Tag: Russian President Vladimir Putin

How Russian, American And European Information Warfare Persuades With Emotions

Tony Wyman
image pastiche of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin flanked by Peter the Great and Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin

by Kseniya Kirillova As Russian propaganda and disinformation spread around the world, more and more initiatives  are being created to expose the lies and distortions emanating from the Kremlin: projects to expose fake news, analytical centres that review and monitor disinformation campaigns, and many private initiatives to observe Russian media. However, experts increasingly acknowledge that despite all these efforts, Kremlin propaganda remains a very effective tool of information warfare – much more effective than its Soviet predecessor. In many respects, this difference is explained by the fact that, unlike Communist propaganda, today’s Kremlin’s ‘information operations’ do not need…

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The Magnitsky Act – Why Vladimir Putin Wants To Get Bill Browder In His Clutches

Richard Cameron

by Richard Cameron   Editor’s Note:  Legal theory recognizes that there are three essential components to establishing that a person or organization has committed a crime and that must be established when prosecuting the defendants in court – means, motive and opportunity. Most articles have delved into the opportunity and means involved in the coordination and cooperation between members of Trump’s campaign, family members and likely, Trump himself, with a foreign power, Russia, to subvert our election process. Less examination and focus has centered on the motive behind it.  Although…

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The GOP Congress’ Disgraceful And Desperate Peter Strzok Hearing

Richard Cameron

by Richard Cameron   It’s indisputable that much of what takes place in congressional hearings have a partisan edge to them. It is essentially baked in the cake. That is to be expected. Seldom, however, will you see a hearing like the one conducted yesterday on Capitol Hill, in which a witness is subjected to scurrilous and indecent character attacks, the likes of which Donald Trump engages in on a daily basis and which the self same legislative thugs alternately excuse, deflect and remain silent on as frequently.  Spanning close…

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Why Did Justice Kennedy Retire Now? – The More Or Less Likely Answers

Tony Wyman
Donald Trump and outgoing Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy at public event

by Tony Wyman For the only perceived swing-vote justice on the United States Supreme Court to suddenly announce his retirement just months before the crucial November elections couldn’t be worse news for Democrats hoping a Blue Wave is going wash away Republican majorities in the House and Senate. Now, thanks to the opening Justice Anthony Kennedy has made, the GOP has an argument to make to get right-wing and center-right voters to the polls in November: turn out to vote so we can get a conservative judge on the Court.…

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Is Roger Stone About To Flip On Trump?

Tony Wyman
Trump operative Roger Stone striking Nixon pose

by Tony Wyman Last week, President Donald J. Trump issued a presidential pardon for Dinesh D’Souza, the polarizing  maker of films promoting dubiously documented conspiracy theories, for the crime of using a “straw donor” to make a felonious political contribution to the failed 2012 campaign of Republican Senate candidate Wendy Long. “I’ve always felt he was very unfairly treated,” the president said to reporters as he headed to Texas on Air Force One. “And a lot of people did, a lot of people did. What should have been a quick minor…

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Konstantin Rykov – The Pimp Who Taught Vladimir Putin How To Troll The Internet

Tony Wyman
photo of Konstantin Rykov loitering on a Moscow street with a group of associates

by Tony Wyman “Trump will smash America as we know it, we’ve got nothing to lose.”   How did the Russian government of President Vladimir Putin grow so talented at trolling Americans on social media?  They learned it from a Russian internet pioneer named Konstantin Rykov. Who is Mr. Rykov?  He is the founder of a number of lurid websites like Idiot.ru, where he made a fortune posting pictures of scantily-clad women, telling dirty jokes and posting clickbait stories designed to titillate easily impressionable readers.  In other words, a trashy…

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As Long As Assad Remains In Power, The West Is Losing In Syria

Tony Wyman
photo image of bombed out apartments and buildings in the suburbs of Damascus.

by Tony Wyman Assad will remain in control of Syria – Missile strikes or not   President Trump rightly called Syrian dictator Bashar Al-Assad a monster. That is precisely what the tyrant is, an evil man with no conscience who deserves to meet a bloody end at the hands of his own people. While last night’s strikes degraded his ability, we’ve been told, to use chemical weapons such as Chlorine gas, to murder more helpless children in his country, it did nothing at all to remove Mr. Assad from power. What…

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The Manafort Indictment Is Ominous News For Trump Inc., But So Is George Papadapoulos

Richard Cameron
photo collage of Donald Trump and recently indicted former campaign chief Paul Manafort

by Richard Cameron   Now that the official news is that former Trump campaign boss Paul Manafort and his associate Rick Gates have been charged in a sealed indictment, we take a look at all this from 30,000 feet. What are the implications? If you ask President Trump – there aren’t any: At face value, you would think Trump believes today’s announcement from the office of Special Counsel Robert Mueller is the end of the matter. He doesn’t believe that and no one with any sense believes that. The tweets…

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Communication Breakdown – The Trump Administration’s Policy Messaging Disconnect

Richard Cameron
the eponymous photo taken at the moment of the historic Hindenburg disaster - the explosion of the Hindenburg dirigible, so well known as the visual representation of the British hard rock supergroup Led Zeppelin

by Richard Cameron Communication Breakdown – it’s always the same… Since Trump’s swearing in as president, he has consistently issued public messages, mostly through social media avenues that contradict those of his cabinet officials and even the men and women  in the White House communications office, whose task it is to disseminate orderly and consonant information to the public through the press, radio and television. This week has been remarkable in that respect. Secretary of State, Rex Tillerson reported that he had embarked on a diplomatic initiative involving private talks…

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Donald Trump’s Buyer’s Remorse In New York Times Interview – Now He’d Like To Jam Sessions

Richard Cameron
Senator Jeff Sessions arrives before the 58th Presidential Inauguration Parade at the White House reviewing stand in Washington D.C., Jan. 20, 2017. More than 5,000 military members from across all branches of the armed forces of the United States, including Reserve and National Guard components, provided ceremonial support and Defense Support of Civil Authorities during the inaugural period. (DoD Photo by Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Dominique A.

by Richard Cameron President Trump now feels like he got taken by the car dealer. He thought he was getting a fleet of  lap dogs and what he finds he actually has is a herd of independent minded cats. Reports from the Washington Post that surfaced in mid June, indicated that White House insiders were hearing Trump rant about various individuals in his cabinet, mostly in the Justice Department and particular among them, Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Those reports, as most all reports coming from the ‘mainstream media’, were quickly…

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