Academia, Criminal law, International

Academic Or Asset? Professor Emerges From Shadows Of The Russian Investigation
maxresdefault-1Professor Joseph Mifsud has been described as a “Russian stooge,” a “KGB cutout,” and an intelligence handler.  Not since Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created the character of Professor James Moriarty as the nemesis of Sherlock Holmes has an academic emerged as such a shadowy and sinister figure.    Mifsud however has gone public to declare that his apparent love for one of the world’s most bloodsoaked authoritarian figures, Vladimir Putin, has left him with a clear and clean conscience.  What is clear is that the Lond-based Mifsud had no qualms in serving as a conduit for dirt on Hillary Clinton and an effective asset of the Putin regime.

It appears that Mifsud is the infamous “Foreign Contact 1” references in the Mueller complaint who bragged of dinners with Putin and and his contacts with Russian intelligence.  He is also the professor who appears to have button-holed George Papadopoulos, a one-time Trump adviser who has pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his interactions with foreign contacts.  The court papers refer to a meeting in London in April 2016 and state that “Papadopoulos further stated that Foreign Contact 1 told him that the Russians ‘have dirt on her,’ meaning Clinton, and that they have ‘thousands of emails.'”
According to news accounts, Mifsud is actually from Malta and it is not clear when he became such a yahoo for Putin and all things Russian.  He served as “the honorary director” of the London Academy of Diplomacy (LAD). I am not sure of the purpose of an “honorary” director or why Mifsud was viewed as credible by LAD, which used to be part of to the University of East Anglia and is not part of  the University of Stirling in Scotland. The university issued a statement that “The University of East Anglia no longer has any links with the London Academy of Diplomacy or Joseph Mifsud.”  It did not explain why or how this individual was made an honorary anything.
Mifsud was listed as teaching fellow and clearly worked full-time in that capacity in the politics department since May 2017. He does not seem an particularly intellectual or impressive person from his record.  He seemed to relish connections with Russians and brag about them to anyone who would stop to listen.
Mifsud has spoken to the media to say declare “I have a clear conscience.” He dismissed the allegations in the complaint and added “I am an academic, I do not even speak Russian.”
It is certainly important to note that nothing in the complaint would seem to be criminal in Mifsud’s role unless he is accused of being a foreign agent.  Accounts indicated that he actively sought to cultivate influence with the Russians.  
What is clear is that Mifsud is likely to remain radioactive for a considerable time after this scandal.  The honorary titles outside of Russia are likely to be rather hard to come by.

92 thoughts on “Academic Or Asset? Professor Emerges From Shadows Of The Russian Investigation”

  1. “Girlfriend of Maltese professor at centre of Trump-Russia allegations says he is missing”

    “The 31-year-old unnamed Ukrainian told Buzzfeed she had not heard from Joseph Mifsud since October despite him being the father of her newborn child • She claims Mifsud met with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov”

    https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/news/national/84906/girlfriend_of_maltese_professor_at_centre_of_trumprussia_allegations_says_he_is_missing#.Ws-ZxEvIr6s

  2. “…not learning anything of value about Malta or this woman’s life.” -SOT, now running in circles

    How ’bout this:

    …a national day of mourning in Malta — for Daphne Caruana Galizia:

    “We need unshackled journalists” – Archbishop Scicluna

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2017-11-03/local-news/Daphne-Caruana-Galizia-funeral-taking-place-in-Mosta-6736181036

    …and the largest church in Malta was packed. There are many good people in Malta who would like to see those who murdered Daphne brought to justice — something that will likely never happen, though I hope I’m wrong.

    1. something that will likely never happen,

      Why are you talking out of your a**, Elaine?

      1. They may nail some flunky, but I doubt that they’ll get to the source of it. As I said, I hope I’m wrong.

        (You’re predictable, and — like clockwork — you bit.)

