"Serfdom existed centuries ago and honestly it never really went away."
Since September 2022, the Russian Ministry of Defense has not published official data on military losses in Ukraine.
In this street interview, a Russian man shares his thoughts on why the real numbers are kept hidden, how propaganda works inside the country, and why many people are still afraid to speak openly.
He also talks about censorship, the lack of real opposition, freedom of speech in Russia, and why he believes Ukraine’s army has become one of the strongest in Europe.
This is one person’s opinion - but it reflects a rare and honest perspective from inside Russia.
Some comments on YouTube:
This man is brave enough to tell everyone that the emperor has no clothes! Unfortunately the people that need to see this won't get to see it. Bravo Monsieur - from France What an intelligent articulate man. You met the one smart guy in russia! Well, not smart enough to keep quiet (we know what will happen now), but all due respect to him... a REAL russian hero! (If not a russky government entrapment exercise.)
Geez, somebody check on this guy some time, hope he's safe Clever and brave This man impressed me. He has a full grasp of both the real situation and what is going on. I hope he does not get arrested. Wise man, I wish him safety after this
Smart fellow. Brilliant wish that there were more like him.. good luck to the guy. Brave man Respect. Wow. This man speaks for every other Russian who is afraid to stand up for their rights or lack of them. Slava Ukraine from Canada. An honest russian man finally speaking the truth..bravo brave man speaking up in a free way Hopefully, he’s not “suicidal” And hopefully he can stay away from windows and tall buildings.
Anne Aspinall was born
in Manchester and trained at Manchester College of Art. She joined the Longden
Gallery and Workshops in 1986 as a printmaker specialising in etching. From
1988 – 1989 she travelled extensively in Europe and North Africa where the effects
of strong sunlight on the desert landscape and the rich texture and patterns of
the architecture and textiles made a lasting impression. Anne’s work is a
personal response to the patterns and rhythms inherent in the landscape and the
subtle changes of light and colour through the seasons. She has been profoundly
influenced by the work of the Scottish painters William Gillies and Barbara
Rae, as well as the Catterline landscapes of Joan Eardley. In addition to the
intense colours of Morocco, her current subject matter encompasses the hills
and valleys of North Wales, the Peak District, where she lives and works, and
the coastline around the British Isles.
Maryport Harbour.
Her paintings start with the monoprint process where ink is applied to Perspex
plate using rollers. This enables transparent layers of colour to be built up
and texture is added by working back into the ink using stencils, brushes and
rags. The image is then transferred onto paper by use of an etching press. When
the inks have dried, Anne works into the monoprint with chalk, oil pastel and
paint to achieve the final mixed media painting.
In een live opname, op de avond van 20 mei jl. gemaakt in Pakhuis de Zwijger in Amsterdam, spreken Tim de Wit en Arend
Jan Boekestijn met Nobelprijswinnaar Paul Krugman (te zien vanaf minuut 10). Hij praat over hoe Trump met zijn
oorlog tegen Iran de wereldeconomie ontregelt, hoe beloftes over lagere boodschappenprijzen volledig in duigen vallen en hoe de Republikeinen het
Hongaarse draaiboek van Orbán rechtstreeks kopiëren om de midterms te winnen.
Wat moet Europa doen nu Amerika afglijdt? En waarom is hij ondanks alles tóch
hoopvoller dan een jaar geleden?
Paul Krugman was vijfentwintig jaar lang columnist bij The New York
Times en bereikt tegenwoordig meer dan een half miljoen lezers via zijn
eigen Substack, waar ook ondergetekende (HD) abonnee van is. Krugman was als academisch econoom verbonden aan het MIT en
Princeton, en is sinds 2015 verbonden aan het City University of New York
Graduate Center. Voor zijn werk ontving hij in 2008 de Nobelprijs voor Economie.
Zijn academische publicaties richten zich vooral op internationale
handel. Krugman ontwikkelde, op basis van schaalvoordelen (zie Wikipedia) en de voorkeur van consumenten voor productdiversiteit, een verklaring
voor intra-industriële handel tussen landen met vergelijkbare kenmerken –
iets wat eerdere theorieën moeilijk konden verklaren. Deze
inzichten paste hij vervolgens toe op de economische geografie: door
schaalvoordelen en positieve externaliteiten hebben bedrijven en
werknemers de neiging zich te concentreren in stedelijke gebieden, wat
leidt tot economische divergentie tussen het centrum en de periferie. Deze benadering is New Economic Geography gaan heten. Tegen de achtergrond van Trumps protectionistische handelspolitiek is
Krugmans werk, zowel als econoom als criticaster, relevanter dan ooit.
May 21, Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) questioning General Eric Smith.
