humanity. Of course, things are not always pronounced or defined in such terms. However, already on several occasions, this enormous country has stood up against the most mighty and evil forces that have threatened the very survival of our Planet.

During the Second World War, the Soviet people, mainly Russians, sacrificed at least 25 million men, women and children, in the end defeating Nazism. No other country in modern history has undergone more.

Right after that victory, Russia, alongside China and later Cuba, embarked on the most awesome and noble project of …

Have you noticed that, when it comes to venturing into questions of “right” and “wrong,” recent U.S. presidents lapse awkwardly and uncomfortably into a kindergarten-level of discourse? Obama: “We tortured some folks… that was wrong”–but then, after all, the torturer-criminals were doing a “tough job” and had “good” intentions! Obama often hastily drops such moral considerations, a realm of discourse and reasoning in which he is plainly uncomfortable and noticeably vague. Examples abound, even of his confusion, when it comes to alluding to even clear-cut moral transgressions (e.g., Guantanamo): “That’s not who we are” (his favorite, …

I was a practicing lawyer for 28 years before being imprisoned in 1997 for 3 months for “criminal contempt of court.” In 1999 I was disbarred on the ground this particular conviction of a “crime” was so heinous, as to amount to “conduct unbecoming,” justifying that most extreme of available punishments.

I had asked the court to read a written application, advising the judge that if he were to proceed on the assumption he had jurisdiction, at least without addressing the constitutional law identified in the said application, that he would by operation of law alone have committed the constitutional crimes …

In its nine years of existence, WikiLeaks has become the first global 4th estate. Their 2008 release of the classified US military video documenting the slaying of Iraqi civilians in New Baghdad made the whistle-blowing site a household name. Despite the US government’s efforts to stop their publications, the organization has proven itself to be the most effective publisher of last resort, with over 10 million documents in their library and a perfect record of authenticity.

This year, their vitality shone more than ever, with the release of the texts of secret trade agreements like TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) and …

The global press has been heralding the December 13, 2015, vote in Saudi Arabia as a breakthrough for women, since it’s the first time in history that Saudi women have been allowed to vote. But is this vote really a significant step forward?

First let’s consider the Saudi electoral system within the context of an absolute monarchy. The ruler is always a male and inherits his position. All powerful government positions from ministers to governors are appointed by the King. The 150-member Consultative Council, known as the Shura Council, is also appointed and has only advisory power.

The recent …

Entering Columbia University is a dream come true and the first step in what I hope will be a fulfilling career. My time at Columbia undoubtedly represents one of the most eye-opening and stimulating periods of my life. Most of my peers were as ecstatic as I was when going through the gates of our Morningside Heights home for the first time. And yet, as fall finals loom just days away, some of our fellow students have suffered from tragic depression, going as far as attempting to take their own lives. When I learned that a close friend of mine …

After 14 people were killed and 22 more injured in the San Bernardino massacre by a couple whom authorities claim were “radicalized” by Islamist ideology, Islamophobia among the American public has seemingly reached a fever pitch. But while many people are fighting back against hateful discrimination against Muslims, many are doing so with a liberal narrative of American values that rationalizes and perpetuates American state violence, while failing to recognize this violence as its own form of extremism.

Since San Bernardino, hate crimes against Muslims have been widely reported across the country. In one week alone, a hijab-wearing woman …

Whenever possible I avoid eating at corporate chain restaurants, have never eaten at a Chipotle Mexican Grill, have no known friends or relatives employed by Chipotle, and own no stock in the company.  Big corporations are a lot like politicians.  They are required by corporate charter to have no hearts, no souls, and regardless of the business, their only motivation must be profit.  It’s what they do.  Public health and welfare be damned if it gets in the way.  But every now and then, a Paul Wellstone manages to get himself elected to public office, and in an equally rare occurrence, sometimes a corporate CEO will announce …

Murphy’s Law has found a permanent home in Fukushima: “Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.”

For instance, only recently, radioactive cesium in tunnels at Fukushima suddenly spiked by more than 4,000 times similar measurements from one year ago. This spooky/huge spike in radiation levels hit 482,000 Becquerels per liter. TEPCO intends to investigate the reason behind the enormous anomalous increase. ((“Radiation Spikes in Fukushima Underground Ducts,” NHK World, December 9, 2015.)) “Radiation Spikes in Fukushima Underground Ducts,” NHK World, December 9, 2015. Over the course of a year, 4,000 times anything probably is not good.

Not only that but the …

He’s “unhinged, offensive, reprehensible,” and “ridiculous.” His proposals are “unconstitutional.” He’s a “racist, xenophobic, religious bigot” who doesn’t understand “our laws” or “our history.” He must be rejected by all “real” Americans.

Wow. What accounts for such an emotional outburst from U.S. politicians and media commentators? Mostly it’s that Trump is not simply repeating focus-group tested sound-bites and bumper-sticker slogans pre-approved by slick media managers, but is saying what he actually thinks about the U.S. being subject to continual terrorist attacks by Muslim extremists. The proposals themselves leave much to be desired (he says nothing about U.S. foreign policy crimes continually …

In pondering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and in discussions I have had, I have found that very few people actually have a basic understanding of the conflict nor could they provide a definitions of the conflict even in rough approximating terms.

Thus one sometimes hears that it is all about Arab/Palestinian ‘terrorism’ and suicide bombings and the ultimate goal of the terrorists-Palestinians is to ‘push all the Jews into the sea, dead or alive” and that their motives are those of anti-Semitism and hatred of Jews. Those who hold this view see the conflict as one of the survival of the …

As a world community we have agreed that everyone has a right to a home, (article 25 of the UNDHR makes this clear), however, like many such ‘rights’ – food, adequate health care, good education for example, the ‘right’ to a home is dependent upon your ability to pay for that right.
Having spent almost two years sleeping on sofas, sharing beds and moving from one friends’ home to another, on Tuesday November 10th, Vera, an asylum seeker to the UK, and her three teenage children were made street homeless.
After waiting all day in Lambeth …

As an American, I am terrified of Muslims. And you should be, too.

That’s certainly what the media conveys. Every news source we encounter is debating whether we should trust or distrust “those” Muslims, as if over 2 billion people can be painted by a single brush.

Tonight, I confirmed the belief that we should remain terrified – though not in the way you may think. I visited a local Islamic Center in Washington, D.C. for an open discussion led by American-Muslims. The meeting’s topic was “self-care while dealing with trauma.” Interesting, I thought, as the entire nation is also discussing the …

Have you ever thought that who you are as a person is determined in part by the government you live under? Political philosophers have been considering such a possibility going all the way back to the early Greeks. Government shapes us either by engaging and empowering us through participation or by assuming all power unto itself and leaving us to go our separate ways alone and isolated.

Ambrogio Lorenzetti was a fourteenth-century Italian painter. Between 1338 and 1340, he painted a series of frescoes on three walls of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena. The panels are commonly known as “Allegory of …

Russia bombing Syria will lead to further radicalization and increased terrorism.
— Prime Minister David Cameron, October 4th, 2015.

How desperately Prime Minister Cameron has been yearning to bomb the Syrian Arab Republic.

In August 2013 when his aim was defeated in Parliament by a 285-272 vote, his vision of the UK joining US-led strikes bit the dust. His dreams of illegally joining the bigger bully and bombing an historic nation of just 22.85 million people (2013 figures) three and a half thousand kilometers away, posing no threat to Britain, was thwarted.

The US threw a conciliatory bone to the snarling Cameron and …