  3. The subject of this posting hails from Malta as did the journalist and blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

    I want to know who Daphne’s killers are, and who sent them – EP president Tajani

    Julian Bonnici
    Friday, 3 November 2017, 16:55Last update: about 59 minutes ago

    http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2017-11-03/local-news/I-want-to-know-who-Daphne-s-killers-are-and-who-sent-them-EP-president-Tajani-6736181038

    ““We will debate the rule of law in this country because it is impossible for a journalist to be murdered in 2017.” The last time it happened in Europe, he said, was in 1985.

    “We want to know who Daphne’s killer is, but we want to know also who is behind the killers, he said.

    “He said that a resolution will be drawn up, with a first draft expected to be completed by next week.

    “The EP will also be sending its representatives to examine the situation in Malta over the coming weeks, and will involve members from all EU states, a number of whom formed part of the PANA committee.”

    “I want to know who Daphne’s killers are, and who sent them.” – EP president Tajani

    We should all want to know.

    1. Not sure why you’re running this on continuous loop. You’re not learning anything of value about Malta or this woman’s life.

      She had 42 defamation suits pending against her. Any one of those people could have had an emotionally unstable nephew with some technical skills. You fancy you’re going to find the Mafia or some intelligence service at the end of this trail of breadcrumbs when you may just find a version of James Holmes.

      1. ““The libel threshold in Malta is low, and to respond – simply to say you’re contesting it – you have to pay something like €900 into court. They came at her like that in groups, businessmen, politicians, often with foreign lawyers.”

        This year alone, says Matthew, counting off the names on his fingers, “15 – no, maybe even 20 people” filed for libel against his mother. One guy, a wealthy businessman, “filed 19 suits, one for every sentence in one of her articles”.” -from the following article

        https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/19/daphne-caruana-galizia-establishment-was-out-to-get-her-says-family

        1. “You’re not learning anything of value about Malta or this woman’s life.” -SOT, aka A&AWG and so many other aliases

          Some might ask, “What the hell do you know?”

          1. “Not sure why you’re running this on continuous loop. ”

            Then leave it alone. (You don’t know half as much as you like to think you do.)

            1. (You don’t know half as much as you like to think you do.)

              I’m being told that by a retired schoolteacher whose ‘knowledge’ extends to posting links to a repetitive array of news stories tangentially related to the question at hand.

              1. Well, we can start with the fact that I’m not “retired schoolteacher…”

                But don’t let the facts get in your way, old SOT.

                And here’s a tip: The scroll wheel* is your friend.

                (*You’re probably still using one.)

  4. Pingback: Academic Or Asset? Professor Emerges From Shadows Of The Russian Investigation — JONATHAN TURLEY – Site Title

  5. Yes, Putin is evil. Is he the worst guy on the block? Have you seen the US statistics on torture and war crimes? I’m really not sure Putin wins in these categories.

    To me, it’s much more vital that the US clean up our own act. Sure, you can say whatever nasty things you want about Putin but he’s not the read problem we’re facing. Just for an example, here’s a little something this fun, wacky USGinc. has been up to:

    “A day after Russian President Vladimir Putin surprised members of Russia’s human rights council by informing them that some shadowy entity – possibly with ties to the United States – had been collecting biological tissues from Russians from different ethnic groups, the group responsible for harvesting the tissue has revealed itself.

    While some initially discounted Putin’s remars as another loony conspiracy theory, as it turns out, he was right: The group responsible for the tissue collection was none other than the US Air Force, proving that yet another conspiracy theory has become a conspiracy fact.

    A representative for the US Air Force Education and Training Command explained to Russia Today that the choice of the Russian population was not intentional, and is related to research the Air Force is conducting on the human musculoskeletal system.”

    http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2017-11-01/us-air-force-admits-harvesting-russian-tissue

    1. Have you seen the US statistics on torture and war crimes?

      No one of sense is interested in your fantasies or your animadversions.

