Australia’s democratic problem is not simply poor civics knowledge among citizens, but a political class too willing to avoid scrutiny, resist transparency and govern behind closed doors.

In a recent interview the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, reflected on the state of Australian democracy. She warned of a potential catastrophe resulting from poor understanding of the tenets of our democracy that make our country work, especially among the adult population.

Albert Palazzo

The criminal actions of the Zionist colonial army against the Palestinian people, particularly against the coastal enclave of Gaza, have led to the emergence of the term “gassification” to describe this type of modern siege operation, which combines conventional siege tactics with genocidal practices and total control over the lives of a specific population. The catastrophic human consequences of these actions are irrelevant as long as the ultimate goal is achieved. In the case of “Israel,” this goal is the colonization of the territory and the expulsion of its native inhabitants.

Gassification as a technology of imperial power

In 2025, the Economic Society for Westphalia and Lippe (WWL), based in Münster, announced that the International Westphalian Peace Prize for 2026 would go to NATO. The prize is to be presented to NATO, represented by its Secretary General, Mark Rutte, in October 2026 at the historic Münster Town Hall.

The Westphalian Peace Prize 2026 goes to NATO

The ‘system’ reaffirms itself

by Ewald Wetekamp, Stockach near Lake Constance

The reigning narrative of US democracy is based on two widely shared beliefs. The first is that the capitalist system and its free markets ensure freedom and pluralism throughout society. The second is that our constitution and electoral system are forms of political wiring designed to ensure a democratic state. While an important veneer of democracy perpetuates this story, and it sounds intuitively plausible, theoretical, historical and empirical studies suggest that it is wrong in both theory and practice.

The Free Market Creates Freedom: Do You Believe It?

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, THE QUINCY INSTITUTE PUBLISHED ITS "PEACE PLAN' FOR UKRAINE. IT'S A FIZZER. THE INSTITUTE HAS NO INTENTION TO UNDERSTAND THE RUSSIAN TRAUMA IN REGARD TO THE DONBASS, TO ODESSA NOR CRIMEA [ALL FORMER RUSSIAN TERRITORIES UNDER THE USSR]... THE QUINCY PLAN IS LIKE USING A TON OF STICKY PLASTERS TO CURE LEUKAEMIA...

THIS WHY WE STILL PUSH FOR THIS MORE SIMPLE PLAN:

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT (WW3) HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA TO BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

Jillian Segal holds power over what Australians may say, teach, report and believe. No election gave it to her. No Parliament ratified it. Nothing like her office has existed in the federation. Labor built it. The Coalition wants it bigger. Nobody asked you. Andrew Brown – The Segal State, Part One.

Remember the referendum in which Australians voted to create a Voice to Parliament for Israel?

You don’t. It never happened. We got one anyway.

The Segal State: the office Australia never voted for

by Andrew Brown

Fiona Katauskas’ departure from Guardian Australia points to a larger decline in permanent cartooning jobs, even as political cartoons remain vital to satire, public debate and local media culture.

It is a sad day for Australian cartooning when an artist as good as Fiona Katauskas has not had her contract renewed. But that is what has happened at the Guardian Australia.

ON THIS SITE WE DO NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE “DIFFICULT” QUESTIONS… WE CAN BE CONTRARIANS TO OTHER CONTRARIANS. 

LET’S INVESTIGATE A [NOT SO OLD] BOOK IN REGARD TO ATHEISTS BY CHRIS HEDGES WHO EXPOSES THE FUNDAMENTALISATION OF RELIGION AND THAT OF ATHEISM… 

I WILL HUMBLY POINT OUT THAT ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION, NOR IS IT FUNDAMENTALISTIC. NOR IS IT FASCIST. THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE ONLY BEEN DEFENDING THEIR OWN FORT, AS THEY HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK FROM VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT DEMANDS THAT WE BELIEVE IN A SUPERIOR BEING OR SOMETHING ABSOLUTE… AND THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE MORE OR LESS VANISHED FROM THE MEDIA HEADLINES, NOW OCCUPIED BY WARS, RIGHT-WING POLITICS, RELIGIOUS BIFFO BETWEEN SUNNIS AND SHIAS, AND THE CONTROVERSIES ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING.

