TRUTHSQUARE.com

Truth Squared: TV in Moldova - another proof of a corrupted system

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 03:30:51 -0500

The new democratic alliance that came to power last year in this country, has proclaimed European integration to be its main political priority. That seems to be an enormous task, especially taking into account the depth of spiritual and cultural integration of Moldovans into the CIS orbit of influence. I personally even wouldn’t try to change that, because Moldova is in a way a special place, different from Romania, on one side, and different from Ukraine and Russia, on the other. Moldovans themselves, especially business people, are always stressing out that Moldova is ideally situated in between two continents and two cultures and it should become a perfect bridgehead for businesses going in two directions: from South East Europe to former Soviet Union and vice verso.

Right, Moldova is special and this is confirmed by many foreigners visiting this nice welcoming country with goodhearted people, excellent foods and wines, picturesque countryside.

It is also very special because being a small nation, due to various historical reasons, it has become a trade-off instrument in big geopolitical games and commercial interests...

Truth Squared: British Petroleum oil spill from another angle

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:50:09 -0500

Accidents happen. No one is immune to that.

It happened also to British Petroleum, a prominent international company. The exact causes of the explosion, which led to the huge continuous leak of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, are still to be determined. Strangely, it coincided in time with Obama’s intentions to lift ban on off-shore drilling, which due to new technologies started to be regarded as an environmentally safe operation.

Not any more.

Al Qaida yet again? A plot to stop off-shore drilling again, and keep America on a needle of foreign oil imports? A plot to kill BP? Versions vary.

News are full of reports that BP’s shares are at lowest in 15 years. Web is full of predictions that BP will collapse.

It reminds me of PanAm, which no one could have imagined that it might disappear. But it did after that sorrow accident. One accident, and you are wiped off the market, even if you are number one.

Remember Enron? It used to be a success case study in some MBA courses...

Truth Squared: Real Hollywood is not so shiny anymore?

Wed, 26 May 2010 06:07:35 -0500

Megan Fox was kicked out of the Transformers sequel. Charlie Sheen steps out of the very cool “Two and a half men”. Disputes, splits, failures, divorces, leaked sex-tapes of the “stars”, DUIs, adoptions turned into a kind of competition, and so on - these elements are probably becoming more characteristic about Hollywood, rather than Oscar red carpets once a year or Hollywood walk of fame.

The world is changing and it seems, yet unnoticeably but steadily, something is changing also in Hollywood. Gone are the times when iconic actors and actresses have been for decades holding the whole world in suspense, causing hysteria when a new movie with the favorite star opened in cinemas.

30-50 years ago the world was slower, there were no mobile phones and no instant emails, no internet movie downloads and no IMDB ratings. Though like today, also then it was called film industry, the industry was different - the art of an actor was deeper and more value and viewer oriented...

Truth Squared: Big fat Greek yielding, or about the rise of a new form of capitalism

Mon, 17 May 2010 00:48:05 -0500

There is something fishy going on lately about international financial markets. Or are we just witnessing a new phenomena, yet to be contoured and named?

Last century crises struck about once in a decade and were mostly caused by economic misbalances in production or demand. As economies intensified and rapidly globalized and economic science developed, the recovery cycles lasted shorter and shorter, and have been nicely and sweetly called market corrections.

Everybody blamed then industrial capitalism and globalization.

But neither is actually as bad as something new emerging recently. Industrial capitalism and globalization now would seem just a natural course of historic evolution and rosy economic development compared to the current era of derivatives domination and vulnerable electronic markets, which have the potential to bring us into real chaos if no adequate measures are undertaken fast.

The beginning of the new phenomena was in August-September 2007, when the mortgage bubble showed signs that it wanted to blow for the first time...

Truth Squared: Is DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) on vehicles really saving environment?

Wed, 05 May 2010 09:55:22 -0500

DPF is now widely installed on cars as an additional tool for cleaning the micro soot particles from diesel engines exhaust gases.

My Range Rover has a DPF, too. Once in 6-8 weeks the PDF computer alarm turns on, announcing that the PDF is full and I have to undertake a special regeneration procedure. In simple terms, I have to drive at a certain speed with engine revolutions not lower than certain speed, until such a driving regime burns out the soot and resets the filter anew, all in all usually taking up to 30-40 minutes per attempt.