    2. INTERCEPTED PODCAST: CRIMINAL INDICTMENTS AT HOME, SECRET WARS ABROAD

      November 1 2017, 5:01 a.m.

      https://theintercept.com/2017/11/01/criminal-indictments-at-home-secret-wars-abroad/

      “SPECIAL PROSECUTOR ROBERT MUELLER has delivered the opening salvo against Trump cronies in his secretive investigation into Russia, the election, and the Trump campaign. This week on Intercepted: The most nuanced discussion you will hear on what we know, what we don’t know, and the challenge of criminally prosecuting anyone for actually conspiring with Russia to interfere in the election. New York Times reporter Charlie Savage and former federal prosecutor-turned-defense attorney Ken White of Popehat break down the recent indictment and plea deal and what it may mean for Trump. Savage also lays out the secret authorities Trump recently signed giving the military and CIA wider latitude to conduct drone strikes and night raids across the world. In the aftermath of the ambush and killing of four U.S. special forces soldiers in Niger and the terrorist attack that killed more than 300 people in Somalia, we take an in-depth look at U.S. militarism in Africa. Investigative journalist Nick Turse and Kenya scholar Samar Al-Bulushi take us into the world of the secret drone bases popping up on the continent, U.S. commandos and Washington-backed African forces operating under the guise of the war on terror.”

      Transcript not yet available.

    3. Well you might have simply mentioned Yemen, and left it at that. Although the war crimes going on there were supported by Obama, so maybe you’re not interested in the subject matter.

      1. What war crimes? There’s a counter-partisan war going on in Yemen. Counter-partisan wars are prosecuted by killing partisans and their support networks. No way around that.

        What is it? Do you fancy the response to armed partisans should be to roll over and play dead, or are you just a posturing nincompoop?

        1. “What war crimes? ”

          Now that’s “hilarious.” On it’s face.

          “Let’s be blunt: With U.S. and U.K. complicity, the Saudi government is committing war crimes in Yemen.”
          https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/08/31/opinion/columnists/yemen-famine-cholera.html

          You don’t that rag?: The American Conservative

          “The U.S. Must Stop Enabling War Crimes in Yemen”
          http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/the-u-s-must-stop-enabling-war-crimes-in-yemen/

          Let me know when Putin does something like that.

          1. Either you fancy there can be wars without civilian casualties or you’re pushing pacifism. Both postures are stupid.

              1. I take it it hasn’t occurred to you that the factual quality of the statement ‘wars cannot be fought without civilian casualties’ is absolutely unaffected by my personal biography or by yours. Or maybe you know that perfectly well and are just being pointlessly abrasive as is your wont.

              1. No, you’re not talking about actual war crimes. You’re uttering the term ‘war crimes’ like a small child utters the word sh!t. You fancy you’re Jeremiah when you’re just a bad cut up.

              1. I don’t like fools who know nothing of politics or military action or Arab society babbling about ‘strategic value’.

                1. Well I think we’re under a troll alert here. I’m not going to continue a thread that is fast becoming useless.

                  But with regard to your silliness above and here, I cited an article from the New York Times and the American Conservative that mention war crimes.

                  And it’s pretty obvious that you don’t know the difference, (or pretend not to) between the Houthis and Iran any more than you know the difference between collateral damage and war crimes.

                  The Houthis are a consolidated faction that doesn’t like Iran or Al Qaeda. A best case group for us. So naturally the “rational” response is to help the Saudis obliterate them.

                  1. “Well I think we’re under a troll alert here. I’m not going to continue a thread that is fast becoming useless.”

                    Yep. You’ve got it…

  6. Academic Or Asset? Professor Emerges From Shadows Of The Russian Investigation

    The italicized/bold text below was excerpted from a report titled Sorting Out the Russia Mess which can be found at Consortiumnews.com:

    However, Mifsud told The Washington Post in an email last August that he had “absolutely no contact with the Russian government” and described his ties to Russia as strictly in academic fields.

    In an interview with the U.K. Daily Telegraph after Monday’s disclosures, Mifsud acknowledged meeting with Papadopoulos but disputed the contents of the conversations as cited in the court papers. Specifically, he denied knowing anything about emails containing “dirt” on Clinton and called the claim that he introduced Papadopoulos to a “female Russian national” as a “laughingstock.”

