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“A riddle wrapped up in an enigma” is a shortened form of a quotation made in October 1939, just one month after the Second World War had begun, by Sir Winston Churchill in a radio broadcast to the British people. At the time, Churchill was First Lord of the Admiralty. The full comment was “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma…” Somehow that statement popped up into my head as I tried to decipher the meaning of the Yevgeny Prigozhin alleged coup attempt in Russia on Saturday June 24th, an unanticipated development that has energized the imaginations of pundits and government officials worldwide, generating a torrent of written articles as well as many hours’ worth of spoken commentary.

The deadly Israeli invasion of Jenin on July 3 was not a surprise. 

 Also, unsurprising is the fact that the killing of 12 Palestinians, wounding of 120 more and the destruction of nearly 80 percent of the Jenin Refugee Camp’s homes and infrastructure will not make an iota of a difference. 

 Even Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, despite his lofty promises of destroying the “safe haven ... of the terrorist enclave in Jenin”, must have known that his bloody exercise was ultimately futile. 

Although the Church Committee's investigation into abuses of the CIA, FBI and NSA was a watershed moment in American history, few books have been written with a focus on Frank Church. James Risen has added to this story by writing “The Last Honest Man: The CIA, the FBI, the Mafia, and the Kennedys—and One Senator's Fight to Save Democracy”, which is essentially a biography of Church, and is an important contribution to understanding the workings of the Church Committee.

Free Press readers may know that Dennis Kucinich is the campaign manager for Robert F Kennedy Jr.  He has had a long standing relationship with Bob Fitrakis and the Free Press.  Recall that Congressman Dennis submitted articles of impeachment against George W Bush in 2008. His political career began as the youngest elected mayor of Cleveland, where he fought and won against privitization of the electric industry by First Energy.  The Democratic party in Ohio assisted in removing him from office during a redistricting process which favored Marcy Kaptor.  During his time in office, he advocated for creation of a Department of Peace, to counter the influence of the Military Industrical Complex. 

We encourage readers to subscribe to Mr. Kucinich on substack, here. https://substack.com/@denniskucinich

For our GREEP Zoom #143 at Green Power & Wellness, RACHEL COYLE explains how Ohio is trying to gut the referendum process while facing statewide votes to protect a woman’s right to choose both abortion and marijuana.

WENDI LEDERMAN adds in the bad news from Florida, where she is being physically harassed in the course of gathering signatures for a referendum there whose rules have already been rigged.

VINNIE DESTEFANO gives us the latest reporting on the murderous case of Julian Assange in contrast to the hand-wringing over Evan Gershkavitz, the Wall Street Journal reporter being held in Russia for reasons barely parallel to whatever Assange has done.

MIKE HERSH informs us about a critical petition now circulating from Reps. Barbara Lee and Mark Pocan to finally slash some of the excess money being wasted on the military budget.  

DAVID SALTMAN explores the dirty realities of cluster munitions, land mines and depleted uranium in Ukraine.

MYLA RESON ends our first  hour with the lethal realities of the aerosolization of depleted uranium, leaving a death toll of cancer in its wake.

IN OUR SECOND HOUR...