Germany’s new chancellor Friedrich Merz has plunged the country into a deep political and geopolitical crisis, driven by aggressive pro-war rhetoric and a failing foreign policy agenda centered on Ukraine.

One way to get a robust, comparative fix on how obscene American global preaching about human rights has become is (borrowing a vivid image from Caitlin Johnstone) to imagine what the world might think about a scorching lecture from a Taliban leader on the Western oppression of women and women’s rights.

Richard Cullen

What America does

Lugansk People’s Republic liberated: How it happened
Russian troops have gained control over all areas of the region, ending Kiev’s occupation

Russian forces have taken complete control of the Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) after over a decade of hostilities in the contested region. The announcement was made Monday by the local governor, Leonid Pasechnik, who confirmed that all remaining settlements occupied by Ukrainian troops had been liberated.

Uprising and declaration of independence

A Melbourne company is recruiting Australians to work on a mysterious Israeli and American-backed aid project in Gaza. Could it be the infamous Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? Yaakov Aharon reports.

An ad posted by Claymore Personnel – named after an anti-personnel landmine – promises that successful candidates will “be looked after.”

Workers will have accommodation expenses in Israel covered, operate in American-led teams, and receive payment in US dollars. 

    by Yaakov Aharon

The implications of Iran’s nuclear program are not what we think. Tehran renounced the atomic bomb in 1988, but is attempting, with Russia’s cooperation, to discover the secrets of nuclear fusion. If it succeeds, it would help the Southern states decolonize by freeing themselves from oil.
As for the implications of the bombing of certain Iranian nuclear sites by the United States, they may also not be what we think.
This affair is all the more opaque because it is not possible today to establish a clear distinction between research on civilian nuclear fusion and military fusion.

Methinks that Allan Patience is naive and over-optimistic… He gives the game away when he writes:

“He is an Australian version of America’s Pete Buttigieg”. Oh boy! Pete Buttigieg was as efficient a Transport Supremo as a dead toad can be used for a road-block. We had high hopes about Pete, but we soon discovered he could not run an outback dunny tipping plate, as customers went for the bushes.

Having been a student of history, not as being told by Professors and historians, but as an observer of street gangs and spaces between the lines, Gus can assure Allan that had the unfortunate Cancun meteorite incident not happened, there is 75 per cent chance the dinosaurs would have evolved into smart beasts and humans would still be rats living in fear of being trodded on (we are but this is beside the point as we breed like rabbits).

From the outset, Moscow condemned Israel's aggression against Iran in sharp terms. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s first official statement left no ambiguity in assigning blame to Tel Aviv.

Israel is doing a damn fine imitation of Lt. Frank Drebin, a character played by Leslie Nielsen in the 1988 comedy film The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! In an iconic scene, Lt. Drebin stands in front of a fireworks explosion and chaos while trying to calm the crowd by saying:

“Nothing to see here, please disperse! Nothing to see here!”

Update on Iran’s Targeting of Israel’s Defense Industry
by Larry C. Johnson

Australia needs to lift its defence spending so it can be a better ally while pushing back against military actions from China, former prime minister Tony Abbott has urged while expressing hope the economic giant may become the world’s most benign superpower.

In an address last week to the Australia China Economics Trade and Culture Association, Abbott, who signed the free trade agreement between the two nations just months before losing the prime ministership in 2015, also urged continuing financial links between the countries while cautioning Australia had to broaden its dependence on China.

The [UK] government’s plan to ban Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation is a hugely significant step in the steady erosion of civil liberties.

This decline began under Tony Blair’s premiership, was advanced by the last Tory government and is now pursued enthusiastically by Keir Starmer, a former human rights lawyer.

His home secretary, Yvette Cooper, will be applauded by Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which said the protestors who spray painted aircraft at RAF Brize Norton should be charged with treason.

The government also knows the move has the added approval of the Israeli government, pro-Israel lobbies and arms companies. 

As the nations bicker, squabble and fight among themselves, their ultimate disintegration becomes more certain and more imminent with each passing day.

Enthralled by the spectacle of leaders of paralysing stupidity disgorging lies, bombs and bombast ad lib, many people seem to have forgotten or chosen to overlook the real monster that is creeping up behind them, sharpening its claws to bring down the entire civilisation.

Julian Cribb

Republican Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, one of the lead sponsors of the sanctions bill, stated earlier that the legislation would impose "bone-breaking sanctions" on Russia and its customers.

War hawk Sen. Lindsey Graham*’s new sanctions bill isn’t just unworkable – it’s self-destructive, warns The Washington Post.

The bill calls for a 500% tariff on any country that buys Russian oil, gas, uranium, or petrochemicals – in other words, most of the non-Western world and a good chunk of America’s own allies.

Actions have causes. That is a fundamental point of philosophy, of life, of reality, of an understanding of the way the world is. Russia’s actions in Ukraine have causes which necessitated those actions. Unbiased observers know what those causes are and why Russia’s special military operation was a necessary consequence.

Fascism: Our Common Enemy

Christopher Black

The Pentagon plans to spend nearly $40 billion from the US budget to strengthen the US military presence in the Asia-Pacific region by expanding its military and technical base.

How to Lose Geopolitical Influence in Asia and Sell It as a US National Security Strategy

Rebecca Chan

As the Navy embarks on the ambitious AUKUS program, the Auditor-General has handed Defence a ‘C minus’ on the Canberra Class ship-building program. Rex Patrick reports.

Ever since the Navy took possession of the two Canberra-class landing Ships at a cost of $1.5B each, they’ve been mired in controversy about reliability.

by Rex Patrick