    According to the Telegraph interview, Mifsud said he tried to put Papadopoulos in touch with experts on the European Union and introduced him to the director of a Russian think tank, the Russian International Affairs Council.

    It was the latter contact that the court papers presumably referred to in saying that on May 4, the Russian contact with ties to the foreign ministry wrote to Papadopoulos and Mifsud, reporting that ministry officials were “open for cooperation,” a message that Papadopoulos forwarded to a senior campaign official, asking whether the contacts were “something we want to move forward with.”

    https://consortiumnews.com/2017/10/31/sorting-out-the-russia-mess/

  7. Interesting; I already thought the crew here was merely tea-bagging Trump because they’re gullible. I never considered that some/most/all of the crew were actually Russian trolls. More pro-Putin discussion please. Next, we can rehabilitate Stalin, Lenin, and Dzerzhinsky.

    1. The Russian troll bit is getting pretty old. You’re the flip side of the Iraq war dead-enders. Or are you still supporting that?

  8. I love this blog. But let me ask you this. Who is “better” for Russia AND the United States? “Boodsoaked” Putin, or Yeltsin. Just wondering.

  9. Has he met with US Rep. Dana Rohrabacher yet?

    Putin is only interested in nyet profits.

    1. The guy knows his audience. The “Breitbart Lite” that this comment section has turned into has no appetite for it.

    2. Did it occur to you that he’s a law professor and may wish to read the available documents before he comments on them?

      1. Did it occur to you he’s been ranting for weeks about how there are no ties to the Trump white house, and has penned several articles and made several TV appearances in which he claims that the Manafort indictment doesn’t hurt the white house as the conduct occurred “prior to the campaign.” Has it occurred to you that he puts out 5-6 new posts a day, and is quick to condemn the Clintons, but is silent on these topics? Has it occurred to you that he prides himself on writing as many articles and making as many TV appearances as he can, often to the detriment of his professorial duties?

        1. No, it didn’t, because:

          1. He does not rant; and

          2. I’m not keeping score.

          3. I haven’t checked his bibliography or his class schedule, so I don’t know what he’s doing with his time.

          The burden of your complaint makes no sense unless you begin with the assumption his job is to make the DNC press office’s job easier.

          1. No, I thought his job was to be a legal scholar. He writes opinion columns, of course he rants. If you’ve been paying attention, he’s been a Trump Admin. apologist, now he goes radio silent. Do the math.

            1. He does not rant. Look that word up in a dictionary.

              He’s a ‘Trump Administration apologist’ in the mind of pussyhats who want denunciations on continuous loop. He is not such thing to a normal person. If you want that, just read Natacha’s comments and skip the moderator’s posts.

    3. Actually, Turley wrote a USA Today article where he discussed Manafort and Gates but managed to ignore the existence of Papadopoulos. The article was basically, “nothing to see here.”

      1. Maybe because Papadopolous was a peripheral figure in the campaign (hired as part of an understanding with Dr. Carson) and was slapped with an indictment not due to anything he did in his employment for the campaign, but for lying to investigators.

        1. I’ll accept he was a relatively minor figure in the campaign, disposable if you will. If you’ve read his e-mails suggesting meetings with Russians to obtain dirt on Hillary and his superiors praising a “Great Job” and advising him to set up a meeting “if feasible.” You can begin to see the problem. He allegedly proposed a meeting directly to Trump who didn’t respond either way. His personal actions might be explained away but a group of people within the campaign including one described at a high level knew everything he was doing. Let’s see if his direct supervisor, Samuel Clovis, shows up for his confirmation hearings next week for Undersecretary of Agriculture. Odds are his nomination gets pulled so Democratic Senators don’t get to ask about his already given Grand Jury testimony and whether or not he received immunity to testify.

          1. You can pretend George P. was “low-level” all you want but when Trump was directly asked who made up his foreign policy team, he mentioned Carter Page and George P. You don’t name drop someone to the press if he/she is not in your inner circle.

