Carl Herman ■ There is evil, and then there’s organized evil. This is a memorial outside the village where my brother lives in the south of France. It is a typical village, quite small, perhaps a few hundred residents. The memorial commemorates three young French civilians who were taken out and shot by Nazi soldiers, either for “crimes” of resistance or perhaps as a “lesson” to the restive civilian populace. The German soldiers who pulled the triggers were of course “just following orders.” [...] But to be part of large-scale organized evil, people need to surrender their autonomy under threat, and be ordered by a central authority.

Paul Craig Roberts ■ Lincoln forever destroyed states’ rights, but the suspension of habeas corpus and free speech that went hand in hand with America’s three largest wars was lifted at war’s end. However, President George W. Bush’s repeal of the Constitution has been expanded by President Obama and codified by Congress and executive orders into law. Far from defending our liberties, our soldiers who died in “the war on terror” died so that the president can indefinitely detain US citizens without due process of law and murder US citizens on suspicion alone without any accountability to law or the Constitution. As Alexander Solzhenitsyn said, “A state of war only serves as an excuse for domestic tyranny.” - The conclusion is unavoidable that America’s wars have not protected our liberty but, instead, destroyed liberty.

The name of a CIA station chief overseas normally is a deep secret, most especially in a war zone like Afghanistan. Yet the brand of “smart diplomacy” practiced in the Obama administration resulted in outing the CIA’s top man in Kabul in the course of publicizing President Obama’s surprise visit to the troops in Afghanistan over the weekend.

Antiwar.com: CIA’s Kabul Station Chief's Name Emailed to Entire Press Pool

The European parliamentary elections have drawn to a close bringing major gains for both Euroskeptic and Far Right movements. The results have dealt a blow to governments, with the French PM even calling the result "a political earthquake.” ● The most major anti-EU public mood was demonstrated in France, where Marine Le Pen's far right National Front scored more than a quarter of the votes cast. Without even waiting for the final figures, French PM Manuel Valls announced on national television that such a result for the anti-EU party was a political “earthquake” for France – and the entire Europe. "The sovereign people have declared they want to take back the reins of their destiny," said Marine Le Pen. "Our people demand just one politics. The politics of the French, for the French." There was a similar unprecedented story in the United Kingdom, as the unheralded United Kingdom Independence Party (UKIP) managed to make major gains. The Euroskeptic party's victory marked the first time in modern history that neither Labour nor the Conservatives have won a British national election. UKIP have enjoyed a rapid rise. 20 years ago, they managed to win just one percent of the vote at their very first European elections, however two decades on, they are set to win around 28 percent. At the last elections five years ago, the party won 16.5 percent.

IBT: EU Elections: Eurosceptics Seize Ground, Ukip Unleashes 'Political Earthquake'
Belfast Telegraph: Media no longer the king-makers as Ukip forces mainstream parties to rethink
Chicago Tribune: The French far-right party gets 25% of the votes in European elections
Chris Marsden: Major losses for ruling parties, gains for anti-EU parties in European elections

On Sunday, Ukrainians go to the polls to elect a new president, three months after the previous one was deposed in an armed coup. There some are finer details to the poll, making it not something one expects while electing head of a state. RT takes a look at the underbelly of the Ukrainian presidential campaign, and the people competing for the country’s once-so-coveted highest office.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said Moscow is ready to have dialogue with Kiev, and in particular with Pyotr Poroshenko, who is currently leading the presidential vote tally. ● The minister shared Russia’s first reaction to reports of Poroshenko winning the election at a press conference in Moscow. “We hear Pyotr Poroshenko describe relations with Russia as of the utmost importance,” Lavrov said. "We, as [the Russian] president repeated many times, are ready for dialogue with Kiev, ready for dialogue with Pyotr Poroshenko." Lavrov believes Russia and Ukraine do not need any mediators to get relations between the countries back on a friendly footing. “We are ready to cooperate with the EU and the US in what comes to implementation of the [OSCE’s] ‘roadmap’. But I doubt we need a mediator in our relations with Ukraine,” he said. Moscow would like to see Poroshenko deliver on his election campaign promise to stop the military operation in southeastern Ukraine.

