Davyd Arakhamia is the majority leader of Ukraine's parliament and a member of the Servant of the People party. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN. (CNN) Russia's menacing troop build-up near Ukraine's border and in our Crimean region in recent days is the latest reminder to our allies of the ongoing campaign of coercion, intimidation and escalation to which Ukrainians have unfortunately become accustomed. Davyd Arakhamia Overtly and covertly, directly and through proxies, Russian aggression is a truly existential concern to our country. If Russia's latest move was a test, our allies in the US and Europe did not blink. Recent consultations between President Joe Biden and President Volodymyr Zelensky and across our national security establishments, as well as a united front among Ukraine's partners in Europe, sent a clear message to the Kremlin. This may have been the first provocation of the Biden presidency, but it won't be the last. To deter Russia's hostile actions and strengthen our nation's democratic security and stability, it will be necessary to deepen Ukraine's role in the Euro-Atlantic alliance, and broaden the investment by the US and Europe in Ukraine's future. Read More Putin is massing troops at the Ukraine border and testing Biden's mettle Russian forces invaded our country more than seven years ago -- an illegal act that the international community has yet to succeed in reversing. Our people continue to endure the occupation of Crimea and the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine, as well as a tightening of Russian control in the nearby Sea of Azov and Black Sea, to which Russia is now restricting access. More than 14,000 Ukrainians have been killed defending our nation against Russia's attacks, which have escalated dramatically in recent weeks with more than two dozen Ukrainian soldiers killed. Make no ...
Soviet union anti communist
‘That’s Not Going To Happen Here’: Gov. Ron DeSantis Signs Controversial Protest Crackdown Bill Into Law
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – With the stroke of a pen, Governor Ron DeSantis signed a controversial law and order bill into law which aimed at cracking down on unruly and violent protests. DeSantis announced the legislation last September after protests across the nation in the aftermath of the May death of George Floyd, a 36-year-old Black man who died after then-Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin kneeled on Floyd’s neck for at least eight minutes. READ MORE: Explosion And Fire Heavily Damages Oakland Park Styrofoam Manufacturing Business “We saw really unprecedented disorder and rioting throughout the summer of 2020 and said that’s not going to happen here in the state of Florida. We wanted to make sure that we could protect the people of our great state, people’s businesses and property, against any type of mob activity and violent assemblies,” said DeSantis before signing the legislation at a ceremony in Winter Haven. The measure, “Combating Public Disorder,” creates new liability for “mob intimidation” and increases penalties for riot-related violence and looting. “I think it’s remarkable if you look at the breadth of this piece of legislation, it is the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country. There’s just nothing even close,” said DeSantis. DeSantis and other Republicans say the measures were needed to crack down on violent protests. Democrats and civil rights groups, however, countered that it infringes on First Amendment rights and will disproportionately lead to crackdowns on Black protesters. The measure also prevents local governments from defunding law enforcement. “We will be able to stop it at the state level. And if you look at some of the places that have done this they have already seen crime go up, even just diverting some of the funding to this. It’s an insane theory and it’s not going to ever be allowed to carry the day in the state of Florida and this bill gives us the tools to make sure ...
China Deleting Feminists from Social Media amid Birth Rate Collapse
Chinese Communist Party (CCP) internet censors have allegedly deleted dozens of social media accounts belonging to Chinese women’s rights groups ahead of the release of China’s latest ten-year census, expected to show a sharp decline in birth rates for the fourth consecutive year. “In recent days, more than a dozen accounts used by women’s-rights groups were deleted from the Weibo social-media platform as well as cultural-discussion site Douban.com,” the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on April 19. Weibo is a Chinese microblogging website often referred to as “Chinese Twitter.” It is one of China’s most popular social media platforms. Douban.com is another popular Chinese social networking service. Both Weibo and Douban.com., like much of the Chinese internet, are heavily censored by CCP authorities. “The deletions came as China awaits the results of a once-a-decade census, which had been expected by early April but have yet to be released. Demographers expect the data to show a sharp drop in births in 2020, the fourth straight decline following a brief rise in 2016, the first year after the one-child policy was lifted,” WSJ reported. “What are they afraid of?” one Chinese social media user allegedly wrote in the wake of the mass deletions, according to the newspaper. “Are they afraid of more women waking up? Are they panicking when seeing the fertility rates and marriage rates?” Weibo officials issued a statement via their own verified Weibo account saying the microblogging site had recently removed some accounts because they were “related to illegal or hurtful information,” but did not provide further details. “A spokeswoman for China’s National Statistics Bureau said in a Friday [April 16] briefing that the agency needed additional time on the census because there was more data to process than in previous ones,” WSJ reported. “Lü Pin, a Chinese activist based in New York whose Weibo account was taken down, says that women taking ...