  11. “Caruana Galizia wrote extensively on corruption within the Maltese government. Her writing in the wake of the massive document leak commonly referred to as the Panama Papers forced an early elections in the EU country after it implicated two Maltese cabinet members.” -from the dw link elsewhere in this thread

    “All Putin’s Men: Secret Records Reveal Money Network Tied to Russian Leader”

    “Complex offshore financial deals channel money and power towards a network of people and companies linked to President Vladimir Putin”

    https://panamapapers.icij.org/20160403-putin-russia-offshore-network.html

    “Daphne Caruana Galizia, a blogger whose investigations focused on corruption, was described as a ‘one-woman WikiLeaks’” –The Guardian

  12. “Such incidents bring to mind Putin’s Russia, not the European Union. There can be absolutely no tolerance for violence against the press and violations of the freedom of expression in the European Union.” -the following article

    “Malta car bomb kills Panama Papers journalist”

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/16/malta-car-bomb-kills-panama-papers-journalist

    ““It is too early to know the cause of the explosion but we expect to see a thorough investigation,” said Giegold. “Such incidents bring to mind Putin’s Russia, not the European Union. There can be absolutely no tolerance for violence against the press and violations of the freedom of expression in the European Union.”

    “Opposition politicians claim rule of law has been under threat since Muscat returned Malta’s Labour party to power in 2013 following a long period in opposition. Four police commissioners have resigned under his leadership. The fifth, Lawrence Cutajar, took up his post in August 2016.”

      1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/nov/03/maltese-journalists-funeral-held-after-politicians-told-to-stay-away

        “Mourners included her husband, three adult sons and European parliament president Antonio Tajani, but President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca and the prime minister, Joseph Muscat, were told they were not welcome.

        “A spokesman for Muscat said: “The family has made it widely known that it does not wish the state authorities to attend.”

        “The government declared a national day of mourning and flags have flown at half mast.

        “We still do not know who killed Daphne,” Archbishop Charles Scicluna told mourners. “Whoever took part, in one way or another, in Daphne’s murder, I have this to tell you: However hard you try to evade the justice of men, you will never escape from the justice of God,” he said. “Repent before it is too late.”

        “Addressing her fellow journalists, the archbishop said: “Do not be afraid.””

  14. “one of the world’s most bloodshoaked and authoritarian figures, Vladimir Putin, …” Surely you jest. Or are misinformed. Or are failing to tell the truth.

    1. My thought also.

      “Putin regime”

      They do have elections in Russia and also Russia only has about 7 base outside of their country. Amerika has over 900+ around the work according Nick Tures.

      You most have taken hate Russia classes from the cia. How sad

      On another note how about some fall pictures from your side of Amerika.

      1. Amerika has over 900+ around the work according Nick Tures.

        Whose other occupation incorporates creative accounting, no doubt.

          1. Joe6pac, there are about 190 sovereign countries in the world and a couple of dozen dependent territories. No, we don’t have a mean of four or five bases in countries the world over. Over the post-war period, between 70% and 87% of our military manpower has been stationed in the United States and most of those posted abroad during the post-Cold War era have been located in one of five countries (Germany, Japan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait).

            The guy is either lying or counting six guys working in a Defense Attache’s office as a ‘base’.

            I take the time to note he’s a familiar red haze type. Quality people do not seek or land work at The Nation Institute.

              1. No, it’s a crank site. And it’s not referring to ‘bases’ either.

  15. It’s not surprising to learn that he hails from Malta.

    “Hailing from the European Union’s smallest nation – the Mediterranean island of Malta – he parlayed roles advising the government there into top positions with educational institutions that bear exalted-sounding names but are little-known even within academia.” -sfgate

    Daphne Caruana Galizia wrote extensively about governmental corruption in Malta:

    http://www.dw.com/en/malta-europe-reels-from-murder-of-journalist-daphne-caruana-galizia/a-40996863

    The killing of Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia sent shockwaves across Europe a day after her car exploded near her home, prompting the European Commission to condemn it in the “strongest possible terms” on Tuesday.

