Today the NY Times published a long piece on the relations between the Trump administration and the government of Ukraine.

The Separation: Inside the Unraveling U.S.-Ukraine Partnership (archived) – NY Times, Dec 30 2025

There is a lot of gossip about the back and forth between the U.S. Ukraine and Russia in it, but also some interesting nuggets which confirm U.S. intelligence involvement in attacks on Russia and Russia related shipping:

On 5 December, tens of thousands of high school students demonstrated against conscription and war in around 90 German cities. On the same day, the German Bundestag passed a law on military service that moves towards conscription and ignores the concerns of schoolchildren.

Young people want to live in peace

German high school students demonstrate against conscription and war

by Karl-Jürgen Müller

“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....

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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