You are lucky, if you drive your car mostly on highways for a longer time, then the PDF resetting procedure is easy. However, if you are driving short distances mostly in town, and that is my case (and I guess, that is the case for most of us), then PDF regeneration is a very annoying thing. You have to go somewhere out of town onto a highway (if there is one), and start “burning” gas in vain.

Last time I tried 4 times per 40 minutes and it didn’t want to work!

Now you calculate: I burned half of the gas tank of diesel (about 40 liters) just into the atmosphere, and I didn’t have any luck in resetting the filter, anyway...

Truth Squared: Was Russia behind the tragic death of Lech Kaczynski?

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 21:40:46 -0500

There is no doubt conspiracy theories will long survive the tragic death of Polish President Kaczynski. It has always been and will always be the same perception of similar cases when prominent politicians suddenly get into strange accidents.

The strangeness of this accident is, however, not how did it happen, but why and when. How - seems a widely accepted fact that the pilot has been under enormous presidential pressure of "You must land under any circumstances here and now!" in spite of several failed attempts to land in a pretty bad visibility conditions and in spite of flight control authorities advice to fly either to Moscow or Minsk.

Strangeness of why and when seem to be linked both to the personality of Mr.Kaczynski and to the most important question in any conspiracy theories of who is to gain most from his death?

Lech Kazcynski was obviously a very charismatic personality, and I'd say the last mohicans not only of the Solidarnost movement, but also of the outgoing generation of East European leaders born and raised under socialist rule, which imprinted on most of them a very special mark of state quality (in former Soviet block it was a sign of top quality)...

Truth Squared: What mars the truth and progress in Moldova?

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:09:18 -0500

A year ago on April 7th, 2009, young protesters on the streets of Moldova have made the whole world talk about this small country, which for 8 long years has been ravaged by a corrupt communist regime. Images of burning Parliament and President’s office, of violent clashes between youth and police forces, of police retaliation in the night, as a result of which a few people have died and hundreds of others have been thrown into prisons and abused and tortured, will probably forever remain in the history of new Moldova.

After another election in July 2009 the young democratic parties have won a slight majority in the Moldovan Parliament and managed to set up a four party ruling coalition. However, as a result of failing to elect a President, Moldova is facing another round of parliamentary elections in 2010. Obviously, in one year no one can do much and reset a totally deformed and corrupt state system. Regretfully, the young inexperienced alliance has made a lot of mistakes, which disappointed much of the population and may cost the young democrats dare soon, as rumors about a comeback of the communists, or at least a kind of a center-left coalition, loom...

Truth Squared: Avatar, Apple iPad and future of Apple shares.

Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:42:16 -0600

The world divided after the January presentation of iPad by Steve Jobs: a part is impatiently awaiting for the moment to grasp the gadget, while another part concluded a priori that this time Apple has produced an unnecessary product, which will become a failure.

I hesitated. On one side, as a convinced Apple user for many years, I was glad to see a new nice gadget, whereas on the other - I couldn't figure out iPad's usability and niche. I have a big iMac for home use, a MacBook Air for business travel, and iPhone - for everything else, with its hundreds of helpful applications. (A man in Haiti was rescued from under the debris after the earthquake, having survived for about 10 days with severe injuries, due to the instructions on medical first aid he had on his iPhone application! - Now all of you who still doubt the iPhone tell me it isn't brilliant?!)

That is exactly the point about iPhone: its applications and internet capabilities are ideal for checks and spot references, but you can't read a lot or surf internet with pleasure for a longer time! In the chain Apple desktop - portable notebook - iPhone, iPad is the missing link between the last two, as I would never carry around with me a notebook, which is quite heavy, expensive and always need to open...

Truth Squared: Who is the true pig that started the swine flu?

Sun, 17 Jan 2010 02:43:06 -0600

For almost one year the swine flue keeps the whole world in terror suspense: France, Australia, UK, Romania, Ukraine, Moldova, other East European countries - you name it. “Pandemic!” - loudly threaten “the experts”. Vaccines appeared like magic and produced for billions of dollars, and already paid in advance, masks sold for hundreds of millions. Good - one could hardly argue that inaction in such cases is not an option and would be much worse.