    “We are horrified by the fact that the well-known and respected journalist Mrs. Daphne Caruana Galizia lost her life yesterday in what was seemingly a targeted attack,” said Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas.

    “The right of a journalist to investigate, ask uncomfortable questions and report effectively is at the heart of our values and needs to be guaranteed at all times. We trust now that justice will be brought even if this will not be enough to right this wrong.”

    Caruana Galizia wrote extensively on corruption within the Maltese government. Her writing in the wake of the massive document leak commonly referred to as the Panama Papers forced an early elections in the EU country after it implicated two Maltese cabinet members. -dw

    1. It’s not surprising to learn that he hails from Malta.

      Malta is an affluent constitutional republic with fairly high standards of personal conduct incorporated into its local culture. It also has extraordinarily handsome cityscapes. Of course they’re slammed by Mme. Hall Monitor, because she’s not nasty.

      1. TSFS/SOT… wrote: “Malta is an affluent constitutional republic with fairly high standards of personal conduct incorporated into its local culture. It also has extraordinarily handsome cityscapes.”

        SOT/TSFS/DSS purposely misses the point:

        “Malta’s overdue struggle against corruption, crooks and imbeciles”

        http://www.dw.com/en/maltas-overdue-struggle-against-corruption-crooks-and-imbeciles/a-41018676

        “The murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia has refocused attention on corruption and money-laundering scandals in Malta. The island that critics – including her own son – described as a “mafia state.””

            1. Didn’t this journalist also expose the Clintons in the Panama Papers? It would be interesting for sure to see how the Putin / Clinton deaths compare!!!

              1. The British press has been reporting that she was a defendant in 42 defamation suits. The number of people who had a beef with her was quite large. I also suspect that if you’re being sued by 40-odd people at one time due diligence is not your standard practice.

                1. ““The libel threshold in Malta is low, and to respond – simply to say you’re contesting it – you have to pay something like €900 into court. They came at her like that in groups, businessmen, politicians, often with foreign lawyers.”

                  This year alone, says Matthew, counting off the names on his fingers, “15 – no, maybe even 20 people” filed for libel against his mother. One guy, a wealthy businessman, “filed 19 suits, one for every sentence in one of her articles”.” -from the following article

                  https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/19/daphne-caruana-galizia-establishment-was-out-to-get-her-says-family

                  “I was sitting at the table there,” said Matthew, himself a Pulitzer prizewinning investigative journalist. “I heard the explosion; the windows rattled, the whole house vibrated. I knew she was dead before I got up from my chair.”

                  Daphne Caruana Galizia had made many enemies in the 30 years since she first began skewering alleged high-level corruption in Malta’s political, business and criminal elites – often, she would argue, one and the same, or at least closely connected – in print. …

                  There was “a concerted attempt to ruin her financially”, adds Andrew. “The libel threshold in Malta is low, and to respond – simply to say you’re contesting it – you have to pay something like €900 into court. They came at her like that in groups, businessmen, politicians, often with foreign lawyers.”

                  This year alone, says Matthew, counting off the names on his fingers, “15 – no, maybe even 20 people” filed for libel against his mother. One guy, a wealthy businessman, “filed 19 suits, one for every sentence in one of her articles”.

                  With the support of their father, her husband Peter, a “completely unflappable” lawyer, Daphne Caruana Galizia nonetheless gave her sons “a normal childhood”, says Matthew. “We were her priority, always,” he says.

                  “But she remained capable of outrage. That’s the thing. She never, ever became cynical. Despite all she knew about everything that’s rotten in this country, she never became cynical.” And there are things about Malta, this family now knows, that smell very rotten indeed.

                  They outline, in detail, cases of investigations not pursued, of reports suppressed, of honest law enforcement officials threatened and inquiries quashed, on the orders of politicians.

