Julia Davis

The recent performance of “Iolanta” at the Met was outshined by the high-spirited protests, accompanying Russian Conductor Valery Gergiev’s and opera singer Anna Netrebko’s performances in the West. Mariinsky theater musicians callously asked protesting Ukrainian artists: “When will you all die already [expletive]?” and exclaimed “Alaska will also be ours!” (play on words for the Russia’s distasteful annexation slogan, “Crimea is ours!”) Undeterred, protesters put on quite a show, inside and outside of the Met. Dressed in colorful costumes, they reenacted Anna Netrebko’s ill-fated donation to the sanctioned separatist leader, Oleg Tsarov. While the protesters’ musical act and a political message was a resounding success, critics lambasted Gergiev’s barely-rehearsed productions. They were also far from impressed with Netrebko’s waning vocal chops. A review of “Iolanta” bemoaned her poor performance: “Maybe it’s sentimentality that’s kept this role in Netrebko’s repertoire, because a...

This week’s abhorrent terror attacks in France outraged people around the world, prompting them to rally in defiance against those behind this attack on free speech. Twitter was ablaze with more than 5 million Tweets bearing #JeSuisCharlie hashtag, with some glaring exceptions. Chief among them is Russia, where the hashtag clearly didn’t catch on. The issue, however, goes much deeper. Russian politicians, religious organizations and public figures largely blamed the victims of the attack for having brought these acts upon themselves. Today, Russian police detained activists for holding up signs that said “Je Suis Charlie,” clearly demonstrating the official position against Charlie Hebdo. The controversial newspaper published irreverent cartoons poking fun at Russia’s lies and hypocrisy with respect to its unlawful annexation of Crimea and covert activities in Ukraine. Continue reading:  http://www.juliadavisnews.com/articles-about-russia/russia-takes-the-wrong-side-in-th...

Recently released Senate Intelligence Committee's report on CIA torture featured a key character in the agency’s string of horrific misdeeds. Alfreda Frances Bikowsky is a career CIA officer, who remains in a senior position at the agency, having headed the Bin Laden Issue Station (also known as its code name, Alec Station) and the Global Jihad unit. She is a former Soviet analyst, who has worked in the CIA's Counterterrorist Center and in the Al Qaeda unit since the mid-1990s. While the agency refuses to publicly name Bikowsky, her name was deduced by Salon reporters Rory O'connor and Ray Nowosielski, as well as a contemporary historian Kevin Fenton, in 2011. Bikowsky had been referenced in Jane Mayer’s book “The Dark Side,” by her middle name, Frances. As a supervisor and an analyst in the pre-911 world, Bikowsky dropped the ball when the CIA was given information that might very well have prevented the 9/11 attacks. Continue reading:  http://www.examiner.com/article/...

On December 16, 2014, President Obama signaled his intent to sign newly passed legislation that will expand sanctions against Russia and provide $350 million in arms and military equipment to Ukraine, as it continues to battle terrorist elements armed and empowered by Russia in eastern regions of Ukraine. “The president does intend to sign the piece of legislation that was passed by Congress,” said Josh Earnest, the White House press secretary.” Analysts opined that President Obama had little choice but to sign the legislation, in light of Putin’s outright aggression. Russia has continued to violate the terms of a Minsk agreement by providing military and material support to the terrorists/separatists in Ukraine. Obama is expected to sign the new legislation by the end of this week. On November 17, 2014, the Metropolitan Opera finally responded to an inquiry about their upcoming opera performances starring Anna Netrebko - opera singer who landed herself in hot water, whe...

According to opera singer Anna Netrebko's website, on December 9, 2014, Austrian Airlines was scheduled to launch a new advertising campaign, featuring Netrebko and Austrian Olympic gold medal-winning downhill skier Matthias Mayer. The campaign would run in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Switzerland. In a gut-wrenching irony, Anna Netrebko is also a staunch supporter of the pro-Russian terrorists in Ukraine – the same band of rogues responsible for the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. On December 8, 2014, terrorist leader, pig farmer and a disgraced former MP Oleg Tsarov gleefully reported that Netrebko “accepted the flag of Novorossiya.” The nonexistent republic the terrorists strive to carve out of the Ukrainian land is the proverbial meat grinder, where “rebels” armed by Russia fight without a cause. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov described the beleaguered region as a festering sore, but disingenuously blamed the West for the continued bloodshed. C...

On November 17, 2014, Heather Elizabeth Coffman, 29 of Henrico County, Virginia, made her first appearance in U.S. District Court in Richmond. She is charged with making a false statement regarding an offense involving international or domestic terrorism. According to an affidavit filed by an FBI agent,  Coffman promoted ISIS on several Facebook accounts she maintained under various aliases. Court documents also accuse her of offering to help an undercover FBI agent connect with the terrorist group in Syria. When she was questioned by the authorities, Coffman lied, denying that she engaged in these activities. Mark Henry Schmidt, Coffman’s defense attorney, said that his client was born and raised in the United States, lived with her parents and cared for her 7-year-old child. He seemed to blame the case on “Facebook going badly.” The FBI’s investigation of Coffman commenced when agents took note of her Facebook postings and sought search warrants to access her various account...