But somehow, it seems that people don’t buy it till the end. Even the fact that, in spite of numerous deaths caused by the illness, there is a strong silent opposition to vaccination, which I think is due not only because of potential severe side effects that can be caused by the vaccine, indirectly proves that something is fishy about the virus.

The first standalone hero to vociferate the doubt about the virus was the Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who said in November 2009 that lobbyists of pharmaceutical companies were responsible for creating the global hysteria over the swine flu virus...

Truth Squared: Low cost Air Baltic: beware of cheap tricks, Soviet style treatment and unpleasant surprises!

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 05:12:37 -0600

Two weeks ago I bought two Air Baltic tickets from Chisinau to Stockholm via Riga. Air Baltic is a low cost airline, which found its niche in connecting East European, Baltic and Scandinavian countries. Though far from the service level of leading European companies and running some obsolete planes, nevertheless, Air Baltic does its job with a strong sensation of a “soviet socialist” services.

While booking the tickets on internet you will be asked how many luggage items you will check-in, and you will be given several options: from 10 Euros per bag to 192 Euros for 8 bags! There are no details on this page about exact terms and requirements related to checked-in baggage. Thus, an ordinary customer would assume that 1 bag=20kg, which is an internationally accepted norm of one piece of luggage transported for free by one person. I paid for 3 pieces of luggage, having sorted out that 3 bags for 2 persons would suffice to cover the needs of a long trip.

But at the check-in counter it turned out to be a nightmare and complete absurdity, when the personnel put into our faces quite a strange Air Baltic explanation on a piece of paper: 1 bag should not exceed 20 kg, and all bags of a passenger should not exceed 20 kg! Thus, even if you paid for 8 bags, their overall weight should not exceed 20 kilos...

True Statistics: Do you think that British Petroleum oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, which after two months of intense leak has turned into a huge natural disaster:

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 07:54:45 -0500

Has to be addressed not only by BP, but by international community, which could bring financial and technical means to stop it
A problem of BP and USA
Still is an exclusive BP’s problem
Is not a big problem at all

True Statistics: Catholic church sex abuse scandal is caused by:

Sun, 23 May 2010 23:07:24 -0500

immorality and impunity of separate bad priests;
the crisis of the creed;
the crisis of the institution;
subversive actions of another creed.
hostile campaign by the media and abortion rights and pro-gay groups;

True Statistics: The Greek crisis and fall of Euro are both cause and effect of:

Wed, 05 May 2010 10:45:25 -0500

The serious crack in the common economic policy of the EU with unpredictable long term consequences
TheGovernment's mismanagement of a single country without long term implications
The beginning of the end of the Euro, unable to be a unique currency for so many different economies
The conspiracy actions of international financial speculators to topple the Euro
The first serious short term failure in the economic fundament of the European Union

True Statistics: Chernobyl nuclear power station disaster: are we safer 25 years later?

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 04:00:58 -0500

Yes, nuclear energy technology is safer now and is cheap, and we should rethink our attitude towards it, and build more nuclear power stations.
Yes, nuclear energy technology is safer now, but we shouldn’t risk anyway.
No, we should not build new nuclear power stations, but better develop alternative energy productions.
It all doesn’t matter, as we are anyway approaching the end of the world.
No, we should not build new nuclear power stations, because the technology is still risky.

True Statistics: Moldova will revive as a state because or only if:

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 14:13:06 -0500

In any case, because european integration will inevitably change Moldova.
A new generation of free and honest politicians without skeletons in the closet will come to power.
Will not revive soon, because Moldova does not have new visionary leaders with global views.
In any case after the next parliamentary elections.
In any case, due to the international donors’ aid of 2.6 billion USD.

True Statistics: Do you think the new "swine flu" virus A(H1N1) broke out as a result of:

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:28:03 -0500

conspiracy activity of pharmaceutical companies, longing for extra profits and stocks value increases;
natural accidental contamination of a pig at a small farm in Mexico, where the virus mutated and later spread into the world;
terror plots.

True Statistics: Who has the real power in modern Russia?

