Oskar Gorzynski is a foreign affairs correspondent with Wirtualna Polska. He is also a contributor at The Daily Beast. He is based out of Warsaw, Poland and he’s more than worth following on Twitter @Oskargie. We had a great 45-minute talk that was all set to be a dynamite podcast, but I fucked up the audio. So... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar News…Vladimir Putin, North Koreans and Far-Right Intrigue in Austria
Folks, If you want to take a good look at Russia’s actions over the past week or so, you’ll need to start in Austria. Austria, like much of Europe, is consumed with choosing the lesser of two evils between Islamism and Russian influence. For co-dependent (one might, uncharitably, say “emasculated”) EU countries like Austria, it... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar World News…aka Jihadist School Shooters, Russian Movie Villains and Chasing Hamza
Folks, Biggest under-reported story of the week has to be the compound discovered in New Mexico where five adults were starving and abusing 11 underage children with the intent of developing them into school shooters. Hm. Abused children, remote compound, school shooter training…shouldn’t this be clickbait for every eyeball-starved news organization? Well the adults were, ahem,... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar…aka The Coolest Stories You Missed During the Helsinki Hangover
Folks, The hangover from Helsinki continued this week, meaning most people who were outraged in the first 24 hours after Trump met Putin have now moved on to Tweeting about Justin Bieber’s engagement and Instagramming from the beach to calm their nerves. It’s a pity, because this week was awash in eye-popping stories that didn’t... Continue Reading →
Under the Radar…aka Things That Happened the Week of the Facepalm in Helsinki
Folks, I’m typing this with one hand, since I need the other to press a frozen steak against my still-sore noggin. Such is the price for enforcing my own deadlines while Trump went to Helsinki (which is the sequel to Trump Goes to London — 18 rating on Rotten Tomatoes! Though my favorite of the European Trump-cation series has always... Continue Reading →
Can Only Sean Connery Only Live Twice?
"M: Sit down, 007. James: Thank you, sir. M: No ill effects? James: None at all, sir. M: Well now that you’re dead, perhaps some of your old friends will pay a little less attention to you for a while. Give you more elbow room. You’ll need it, too." - You Only Live Twice (1967)" Journalist Arkady Babchenko had pissed... Continue Reading →
Vladimir Putin: A Lion In Winter
Historically, the countries of the EU have been allies of the US. That’s not to say they didn’t get a little passive-aggressive at times. France, Spain, Germany and Greece could even, at one point or another in the past fifteen years, been classified as a frenemy. Vladimir Putin, however, would like to make the whole... Continue Reading →
Is Vladimir Putin Really Dr. Moriarty?
We know ISIS is bad because it killed people in San Bernardino and Paris. We know Iran is bad because it’s still developing nuclear weapons. We know Russia is bad…because…well, didn’t Charlie Rose once say something about that? Or was it Seth MacFarlane? Either way, as Americans, we know there is a threat from Putin's... Continue Reading →