A highly educated Republican
Before he became Senator in
2017, John Kennedy was elected to five terms as State Treasurer of Louisiana. As
Treasurer, he oversaw the state’s $10.6 billion investment portfolios.
He also oversaw local and state bond issues and returned millions of
dollars in unclaimed property each year. Prior to his position as
Treasurer, John served as Secretary of the Department of Revenue,
Special Counsel to Governor Roemer and Secretary of Governor Roemer’s
Cabinet. He was also an attorney and partner in the Baton Rouge and New
Orleans law firm of Chaffe McCall.
John
was raised in Zachary, LA. and graduated from Zachary High School. John
graduated magna cum laude in political science, philosophy and
economics from Vanderbilt, was president of his senior class, and
elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received his law degree from the
University of Virginia and his B.C.L. degree from Oxford University in
England where he was a First Class Honors graduate. John has been an
adjunct professor at LSU Law School and has been a volunteer substitute
teacher for Louisiana public schools for over 15 years.
He
resides in Madisonville, Louisiana, with his wife Becky and their son,
Preston. They are founding members of the North Cross United Methodist
Church.
Operating under the principle of “Duty to Warn,” 233 mental health professionals endorsed a letter published in the The New York Times describing Donald Trump as an “imminent catastrophic public danger” should he be re-elected, citing concerns based on his recent public appearances.
In the letter, the signatories argued that the 78-year-old Trump “exhibits behavior consistent with diagnostic criteria outlined in the American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-5 for narcissistic personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder, and paranoid personality disorder,” adding that these traits were “further exacerbated by intense sadism, a feature associated with malignant narcissism.”
The letter further stated that “Trump appears to be showing signs of cognitive decline that warrant a comprehensive neurological evaluation, including MRI imaging and neuropsychological testing.” According to the authors, the reported symptoms include “reduced verbal fluency, tangential thinking, limited vocabulary, repetitive use of superlatives and filler words, perseveration, confabulation, phonemic and semantic paraphasia, confusion involving people and events, and declining judgment, impulse control, and motor functioning, including a wide-based gait.”
Describing the alleged evidence of decline as “disqualifying,” members of the group said they would expand on their concerns in a video scheduled to air on cable television during the final days of the campaign.
RawStory & ChatGPT
Robert, Elizabeth, Freddy, Donald en Maryanne Trump.
The contact between the Vikings and the Sámi during the Viking Age was intensive and characterized by a high degree of reciprocity, social acceptance, and close cooperation, especially in central Scandinavia.
The two peoples lived in a kind of symbiosis where they shared the land, although the Sámi were not always regarded as equals by the Norse.
The contacts can be divided into three main areas:
1. Economy, trade, and specialized craftsmanship
The Sámi acted as specialists within the Nordic economic system.
They were skilled hunters and gatherers who supplied the Vikings with exclusive and highly sought-after luxury goods such as furs (marten, fox, beaver, and bear), walrus tusks, hunting falcons, feathers, and ship ropes made from seal and walrus hide. These raw materials were often purchased or collected as tax (tribute) by Nordic chieftains, and then sold on by the Vikings in international markets, as far as Constantinople and Baghdad. The Sámi were also known as specialists in tanning hides, building boats, forging iron, and making skis for the Nordic peoples.
2. Marriage and social alliances
There were close contacts at a high social level, and elites from both groups often exchanged marriage partners. This is confirmed by both archaeological grave finds and written sources. A well-known example from the Old Norse sagas is that the Norwegian king Harald Fairhair married the Sámi woman Snæfríðr, daughter of the Sámi king Svási. Sámi women could thus marry into and be accepted into the very highest levels of Norse society.
3. Religion and magic
The Norse had great respect for the Sámi’s spiritual and magical abilities. The Sámi often served as healers, advisors, and masters of magic. The two cultures shared several fundamental religious concepts, especially the form of sorcery and shamanism known in Old Norse as seiðr. This magical practice is believed to have developed in harmony with Sámi religion as part of a shared Nordic spiritual heritage. Respect for and belief in Sámi magic was so strong that the earliest Christian laws in Norway explicitly forbade Christians from traveling to Sámi territories to seek prophecies or healing.*1
In summary, the Sámi were not just a peripheral group, but a strongly integrated and very important part of the Viking Age’s economy, culture, and religious life.
Gunnar Östberg Published on Quora, 26 april 2026 (translated from Norwegian by ChatGPT).
The two aquarelles were made by Johannes Flintoe (1787-1870).
Sámi magic drums (Jan Luyken, 1682).
*1 Visit also my post about Eivør Pálsdóttir, titled Trøllabundin (HD).
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