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Why Russia produces (and quashes) so much radical art

Why Russia produces (and quashes) so much radical art tists have always held a special place in Russian society. My father, the playwright Alexander Guelman, was well known in the 1970s and was once lauded by Mikhail Gorbachev as the father of perestroika , the movement for reform within the Communist Party. At that time, theater was changing the perceptions of an entire generation. During the period of glasnost ("openness") in the mid-1980s, restrictions on forbidden books were relaxed . This newly available literature allowed people to evaluate society in ways that had previously been suppressed by communist propaganda. The return of the great writer  Alexander Solzhenitsyn  from exile in 1994 became symbolic of a new era. But by this time, rock music had taken over the roles previously held by theater and literature. The creativity of acts like Mashina Vremeni, Boris Grebenshikov and DDT led the charge for a new, open world. The whole country knew the lyrics by K...

Beijing forces migrant workers from their homes in 'savage' demolitions

Beijing forces migrant workers from their homes in 'savage' demolitions By  Matt Rivers  and  Serenitie Wang , CNN Updated 0825 GMT (1625 HKT) December 9, 2017 Beijing (CNN) Modern Beijing was built on the backs of low-paid migrants like Zhao Guihua. The 50-something cook and cleaner is one of thousands of people critics say have been forced from their homes in the past two weeks   as part of a drive by the municipal government to shut down what it claims is unsafe and overcrowded housing. Now homeless, she's selling all her possessions and preparing to return to her village -- hundreds of miles away in Henan province in central China. "Our apartment was demolished and new housing is too expensive to afford. We're not making enough money," she says, with her shoes, cups, pans, pots, a space heater and tools spread out in front of her on a cloth on the street. "I have no choice but to go home. I...

Sarah Sanders' absolutely unreal explanation of Trump's anti-Muslim video tweets

Sarah Sanders' absolutely unreal explanation of Trump's anti-Muslim video tweets Washington (CNN) On Wednesday morning,  President Donald Trump retweeted three videos purportedly showing Muslims committing acts of violence against Christians . He did so despite the fact that the videos came from a far-right, anti-Muslim group in Britain and remain unverified. Which is all beside the point, according to White House press secretary Sarah Sanders. "Whether it is a real video, the threat is real,"  Sanders told reporters Wednesday morning . "That is what the President is talking about, that is what the President is focused on is dealing with those real threats, and those are real no matter how you look at it." When pressed on the difference between the videos being real or fake, Sanders replied, "I'm not talking about the nature of the video. I think you're focusing on the wrong thing. The threat is real, and that's what the Preside...