On October 10, 2014, Rasmieh Yousef Odeh, 66, was convicted on immigration fraud charges for failing to disclose terrorism conviction to immigration officials. According to the indictment, Odeh was convicted in Israel for her role in the 1969 bombings of a supermarket and the British Consulate in Jerusalem. Those bombings were carried out on behalf of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine ("PFLP"), a designated terrorist organization. Odeh and her co-conspirators placed multiple bombs at the British Consulate and in a supermarket. One of the bombs placed at the supermarket detonated, killing two people and injuring several others. A bomb placed at the British Consulate caused structural damage to the facility. Israeli military authorities sentenced Odeh to life imprisonment, but she was released after serving 10 years, as part of a prisoner exchange. After her release, Odeh returned to the West Bank. In 1995, Odeh immigrated to the United States, in spite of her...

On October 27, 2014, American Airlines Flight 136 to London is set to depart at 7:50 p.m., after Sunday’s flight out of Los Angeles International Airport was cancelled . A passenger's phone picked up a WiFinetwork named "Al-Quida Free Terror," prompting massive overreaction. After the passenger informed the flight crew, the plane was returned to the terminal at a remote part of the airport. LAX police officers boarded the plane and investigated the incident, telling passengers to turn off their electronic devices. Passengers were initially told that it was a maintenance issue. An hour later, they were informed that “there was a security threat” and the plane didn’t have clearance to take off. Passengers were kept onboard for several hours, only to find out that the flight was being delayed until the next day. Officials determined that no crime had been committed and no further action will be taken, LAX Police Sgt. Karla Ortiz said. "Passengers were interviewed ...

In the new edition of its digital magazine, ISIS attempts to justify kidnapping non-Muslim women and turning them into sex slaves. The article, " The Revival of Slavery Before the Hour ," claims that forcing women to become concubines and sex slaves is acceptable in the days leading up to the Judgment Day. CNN reports that the rationalization for a return to slavery coincided with the release of a Human Rights Watch (HRW) report on crimes committed by ISIS, which describes the Islamic State’s brutality towards their captives. A litany of horrific crimes includes forced marriage, sexual assault and slavery, with children amongst the victims. The twisted publication of the group's English-language digital magazine called "Dabiq" threatens, “We will conquer your Rome, break your crosses, and enslave your women." ISIS claims that “enslaving the families of the [infidels] and taking their women as concubines is a firmly established aspect of Shariah th...

On September 25, 2014, Alton Nolen , who recently converted to Islam, burst into a Moore, Oklahoma food distribution center and savagely beheaded his 54-year-old co-worker, Colleen Hufford . He proceeded to attack and stab another female 43-year-old, Traci Johnson. Before he could behead his second intended victim, Nolen was non-fatally shot by a CEO/off-duty reserve sheriff's deputy, Mark Vaughan. Nolen had been in prison until March 2013, for possession of a controlled substance, escaping confinement and resisting an officer. It is unknown at this point whether the food processing plant was aware of Nolen’s criminal history at the time he was hired to work there. He was reportedly fired shortly before the gruesome attack. Before losing his job, Nolen had been actively trying to convert co-workers to Islam. Continue reading: http://www.examiner.com/list/oklahoma-beheading-warning-signs-alton-nolen-s-social-media-postings

Putin’s house of cards continues to fall apart, one Joker at a time. The West assumes that the game of strip poker will eventually shame Russia into curtailing its activities, failing to realize that Emperor Putin is a nudist. Like any good Chekist, he is largely devoid of shame or conscience. Russia cannot be understood according to the Western system of values, for it does not seek to be liked, trusted or respected. Putin’s Russia wants only to be feared. The West is likewise incorrect in assuming that the majority of Russians are zombified into supporting aggression against Ukraine. Many of them fully realize that Russian mainstream media is broadcasting blatant lies. They’re willing to reiterate and disseminate deliberately false statements in a misguided belief that in doing so, they’re helping Mother Russia to counter Western propaganda. The Red Cross has made a confidential legal assessment that Ukraine is officially in a war. This determination opens the door to possi...

The tragic downing of a Malaysian passenger plane sent Putin’s elaborate propaganda machine into overdrive, ultimately causing it to unravel. The evidence points overwhelmingly at the terrorists , whose leaders are Russian citizens, current and former members of the Russian armed forces and FSB. In the past, their presence on the frontlines alongside the terrorists in Ukraine provided valuable advantage to the Russian media outlets. They were typically the first on the scene, filming the footage that would be shown on Russian television in short order. This powerful sword of immediate access to live events finally cut the other way on July 17, 2014. Russian media and the terrorists themselves were caught red-handed in making numerous misrepresentations and outright fabrications, intended to override their own previous admissions. Here is a collection of the most outrageous lies with respect to the shooting down of the Malaysia airliner . Continue reading:  http://www...

The Justice Department announced that aspiring terrorist Hosam Maher Husein Smadi was sentenced to 24 years in prison for trying to blow up a Dallas skyscraper in 2009. He pleaded guilty on May 26, 2010, to one count of attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. Smadi, who was 19 years old at the time, came to the attention of the FBI through his writings on a radical Islamic website. Special Agent Tom Petrowski, who oversaw the investigation out of the FBI’s Dallas office, said that Smadi “ was on a very extreme website, where people were saying a lot of unspeakable things, endorsing and celebrating acts of violence against U.S. citizens and our allies .” Petrowski added, “ What made Smadi’s postings stand out from the other rhetoric was that he was saying, ‘I want to act.’ That’s what really got our attention. Smadi wanted to imitate 9/11 and bring down a skyscraper and kill thousands of people. And he was already in the country. He said he just needed the tools—essentially he...