Free Republic

George Szamuely and Peter Lavelle sat down for one The Gaggle's regular conversations with Scott Ritter. Much of the highly informative discussion focused on what took place in Kharkov last week.

On episode 3 of the show we are joined by Alexander Khodakovsky, commander of the Donetsk People's Republic's «Vostok» Battalion. Former commander of Ukraine's Alpha special unit of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

Ritter notes that Russian war aims have expanded to include the idea that Russian and Russian-speaking regions of the former Ukraine will come under Russian governance and control, noting that Ukraine has forfeited the right to govern Russians. He notes that these areas have basically been abandoned by Kiev one way or other.

The best Scott Ritter interview I've seen (being interviewed by Czechs from the Czech Republic.) Brutal historic truth about NATO leading up to today's disaster and how we got here. I consider Ritter to be a "Giant Among Pygmies." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VYZGuaqT5Y "If there was no NATO expansion, there would be no conflict in Ukraine."

A top scientist at the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Monday that the world is shifting further away from the end of the COVID-19 pandemic, owing to factors like viral variants, social mixing, the flouting of public health measures and vaccine inequities. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove, epidemiologist and WHO COVID-19 technical lead, noted an 11.5 percent increase in global cases over the last week, with a 1 percent increase in deaths. Europe saw a 21 percent uptick in infections last week, while the Western Pacific experienced a nearly 30 percent increase, for instance. Though data reflects a slight dip...

Bill and Hillary Clinton will be joined by a slew of big names on their forthcoming speaking tour — including Ben Stiller, Jordan Klepper, and “Scandal’s” Tony Goldwyn. The former commander-in-chief and the 2016 Democratic presidential nominee announced details of some of their planned tour stops alongside their high-profile "friends" in a Wednesday tweet.

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, a former UN ambassador, was named as the Organization of American States' special envoy on migration in an effort to improve US-Latin American dialogue. The appointment came amid heated debate in the United States over illegal immigration, as US lawmakers consider proposals to deal with the 11.5 million undocumented workers, mostly Latin Americans, living in America. "The migration issue is key to improving relations (between Latin America and the United States," Richardson, 59, said at a news conference alongside OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza. "Dialogue and democracy are very important and I hope to...

<p>LANSING - John Ramsey, father of slain child pageant star JonBenet, is seriously considering a run for the Michigan House of Representatives.</p> <p>Ramsey has established residency in Charlevoix, where he has long vacationed, and has indicated he wants to succeed term-limited state Rep. Ken Bradstreet, R-Gaylord, said Matt Resch, spokesman for House Speaker Rick Johnson.</p>