Medieval Kingdom of Khazaria, 650-1016 ■ Over a thousand years ago, the far east of Europe was ruled by Jewish kings who presided over numerous tribes, including their own tribe: the Khazars. After their conversion, the Khazar people used Jewish personal names, spoke and wrote in Hebrew, were circumcised, had synagogues and rabbis, studied the Torah and Talmud, and observed Hanukkah, Pesach, and the Sabbath.

Khazaria: Ancestral home of the Ashkenazi, Non-Semite Jews ■ A thousand years before the establishment of the Zionist State of Israel, there also existed a nominally Jewish kingdom on the eastern fringes of Europe. This was the Kingdom of the Khazars astride the Don and Volga rivers. The kingdom of Khazaria was ruled over by two monarchs and inhabited by a mixed population that included people who professed to be descendants of Judah.

LiveLeak: Kiev national guard open fire on civilians at Krasnoarmeysk polling station - Video
VoR: Poroshenko's election campaign cost him over $7 million
Thomas Gaist: Billionaire oligarch declared winner in Ukraine elections
Finian Cunningham: Is Putin caving in to West pressure?
Paul Craig Roberts: The Ukraine Election
Stephen Lendman: Sham Ukrainian Presidential Election
MoA: Ukraine: Major "Western" Think Tank Admits Defeat
The Saker: SITREP from the front lines by "Juan"
The Saker: Ukraine SITREP May 25th, 22:52 UTC/Zulu: Coming full circle with some cautious hope?
Kevin MacDonald: The Unstable Alliance of Nationalists and “Mainly Jewish Oligarchs” in the Ukraine

Peter Lavelle ■ Western media, following the "bullhorns of propaganda" resident at the White House and State Department, assumes Putin is bent on re-building the Russian Empire and/or Soviet Union. This is assumed to be true because the “bullhorns of propaganda” say it’s true. I submit a completely different and actually very simple interpretation of Putin’s foreign policy. It has nothing to do with an empire and everything to do with respect of ethnic Russians and democratic rights. Putin has no interest in rebuilding the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union was an incredible net economic loss for Russia and Russians. In this century, Russia correctly sees an empire as too costly, politically risky, and importantly at odds with international law. Since the advent of the Putin presidency, the Kremlin has demonstrated it will make smart trade deals with its immediate neighbors, but outright subsidies are to be avoided. (Russia’s overly generous approach toward Ukraine since 1991 is a partial exception – trade relations with Kiev have always been complicated by Russia’s important trade relationship with Europe). Putin’s ‘near abroad’ foreign policy is about people and principles.

Paul Craig Roberts ■ Russia’s Rise To Global Power || Russia can rise to power with the East. There is no reason for Russia to beg the West for acceptance. The basis for US foreign policy are the Brzezinski and Wolfowitz doctrines, which state that Washington must prevent the rise of Russia. Washington has no good will toward Russia and will hamper Russia at every opportunity. As long as Washington controls Europe, Russia has no prospects of being a part of the West, unless Russia becomes Washington’s puppet state, like Germany, Britain, and France.

PCR Interviewed by King World News — Message from the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum

The Western narrative has closely mirrored talking points generated from within the halls of power. Where does the Western media's inability and unwillingness to report the Ukrainian story come from? Is Western media merely the instrument of the rich and powerful? And what is journalism's main purpose? CrossTalking with Manuel Ochsenreiter and Dmitry Babich.

For some reason, the power to disappear people without a trial is really, really important to America's ruling class. ● One thing we know for sure, the indefinite detention provisions which shipped in the 2012, 2013, and now the 2014 versions of the NDAA didn't slip in by accident. It was bad enough that Congress pushed the law through in the face of widespread uproar, and that Obama signed it each time when he could have easily vetoed it with a single stroke of his pen, but yesterday when they voted down an amendment proposed by Adam Smith (D-Washington), which would have done nothing but eliminate indefinite detention in the U.S. and its territories, that demonstrates that America's ruling class really, really wants this power. Now of course, those who support the elimination of habeas corpus will tell you that this law is only for "terrorists", but that's precisely where the issue lies. Who determines if someone is a terrorist? Under the NDAA, faceless bureaucrats can make someone disappear based on a mere accusation.