                  “There has been,” says Matthew, “a takedown of the rule of law here. There has been capture of the state by corrupt and criminal corporations. The institutions do not work. There is a climate of impunity.” …

                  Daphne’s family are not confident her death will change any of this. “It will take other people,” says Matthew. “Part of what led to this is that no one else did anything. They shrugged their shoulders. In a normal country, a failure of the state would be recognised, the institutions of civil society would move in, fix things. But what can move in here? This is not a normal country.” – Jon Henley, The Guardian

                  1. The man in question is offering a justification for what he does for a living and for what his mother does for a living.

                    This is a country were

                    1. The frequency of burglary has been running at about 140 per 100,000 and that of robbery at 12 per 100,000. The corresponding figures for the United States are 470 per 100,000 and 103 per 100,000.

                    2. The life expectancy at birth is 82 years.

                    3. The adult literacy rate is 93% and the youth literacy rate is 100%.

                    4. The unemployment rate is currently 4%. The employment-to-population ratio is 0.67.

                    5. Price indices are increasing at rates just north of 1% per year

                    6. The public sector accounts and the balance of payments are in surplus.

                    7. The per capita product is running at about $25,000 per annum, similar to the United States ca. 1972.

                    8. Legal separations, while too numerous, are running at a rate which suggests about 20% of all marriages will eventually breakdown (not the 40% which is the norm elsewhere in the occidental world)

                    9. Illegitimate births, while too numerous, have yet to breach 30% of all births. N.B. Abortion is absolutely illegal in Malta

                    10. There have been no breaches in the continuity of constitutional government since 1962. N.B. if, given local income levels, American members of Congress were paid what Maltese MP’s receive, they’d have compensation packages of around $75,000 per year. Cash salary alone for the U.S. Congress is 2.3x that.

                    This is the sinister and dysfunctional society against this woman and her son have been crusading.

                    1. If only your rosy little “picture” told the full tale, AandA.

                      (AandA (aka SOT, DSS, TSFS and who knows how many other socks…) rarely provides any sources to back up her — I mean “his” — claims.)

                      “Malta was the 48th happiest country on earth, according to a 2013 UN report. For those keeping score, the U.S. was 17th.” -Huff Post

                    3. Again: Your rosy little “picture” isn’t reality, AandA (SOT, DSS, TSFS…).

                      You see what you want to see.

                      “Another Malta protest demands justice for slain journalist”

                      EURACTIV October 30, 2017 1:49:43 AM CDT

                      https://www.euractiv.com/section/justice-home-affairs/news/another-malta-protest-demands-justice-for-slain-journalist/

                      Article:

                      Thousands of people in Malta took to the streets for the second Sunday in a row (29 October), saying they will not be silenced until there is justice for murdered journalist and anti-corruption blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia.

                      Organisers said 10,000 people took part in the rally in Sliema, across the harbour from capital Valletta, in honour of the 53-year-old who was killed in a car bombing on 16 October.

                      Initial shock at the death of a woman whose work probed the murky corners of Maltese politics, rattling the government and opposition alike, has since given way to anger at the authorities.

                      “We cannot take freedom of expression for granted. Look at what happened to Daphne,” protester Henry Cardona told AFP. He said he was there with family and friends to express “disdain” at the murder.

                      Blogger Jacques Zammit said Caruana Galizia’s family does not only wish for the culprit to be brought to justice, but they want to see the rule of law, democracy and freedom to be restored to the island.

                      “The state no longer serves the country but the inner circles of power,” he said in a speech read out by a friend.

                      Europol to help probe Maltese journalist murder

                      Three investigators from Europol will be travelling to Malta to help the probe into the murder of Maltese journalist and anti-corruption campaigner Daphne Caruana Galizia, police said on Thursday (27 October).

                      Some in the crowd carried placards saying “We will not be silenced” and “Our country deserves better”, while others blew whistles as John Lennon’s song “Imagine” and Pink Floyd’s “Wish You Were Here” played on loudspeakers.

                      As in previous rallies, organisers called for the resignation of the police commissioner and the attorney general, who they say are responsible for the current state of affairs which led to the journalist’s death.

