Julia Davis

Russia continues to express its overt rejection of Western ideals, such as the freedom of press, speech and expression. While the civilized world mourned the victims of terrorist attacks in Paris, France, Russian media and politicians chose to blame the victims. They’ve emphasized the need for strict censorship andurged Russia to turn away from the West and to look inward. So far, it’s not a pretty sight. The Russian ministry of culture is proposing a decree that would ban the showing of any film that is perceived as denigrating the country’s national culture, threatening its national unity and undermining the foundations of the constitutional system. This would ban controversial films, such as Oscar-nominated “Leviathan” (the first Russian film to win a Golden Globe since “War and Peace” in 1969) from being shown in its native Russia. The pro-Kremlin political analyst Sergei Markov panned the film as “part of the new cold war the west is fighting against Russia … an anti-Russian ...

For decades, the Office of Special Counsel (OSC) exhibited about as much prowess as a backwards-facing rider going for a spin on a three-legged horse. Until recent appointment of the new Special Counsel, the rider had been headless to boot. Scott J. Bloch, the disgraced former head of the Office of Special Counsel (OSC), is finally set to be sentenced for some of his criminal activities on January 25, 2011. On April 27, 2010 Bloch pleaded guilty to criminal contempt of Congress. Based on his actions, Bloch could have been charged with obstruction of justice, evidence tampering, destruction of official files, impeding an official federal investigation, civil right violations, Hatch act violations and violations of the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA). Instead, he was charged only with criminal contempt (a misdemeanor). Under his leadership, the historically inept OSC reached new lows. In addition to his bigotry, Bloch became infamous for being the absolute antithesis o...