Dmitry Orlov ■ A year and a half I wrote an essay on how the US chooses to view Russia, titled The Image of the Enemy. I was living in Russia at the time, and, after observing the American anti-Russian rhetoric and the Russian reaction to it, I made some observations that seemed important at the time. It turns out that I managed to spot an important trend, but given the quick pace of developments since then, these observations are now woefully out of date, and so here is an update. At that time the stakes weren't very high yet. [...] But what a difference a year and a half has made! Ukraine, which was at that time collapsing at about the same steady pace as it had been ever since its independence two decades ago, is now truly a defunct state, with its economy in free-fall, one region gone and two more in open rebellion, much of the country terrorized by oligarch-funded death squads, and some American-anointed puppets nominally in charge but quaking in their boots about what's coming next.

Paul Craig Roberts ■ Vladimir Putin Is The Leader Of the Moral World || Vladimir Putin’s remarks at the 11th meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club are worth more than a link in my latest column. These are the remarks of a humanitarian political leader, the like of which the world has not seen in my lifetime. Compare Putin to the corrupt war criminal in the White House or to his puppets in office in Germany, UK, France, Japan, Canada, Australia, and you will see the difference between a criminal clique and a leader striving for a humane and livable world in which the interests of all peoples are respected.

For almost 40 years, Carole Hinders has dished out Mexican specialties at her modest cash-only restaurant. For just as long, she deposited the earnings at a small bank branch a block away — until last year, when two tax agents knocked on her door and informed her that they had seized her checking account, almost $33,000. The Internal Revenue Service agents did not accuse Ms. Hinders of money laundering or cheating on her taxes — in fact, she has not been charged with any crime. Instead, the money was seized solely because she had deposited less than $10,000 at a time, which they viewed as an attempt to avoid triggering a required government report. “How can this happen?” Ms. Hinders said in a recent interview. “Who takes your money before they prove that you’ve done anything wrong with it?” The federal government does.

● It's jaw dropping video. A 54-second clip from inside a game room near Ala Moana on September 5 clearly shows a Honolulu Police officer assaulting two people. Officer Vince Morre walks in and within seconds, kicks a 25-year old man in the face. Morre and Officer Nelson Tamayori then walk to the back of the game room. They are looking for someone who is not there. When they return from the back, Officer Tamayori heads to the door, but Officer Morre stops and begins assaulting the two men sitting next to him. Neither is resisting or engaging Morre but he begins to slap, punch, then kick one of them. He then turns his attention to the 25-year old man again, kicking him in the head a second time. The blow is so hard, the man flies off of his chair. As he is trying to sit back down, Officer Morre picks up a stool and throws it. It hits the man in the head. The FBI is investigating for possible civil rights violations. ● Honolulu Police Chief Louis Kealoha had not seen the new video and reacted strongly when I showed it to him."That's totally unacceptable," says Kealoha, "Unauthorized use of force, excessive use of force and then you have two officers who just, apparently, stood by." Officer Morre is on unpaid leave. Officer Tamayori is too, for not stopping the attack, and a reserve police officer, Joe Becera, was forced to retire. Defense attorney Myles Breiner is representing the 25-year old victim, but also hadn't seen the new video. "It's outrageous, I've never seen anything like that before," says Breiner. "(An) unprovoked attack on two innocent people, they're not suspects, they're sitting passively down." The victim went to the hospital right after the beating. He had to have staples in his head and has a broken bone in his hand.