The Ukrainian delegation to Eurovision 2022. One of the escorts (left) is wearing the trident. This medieval symbol became the emblem of Ukraine only in 1917-18 at the initiative of the historian Mykhailo Hrushevsky. It was adopted as the country’s coat of arms in 1996. There are two ways to draw its base. The color variations are also significant. The one of the attendant is not the official version, but the one of the Banderites [Ukrainian neo-Nazis].

The festival of Eurovision 2022 was held in Turin (Italy). It is organized by an association, the European Broadcasting Union [set up by a NATO "directive"], bringing together the public service televisions of the European continent before 200 million viewers.

Spider-Man fans have been left stunned by the name of an obscure villain from the Marvel comic book series.

While many of Spider-Man’s nemeses are almost as well-known as he is – such as Doctor Octopus, Venom or Green Goblin – the minor fellon known as Spectrum has perhaps the most famous name of all.

As was recently pointed out in a viral tweet, Spectrum’s real name is in fact Joe Biden.

The character first appeared in Peter Parker No 1 back in 2010, at a time when the real-life Joe Biden was serving as US Vice President under Barack Obama.

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The undersigned strongly and unambiguously express their opposition to your policy with regard to Ukraine. Your strategy is edging the world closer and closer to a nuclear war with Russia, and to another world war. Recently, you requested Congress for even more funds to be sent to Ukraine in order to help them buy more weapons for the military conflict with Russia. 

Americans are being shepherded to the next emoji crusade – the latest being Russia’s special operation in Ukraine – like consumers waiting in line for junk food and Happy Meals. When does the mindless virtue-signaling end?

While some Westerners may find a kindred spirit with McDonald’s and its anti-war posturing against Russia, a little more consistency on the issue of war and peace would be a most welcome development.

To end our writing about hunting, one could be led to believe that the democratisationed issue of a hunting licence in parallel with the increasing rarity of wild quails would make obsolete the joys and privileges of poaching from which one can traditionally affirm the taste of freedom. But poaching remains one of the vitality of the free thinker and the true poacher will carry some strangling wire under his cap, even if parliament votes some contrary self-congratulary legislation. One knows that democracies, especially the over-riped ones, maintain secret hunting grounds that are full of preys, from rabbits to pheasants, in which everyone is a poacher with a hunting inspector’s hat. It’s called corruptation...

Scott Morrison has made housing policies for young and old a central part of his address at the Liberal Party’s official campaign launch, days before Australians go to polling booths.

A re-elected Coalition government will allow first-home buyers to access their superannuation to buy a home, while people over 55 will be able to put $300,000 in their retirement nest egg from the proceeds of downsizing to a smaller home, freeing up larger properties for families.

“Superannuation is there to help Australians in their retirement,” the Prime Minister told the party faithful in Brisbane on Sunday.

“The evidence shows that the best thing we can do to help Australians achieve financial security in their retirement is to help them own their own home.”

During the era of Muammar Gaddafi’s Libyan Jamahiriya, the country was openly admired by many countries in the region for the well-being and living conditions of Libyans, perhaps with the exception of the Gulf States. And this was justified, among other things, by the fact that there was free medicine, free education, and financial aid for those wishing to study abroad. Flats were given to young families for free. Some of the medicines in pharmacies were given to elderly people free of charge. Utility bills were ridiculously low.

While the so-called liberal and conservative corporate mainstream media – all stenographers for the intelligence agencies – pour forth the most blatant propaganda about Russia and Ukraine that is so conspicuous that it is comedic if it weren’t so dangerous, the self-depicted cognoscenti also ingest subtler messages, often from the alternative media.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says his leadership style will be more empathetic if re-elected, as he seeks to woo voters put off by his self-described ‘bulldozer manner’ in the final week of election campaigning.

On Saturday, Mr Morrison claimed Australia needed “strength and resilience” to get through the past couple of turbulent years, but acknowledged the approach he had during the pandemic would need to change.

Speaking from the Victorian seat of Deakin, held by the Liberals on a 4.8 per cent margin, the Prime Minister said that voters could expect a more collaborative leader should he defy polls on May 21.

“I will seek to explain my motives and my concerns, and empathise a lot more,” he said.

The Western strategic mobilization in the wake of the intensifying Russia-Ukraine conflict has further limited the already shrinking autonomy of Europe. The massive military, media and political pressure has lined up European countries in a common sanction policy against Russia and a common weapons delivery policy for Ukraine.

A most dramatic shift could happen in the Nordic countries of Sweden and Finland if they join NATO, abandoning their policy of non-alignment which represents an important part of Europe's autonomy.

BY Ulf Sandmark

Catastrophic shift in non-alignment policy

The Coalition is apparently heading into this election betting its approach to Medicare over the past decade – and the provisions in the 2022–23 budget – are sufficient to support its 'rock solid'(external link) commitment to Medicare.

Today [May 13, 2022] is Jen Psaki’s last day on the job as President Joe Biden’s press secretary before she joins the ranks of MSNBC punditry, taking a job hosting a show on the Peacock streaming service and appearing on the network’s shows as a guest.

The skills required to act as a press secretary in corporate Democratic presidencies — saying little of substance, committing to nothing, dispensing snark and scoffs, and never even accidentally challenging power — appear to carry over well to playing pundit on MSNBC, the corporate network that serves as the Democratic Party’s de-facto propaganda outfit.

israel

JERUSALEM -- Israel advanced plans for the construction of more than 4,000 settler homes in the occupied West Bank on Thursday, a rights group said, a day after the military demolished homes in an area where hundreds of Palestinians face the threat of expulsion.

It was a jolting illustration of Israel's policies in the territory it has occupied for nearly 55 years. Critics, including three major human rights groups, say those policies amount to apartheid, a charge Israel rejects as an attack on its very legitimacy.

Hagit Ofran, an expert at the anti-settlement watchdog group Peace Now, told The Associated Press that a military planning body approved 4,427 housing units at a meeting on Thursday that she attended. “The state of Israel took another stumble toward the abyss and further deepened the occupation,” she tweeted.

A US plan to provide nearly $40 billion in additional military and economic aid to Ukraine amid its conflict with Russia has hit a speed bump, with Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) blocking a quick vote to approve the funding bill and likely delaying passage to at least next week.

Paul stood in the way on Thursday by objecting to a request by Senate leaders to approve “unanimous consent,” a provision that allows bills with strong bipartisan support to be fast-tracked without debate. The former presidential candidate said he would only allow for a quick vote if the bill was revised to include the appointment of a special inspector general to monitor how the massive aid package is spent – a demand that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) refused to meet.

Shireen Abu Akleh, a Palestinian journalist who worked with Al Jazeera for over two decades, was killed on Wednesday while covering an Israeli military raid on the city of Jenin in the northern part of the West Bank. The Palestinian authorities claim the Israeli military shot her in her head.

The 51-year-old was rushed to hospital after sustaining the critical injury but was pronounced dead, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, blaming Israeli forces for her death.

Al Jazeera called the incident a “heinous crime” and claimed the Israelis deliberately targeted Abu Akleh to intimidate the media. Eyewitnesses said she was struck by a bullet below her ear, bypassing the helmet she was wearing for protection, the outlet said.