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:51:49 -0500

President Dmitrii Medvedev
Prime-Minister Vladimir Putin
Financial-Industrial oligarchs
High ranking KGB/FSB officers
Military-industrial complex

True Statistics: Whose "game" the Talibans are playing in Pakistan?

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:51:49 -0500

China's growing geopolitical appetites
Drugs and arms dealers from Afghanistan
It's their own ideologic drive to control that region, supported by Iran
India's interest to destabilize the country and exert more control
United States CIA, interested to oppose China's influence

True Statistics: Which scenarios will follow the current Talibans insurgence in Pakistan?

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:51:49 -0500

The local war will get over Pakistan borders and will become a regional full fledged conflict
A third country (or coalition of states) will intervene in order to prevent Taliban access to nukes
An armistice will be reached soon, which will become a short-term palliative
Talibs will overthrow the Government in a blitzkrieg and will install Sharia law all over Pakistan
A local painful and long lasting civil war within Pakistan

True Statistics: Which scenarios will follow the unrest in Moldova caused by results of the parliamentary elections on April 5, which opposition claims to have been rigged?

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 14:51:49 -0500

The Parliament will convene, but the its credibility will remain tainted, which will serve as a hidden mine later
The Parliament will not be able to elect a President and there will be new elections
The Parliament will convene and everything will be fine again
The Parliament will convene and President will be elected, this being the most important for communists, but due to economic collapse there would be new elections in Moldova later this year
To eliminate any doubts over their credibility communists will agree for a runoff elections

Lie Detector

Fri, 16 Jul 2010 23:35:16 -0500

have u ever cheated on me/?

Lie Detector

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:49:06 -0500

Famous Australian professor Frank Fenner: human species is on the course of irreversible self-destruction and will disappear in about a hundred years due to inability to withstand overpopulation and exaggerated consumption.

Lie Detector

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 01:48:19 -0500

Tanning beds are dangerous as their frequent use triple the risk of getting melanoma, a deadly skin cancer.

Lie Detector

Sun, 23 May 2010 22:56:00 -0500

Pope Benedict XVI: "The greatest persecution of the church does not come from enemies on the outside but it is born from the sins within the church."

Lie Detector

Sun, 23 May 2010 22:53:50 -0500

Catholic church sex abuse scandal is not the crisis of the creed, but it is crisis of the institution

Lie Detector

Sun, 23 May 2010 21:47:55 -0500

Recently retired Dem Senator Evan Bayh: American political system "dysfunctional", riddled with "brain-dead partisanship" and permanent campaigning

Lie Detector

Sun, 23 May 2010 21:34:42 -0500

Social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Digg, and others are a serious risk to users' privacy!

Lie Detector

Sun, 23 May 2010 21:28:33 -0500

The first synthetic cell cretaed by scientists poses a threat of a Pandora box

Lie Detector

Sun, 09 May 2010 00:01:18 -0500

Absence of any meaningful action on behalf of EU's President Herman Van Rompuy about the Greek crisis and attack on the Euro, show that his new position is a senseless byproduct of the European bureaucracy.

Lie Detector

Wed, 05 May 2010 14:12:32 -0500

Pepsi is better than Coca-Cola

Knight of Truth: Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, 2010 World Cup match with England

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 02:17:06 -0500

Uruguayan referee Jorge Larrionda’s ruling out of England’s Frank Lampard’s goal against Germany in South Africa, is probably one of the most unfair and shameful referee mistakes in recent history of football World Cups. While all the world clearly saw the goal, it seems only the referees didn’t notice that the ball crossed the line for over a meter. While we can admit the referee’s view angle was the reason of this blunder, the foxy actions of Germany’s goalkeeper Manuel Neuer were far from sports fair honest play. It was vivid, that for a split second he clearly saw the ball falling a meter over the gate line (which he later officially admitted), but after the ball unexpectedly bounced back, he grabbed the ball and rushed it back into the game pretending that nothing happened, and thus fooled the referee even more. I wonder, will the goalie himself be happy with such an action?

Knight of Truth: Kevin Costner, "Waterworld" actor and protector of waters?