                      The killing has prompted much soul-searching on the island of 430,000 people over whether the country was becoming a cesspit of corruption against the backdrop of an economic boom in which organised crime and money-laundering have reportedly flourished.

                      Murder of Malta’s top investigative journalist provokes shock and outrage

                      Daphne Caruana Galizia, Malta’s top investigative journalist, was killed on Monday (16 October) when the car she was driving exploded shortly after she left her home.

                      Caruana Galizia was often described as a “one-woman Wikileaks” for unflinchingly bringing political dirt to the surface with dogged research into alleged financial corruption by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s inner circle, largely based on the Panama Papers leak.

                      After her death her family accused Muscat of filling his office with crooks and creating a culture of impunity that turned Malta into a “mafia island”.

                      Investigators from Europol, FBI officers and Dutch forensic police will assist in the prob -e into the murder amid fears that the assassination would not be fairly handled by national investigators. -EURACTIV

                    4. Again: Your rosy little “picture” isn’t reality, AandA (SOT, DSS, TSFS…).

                      It is reality, just one you cannot bear to acknowledge.

                      You say stupid and perverse things, then double-down. Rinse, repeat.

              2. Late to the party as usual, and you beat me to the punch Autumn. Exactly what I was thinking. That was the first thing I thought of at the time. Putin doesn’t have anything to fear from the panama papers. Clintons on the other hand…

          2. Swathmoremom is cool with being unwilling or unable to correctly render anyone’s viewpoint and with playing s****ty forensic games with people. Good thing she isn’t ‘nasty’.

        2. Public corruption varies according to time and place. It’s presence is a function of governments being run by human beings. Come to think of it, street crime is also a function of having human beings present. Malta’s homicide rate at 1.0 per 100,000 is quite normal for Europe. Homicide at that level of frequency is commonly the result of bar fights or domestic disputes.

          I’m sure you find it probative that someone made a floridly stupid remark (“a mafia state”).

          1. More spin by the nasty one — who also happens to be naive, narrow-minded — AND a narrow-thinker.

  16. What is the point of FARA? It doesn’t sound so much as a law but rather a suggestion, if you get caught. If you fail to follow the law and get caught, then you have 10 days to properly register. That leaves it wide open to abuse.

      1. Absolutely. My guess is FARA violations are controlling the political class; or at least one significant way they are being controlled. We seem to be more strict on domestic campaign finance violations than we are on uncovering the foreign money influencing politics and policy. Insider trading is likely another.

        1. Olly, my guess is the FARA violators in DeeCee are like the multiple Harvey Weinsteins/Ben Afflecks of Hollywood. Everyone knows what they’re doing, but nobody is going to squeal because they know which side of their bread is buttered. Insider trading: same deal.

  18. apparent love for one of the world’s most bloodsoaked authoritarian figures, Vladimir Putin, h

    That’s a bizarre description of Putin. The real Vladimir Putin is a cynical machine boss running a regime Dmitri Simes characterized as ‘managed pluralism’. He’s presided over considerable improvement in the quality of life in Russia, which is why he is much admired by the Russian public. (The contrast between Putin in this regard and Chavez / Maduro in Venezuela is instructive).

    The most blood-soaked thing he’s done is suppress the Chechen insurrection. I don’t know what you expect a central government to do when it confronts an armed rebellion; his strategy and tactics were less bloody and more effective than those his predecessor employed, which is why Chechenya is passably tranquil today.

    The insurrection in Donbass is deplorable but it’s fairly penny ante compared to other post-war conflicts.

    1. “The insurrection in Donbass is deplorable but it’s fairly penny ante compared to other post-war conflicts.”

      Pretty much, unless you listen to the neolib press. Considering the work of Kagan and Nuland the Cookie Monster, the “dripping and blood-soaked one (I guess droning people doesn’t get you a “blood-soaked designation since you bake any blood to a solid that way),” had to draw a line in the sand at some point. Nothing like more creeps getting us in more trouble we really don’t need to pay for at this point. Kind of like McCain and Georgia.

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