Rep. Maxine Waters’ Support Could Change With District’s Demographics
WASHINGTON – Six-term Rep. Maxine Waters inspires in a way few politicians are able, and she evokes usually one of two emotions: fierce loyalty or distinct derision. Regardless of her emotional impact on voters, the liberal congresswoman can bet on a continuing string of electoral victories in her South Central Los Angeles district — at least until Los Angeles' growing Latino population runs a Democrat against her. "She's probably safe for another 10 years," said Rob Stultzman, the California Republican Party's communications director. Waters hails from the 35th District, which covers much of South Central and the Watts corridors. The demographics of the 35th are changing fast. In 1990, blacks made up 42 percent of the district, while Hispanics made up 43 percent. Today, the district is 35 percent black and 54 percent Hispanic. Blacks still make up the voting majority because most of the district's Hispanics are ineligible to vote. But that may change in years to come, said syndicated columnist Michael Barone. "That's the long-term problem of her tenure — Los Angeles County is getting more and more Hispanic. That leads to the possibility that she might be challenged someday by someone from another ethnic group," he said. Waters' district has been host to some of the bloodiest race riots in U.S. history, including the 1992 violence spawned after the not-guilty verdicts of four Los Angeles police officers videotaped beating motorist Rodney King. In that case, 26,000 National Guard troops were ordered onto the scene, but not before 54 people were killed, 9,000 businesses were destroyed and 6,000 jobs lost. Waters, who would not agree to an interview for this article, made her own headlines by calling the riots a "rebellion" and sympathizing with the rioters, most of whom came from the poor black neighborhoods in her district. A few years later, based on a San Jose Mercury News series that was later retracted, she blamed the ...
How our populist moment explains the Super League’s rapid implosion
(CNN) Two days after 12 of the biggest clubs in European soccer announced their plans to form a new league -- unironically called the Super League -- the entire plan collapsed amid widespread dissatisfaction from fans, players and managers, evidence of a massive miscalculation by a handful of extremely wealthy owners and the continued power of populism across the globe. The league would have taken the six wealthiest (and most successful) clubs in the English Premier League and paired them with three giants from Spain (Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico Madrid) and three from Italy (Juventus, Inter Milan and AC Milan). And it would guarantee them spots in the European competition every single year no matter how the clubs performed in their domestic leagues. It was, in short, a cash grab. As The New York Times' Tariq Panja and Rory Smith wrote : "The clubs believe that selling the broadcast rights for the Super League, as well as the commercial income, will be worth billions. And it will all go to them, rather than being redistributed to smaller clubs and lesser leagues through European soccer's governing body, UEFA. At the same time, the value of domestic leagues and their clubs will diminish drastically as they are effectively rendered also-rans every year." Read More And it wasn't just a cash grab. It was a cash grab by some of the richest soccer clubs in the world -- owned by some of the richest people in the world. Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the principal owner of Manchester City, and Roman Abramovich, who owns Chelsea, are billionaires , as are the owners of Manchester United, Liverpool, Tottenham and Arsenal -- among others. To make matters even worse, this was all done without ANY consultation with the people who actually make these clubs go -- fans, players and managers. Jurgen Klopp, the mercurial manager of Liverpool, made clear that neither he nor any of his players knew anything about ...