Mon, 28 Jun 2010 01:12:50 -0500

While British Petroleum struggles to cap the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, which turns to be the worst ecological catastrophe in history, and while politicians are pointing at each other, the famous “Waterworld” actor has come with a new technology, in which he had invested about 20 million USD and spent about 15 years, able to clean the oil-contaminated water at a 99% efficiency rate. The up to 1% residual traces of oil remaining in the cleaned water has been for many years a hurdle for Kevin Costner’s attempts to market the centrifuge oil-cleaning technology in a tough industry, which has been focusing mainly on extraction of oil and not on spending cash on environment preservation machinery. Or was it an excuse not to acknowledge success of a stranger to the system? In any case, thanks to perseverance and dedication of such men as Kevin Costner, they have now technology to help clean the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico (and first 32 machines are ordered).

Knight of Truth: Dmitrii Ciubashenko, a daring journalist from Moldova

Mon, 26 Apr 2010 03:47:20 -0500

Dmitrii Ciubashenko is probably the best journalist in Moldova writing in Russian language. Always inquisitive, always investigative, always challenging, he has been consistently trying to expose the political events in Moldova from beyond the facade. Probably because of the qualities mentioned, he has been for many years persona non grata in the office of the communist President Voronin. The newspapers he had founded launched several journalist investigations that led to exposure of vastly spread corruption and mismanagement in the state sector of the country. Considered by many an uncomfortable writer, he ultimately proves to be devoted to his profession, through which he courageously tries to uncover the Truth.

Knight of Truth: Constantin Tanase, prominent Moldovan journalist

Sun, 25 Apr 2010 23:39:30 -0500

Constantin Tanase, not only just a prominent Moldovan journalist with firm principles of promoting freedom of speech and democratic principles in the society, but also a true professional of the written word, who has been consistently critical of all the evils of modern Moldova for the past 20 years, and has always promoted spirituality and high moral values, often in a way mixed with good popular sense of humor. During the communist regime Constantin Tanase’s publications in “Timpul” magazine were the only source of public information, which exposed the abuses of the regime, and he himself has become a vociferous supporter of the liberal opposition. In spite of the fact that liberals are now in power in Moldova, he continues to be the same sharp critical writer, which once again strongly reminds that any democracy risks to sink in complacency and degrade without a good free mass-media criticism.

Knight of Truth: Fidel Castro - Former President of Cuba

Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:31:01 -0500

At least three quarters of Cubans consider him to be the true leader. For several decades the United States attempted to get rid of Fidel Castro, but he managed to outlast nine American presidents after taking power back in 1959. He is known for his long-lasting anti-American and anti-imperialism speeches. He opposed capitalism and said: "I find capitalism repugnant. It is filthy, it is gross, it is alienating... because it causes war, hypocrisy and competition." Despite the fact that a lot of people (mostly outside Cuba) had unsympathetic feelings towards him, Castro did succeed in registering considerable improvements in Cuba. He made medical care freely available for everyone, there's also 98 percent literacy (one of the highest in the world) and the infant mortality rates in the country is almost on the same level as in the Western countries. In addition, Castro, being friend with Hugo Chavez, managed to achieve advantageous agreements with the oil-rich Venezuela. His supporters say that Cuba has one of the most efficient healthcare systems and a stable government, while those who criticize him claim that Cuba constantly violates human rights, Castro is a dictator and that the country has a stagnant economy, remaining far behind modern living standards...

Knight of Truth: Sergey Dorenko - a controversial Russian anchorman

Thu, 28 Jan 2010 07:52:37 -0600

Sergey Dorenko is one of the most notorious anchormen in Russia, a cause for many political disputes and controversies. A TV presenter, who, on one side, definitely has a charisma and is well prepared and highly professional, and, on the other side, is often referred to as "killer presenter" for his excessive spite, wicked criticism, and unscrupulous language. Recently, after the first round of presidential elections in Ukraine, when asked to comment on the outcome, he said that Ukrainians hate Russians, hate Europeans, hate Americans and the only one thing Ukrainians like and care for is money, and that is why it doesn't matter who wins. Before that for many years he was considered a puppet in the hands of questionable Russian exiled oligarch Boris Berezovsky, whereas others say he is one of the most talented mouthpiece of Russian special services

Knight of Truth: Prime-Minister Vlad Filat: a Moldovan leader of a new generation?