When Atheism Becomes Religion 

WHEN FASCISM WAS DEFINED BY A POET, FILIPPO TOMMASO MARINETTI, THE WORLD CHANGED FROM BEING "ARTY FARTY" WITH "ART NOUVEAU" TO BECOMING BRUTALIST... BUT WAS THE POET FOLLOWING A TREND, THAT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, OR WAS HE INTRODUCING THE INEVITABLE NEXT STEP OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS: FASCISM AND FUTURISM.

THE WORLD HAS NOW BECOME UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE GLOBALISTS — THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, THAT, IN VERY CLEVER TERMS, HAVE BEEN CORRALLING THE WESTERN WORLD ON BEHALF OF A SMALL RICH ELITE.

THE NEXT OF COURSE IS BEING THROWN UPON US WITH THE MAGIC OF THE NEW RELIGION: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. WE SHALL INVESTIGATE, AS DEMOCRACY IS PART OF THE NEW PACKAGE IN WHICH FREE THINKING IS BEING BLANCMANGED...

BUT IS THE PROCESS NEFARIOUS OR BENEFICIAL? ARE WE EXPECTED TO GO TO WAR BY THE REMAINING BOOFHEADS?

Blue sky, white clouds, cartoon smiley faces. This is the cover of Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper. Cute, isn't it? But open this nearly 600-page official document, and you'll find missiles, drones, space warfare, and lethal weapons exports.

The lessons of history remain. If Japan insists on this path, it won't gain greater security but will only become a powder keg of regional instability.

Cute disguise hides Japan's rearmament

By Zhao Manfeng and Cheng Zixin | chinadaily

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/07/WS6a7528caa310986e2b469721.html

PLEASE VISIT:

Abelardo de la Espriella was sworn in as Colombia's president on Friday, promising to boost ties with the United States and tackle armed groups linked to the drug trade.

The 48-year-old ex-lawyer lurches the Andean nation to the right, taking office after winning a close June 21 runoff against Sen. Ivan Cepeda, an ally of outgoing President Gustavo Petro.

In a speech shortly after his swearing-in, De la Espriella vowed once again to wipe out "narcoterrorism" in the South American country.

"The option of dialogue is completely exhausted," he said, referring to his predecessor, who had promoted a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

Kieran Kelly’s Not Really Like Us traces a lifelong fascination with America that gives way to a more cautious view of the US as powerful, vital to Australia – and fundamentally different.

American ‘soft power’ – including books, movies and songs – has been a key factor in sparking a lifelong fascination with the country by Sydney fund manager and former journalist Kieran Kelly.

Glenda Korporaal

... the democratic society itself is strengthened when individuals have a sense of personal autonomy, since it produces traits that are desirable in citizens of a free state: independent thought, diversity of views, and nonconformity.

The second function of privacy is to provide for emotional release.

In the course of any given day, everybody plays a succession of roles as he feels at the moment. Privacy also furnishes the safety valve without which our social and public life might be even more disorderly and tempestuous than it is. All people, including janitors and statesmen, need at times to blow off to intimates without fear of being taken really seriously, let alone reported. They need to be able privately to vent their anger and frustration-even maliciously, slanderously, or profanely — in order to be able publicly to think and behave with reason, dispassion, and decorum.

Some weeks it is difficult to pick out the most shocking stories symptomatic of decline and fall of American governmental integrity both in Washington and often at state levels. The White House and Congress frequently lead in that reckoning given the complete abandonment of any United States government’s effort to make its policies and legislation responsive to actual national interests. Wars are being fought without any reason to do so and domestic policies are derived from “feelings” that President Donald Trump has when he gets up on the morning. The result is chaos when the policies are actually developed and implemented.

Another Strange Week in Trumpland

by Philip Giraldi