“Heaven is high and the emperor is far away.” So did Chinese peasants celebrate their distance from the Forbidden City over many centuries now past. I imagine a similar sentiment may prevail in the hyper-centralized People’s Republic.

When power is to one or another degree autocratic, power is best when power is distant. So it was for me, if briefly, as 2025 drew to a close.

PATRICK LAWRENCE: New Year’s Notes on Purported Leaders

I spent the Christmas holidays, courtesy of my kindly mother-in-law, in the Pacific Northwest and was blessedly far from post-democratic power in any of its manifestations.

THANK YOU CATHY... THANK YOU THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD FOR REMINDING US THAT PUTIN IS THE BAD GUY IN UKRAINE... I NEVER KNEW.... AND I STAND CORRECTED. I NOW REALISE THAT HISTORY STARTED IN FEBRUARY 2022... 

Seriously though, cartoons such as the one by Cathy Wilcox should be thrown in the trash NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN....

NUF' said....

=================

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT — SINCE 2005.

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

Prominent Australian business leaders and public figures have joined calls for a federal royal commission into antisemitism following the Bondi terror attack, adding pressure on the Albanese government as it resists a national inquiry.

Among the more than 100 signatories to an open letter, published on Friday, are former Reserve Bank governors Philip Lowe and Glenn Stevens, alongside a broad cross-section of business figures and university chancellors.

At least 24 people were killed and more than 50 injured in a Ukrainian drone strike on a café and a hotel during New Year’s Eve celebrations in the Black Sea coastal village of Khorly, the governor of Russia’s Kherson Region has said.

SHOCKING: Russia Opens a New Front — NATO Has No Answer | George Will

Global power is no longer decided only by armies or alliances. Increasingly, it is shaped by trade routes, financial systems, energy corridors, and infrastructure that quietly redraw influence without a single shot fired.

This analysis examines how Russia’s growing role in the Caucasus highlights a broader shift underway in international politics. While much attention remains fixed on traditional military flashpoints, influence is being contested through logistics networks, economic diversification, and alternative trade pathways that reduce dependence on Western systems.

The world-famous New Year's Eve celebrations at Sydney Harbour struck a sombre tone this year, as fear and grief lingered following the Bondi terror attack in mid-December. 

An hour before the clock struck 12, the harbour bridge glowed white with its pylons bearing a menorah to commemorate the 15 people killed at a celebration to mark the beginning of Hanukkah. 

Revellers observed a minute of silence while shining their torches in solidarity.

As the minute ended, a white dove and the words "peace" and "unity" lit the harbour.

"As we enter the new year, the world stands at a crossroads.
Chaos and uncertainty surround us.
Division. Violence. Climate breakdown. And systemic violations of international law.

To be fair to the dismal year on the way out, at least 2025 won’t be a hard act to beat. In particular, if last January anyone was recklessly optimistic enough to hope for the West to come to its senses about its catastrophic relationship with Russia and the war in and over Ukraine, they will have been largely disappointed. (Let’s not waste time on those who were still dreaming about actually defeating Russia: the clinically delusional and deliberately disingenuous are an unrewarding topic.)

2025 was dismal for Western Europe. And at this rate, it will get worse
Reckless warmongering, political manipulation, and propaganda have all been parts of the EU’s march towards the abyss

In 1941, in the midst of the Second World War, the American composer Katherine Kennicott Davis wrote a Christmas carol entitled “The Little Drummer Boy”. The origin of the song is one of the mysteries of the Christmas season, as Hajej, nynej from Czechia and Patapan from France are mentioned as little-known muses of Davis.

The surge in support for Pauline Hanson is built upon a huge increase in her likeability among the nation’s voters, with new polling revealing she will go into 2026 more liked than at almost any time in her political career.

The Resolve Political Monitor of the likeability of all federal politicians shows Hanson, and her newest MP Barnaby Joyce, have enjoyed some of the largest turnarounds in support by voters of more than 50 people tracked by the survey over the past year.

Hanson, whose party is enjoying its strongest opinion poll results in its history, finished 2024 with a likeability rating of minus 13. Although among the lowest ratings of any MP, it was an improvement on the minus 25 she recorded at the end of 2023.

But she finishes this year in positive territory with a rating of plus 3 – a 16-point turnaround.

Another $10B in pokies losses for players and $10B in profits for clubs, pubs and government – another year rolls by. Michael West reports on NSW’s forgotten but epic gambling scourge.

Money can’t buy you love, they say; but in NSW pokies money can buy you a lot of affection from governments. And protection. It is often said that clubs in NSW – you know your friendly RSL, leagues or bowlo club – represent the biggest gambling sector in the biggest gambling province in the biggest gambling nation in the world.

Pokies. The Beatles were wrong, enough money can buy you love

by Michael West

For decades, people have debated the strange link between Leon Trotsky’s followers and the rise of Neoconservatism—but rarely has the full story been told. This book cuts through myths and half-truths, tracing how Trotsky’s disciples in the U.S. shifted from revolutionary socialism to shaping Republican foreign policy.

The 91-drone attack on the presidential residence in Novgorod region was an extremely dangerous provocation. And one that “could not have been carried out without the participation of European hawks" because "Zelensky would not have dared to plan or carry out such an operation on his own,” military expert Alexey Leonkov told Sputnik.

Intricate planning was required, and the timing – while Zelensky was in the US for talks with Trump, was designed to give him an alibi, “which he is now using, claiming Ukraine had nothing to do with it,” Leonkov said. 

The provocation “wasn’t simply an attack on the president,” the observer emphasized. “It was a strike on a nuclear weapons control center, as each such residence contains communications nodes through which the head of state can issue the command to use the country’s nuclear forces.”

President Donald Trump warned the US could carry out further military strikes against Iran if it attempts to rebuild its nuclear and ballistic missile programs. He made the remarks to journalists alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida on Monday.

Trump threatens to ‘knock the hell’ out of Iran
The US president has indicated he would support Israeli military action if Tehran rebuilds its nuclear program