Sat, 14 Nov 2009 10:37:00 -0600

In a country for 8 years dominated by iron rule of communists Mr.Filat has displayed courage and artfulness in setting up a new party, into which he managed to attract a lot of young well educated people and lots of other people fed up by abuses of the communist administration. It was not easy, because communists tried to use prefabricated criminal accusations against Filat and engaged the whole state controlled propaganda machine into discrediting the man. Whereas in 2007, when Mr.Filat left the anemic Democratic Party of Moldova and took part in Mayoral elections in Chisinau, he had quite a pale image and modest results, already in two years his LDPM came second in the parliamentary elections in Moldova, with its Chairman having been appointed as Prime Minister. Vlad Filat was said to be another authoritarian politician, but the growing number of party members and supporters prove the opposite and shows his ability to learn, adapt and succeed in politics. Others say he has no charisma, but instead his actions show he has a backbone, follows party principles and keeps his word, all of which for a politician may be even more important...

Knight of Truth: Mahmoud Ahmadinejad

Tue, 29 Sep 2009 08:32:41 -0500

He is the president that is not like other that Iran has seen, being considered not only controversial but also aggressive and na�ve. A lot of people, especially those outside Iran consider Ahmadinejad's actions fundamentalist and nationalist and the president himself is thought to be a dark genius in terms of controlling the Iranian public opinion. Since he has become the President of Iran, Ahmadinejad created the image of a troublesome and noteworthy figure worldwide. His idea of enriching uranium in the country raised serious concerns, especially in the United States. The people of Iran elected Ahmadinejad hoping the he would improve their wellbeing. During his presidential campaign he used the slogan "We can do it" to signal that the future president will bring corruption to an end. His message said that Iran should become stronger and now is the right time. The country's nuclear power has become its main priority and one of the most serious issues for other nations. A lot of criticism has also been raised around the Iranian president's disregard of Israel as legitimate and his statement saying that the Holocaust was a myth...

Knight of Truth: Hugo Chavez – President of Venezuela

Sat, 12 Sep 2009 03:38:21 -0500

Ever since he was elected, the majority of the American media has been seeing him as a dictator and nonconformist, mainly because Hugo Chavez has continuously criticized globalization and the foreign policy of the United States (he even described the former US president George Bush as a "the Devil"). He has been promoting socialism and cooperation between the Latin America and the Caribbean. His policies were both criticized and praised in Venezuela and overseas. He signed an oil agreement with Iran, another country that earned little favor from the United States. The government of the United States has always considered that Hugo Chavez represents a threat to democracy for the whole Latin America. However, a lot of governments support his ideology and are positive about his agreements regarding bilateral trades and mutual help. Time magazine named Hugo Chaves one of the 100 most influential people. His opponents consider that Chavez is steadily implementing a dictatorship, but Chavez responds to these accusations by saying that his opponents are short of ideas and he invites citizens of different nations to visit Venezuela, walk down the streets of its cities, watch television, talk to different people and read papers, thus discovering that Venezuela represents a true democracy where human rights are respected, where education, social security and healthcare are the main priorities...

Knight of Truth: Angelina Jolie

Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:00:32 -0500

Besides being a famous actress, winning 3 Golden Globe Awards, 2 Screen Actors Guild Awards and 1 Academy Award, Angelina Jolie also spends a lot of time visiting various refugee camps and taking part in numerous humanitarian programs worldwide. She was appointed as Goodwill Ambassador for the UN Refugee Agency and is highly respected for her participation in supporting the refugees through Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Jolie continuously attempts to stay up-to-date with the situation and conditions in the world's poorest regions. She got acquainted with refugees in over 20 countries. When asked about the goals she expected to accomplish, Angelina Jolie said: "Awareness of the plight of these people. I think they should be commended for what they have survived, not looked down upon." After the United Nations Correspondents Association created in 2003 the Citizen of the World Award, Angelina Jolie was the first one to be awarded. It is worth mentioning that the famous Hollywood actress is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, which is considered to be the most influential foreign-policy think tank...