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

Ethics is basically a learned habit of behavior.  —  Aristotle.

Virtue is its own reward.  —  Plato.

Plato:  Welcome, Aristotle!  It’s been a while since I have seen you at the Academy.

Aristotle:  And it is good to see you as well my teacher.  And how have things been?

P:  I hear that you have had the honor of instructing the great Alexander in philosophy and morals.  How has that suited you?

A:  Alexander is a man of action and, ultimately, had little time for philosophic instruction.  And what about your trip to Syracuse?  Have you had the same experience as myself with ___________ or have the gods looked down and smiled upon you and gave you a willing and able “Philosopher-King” to groom in __________?  I am all ears.

Senate Republicans are racing to pass a budget bill that is pivotal to President Donald Trump's second-term agenda ahead of a self-imposed 4 July deadline.

Party leadership have been twisting arms for an initial vote on the "Big Beautiful Bill" on Saturday, following the release of its latest version - all 940 pages - shortly after midnight.

Rank-and-file Republicans have been divided over how much to cut from welfare programmes in order to cover the cost of extending some $3.8tn (£2.8tn) in Trump tax breaks.

The sprawling tax and spending measure passed the House of Representatives by a single vote last month.

A new “water economics” needed to safeguard supplies of domestic water and make it a common good. Australia’s fossil fuels make it a rich “Climate Wrecker”. Carbon capture technologies fail to deliver.

Ask members of the public to list the top environmental problems and I reckon that plastic pollution, climate change and loss of biodiversity will feature prominently. I suspect that shortage of clean, accessible domestic (or fresh) water will get relatively few mentions.

Peter Sainsbury

Four senior executives at Palantir, Meta, and OpenAI have been formally appointed lieutenant colonels in the US Army following the creation of a “special” unit created for rich Big Tech mavens seeking military leadership roles.

US Army appoints Palantir, Meta, OpenAI execs as Lt. Colonels

BY WYATT REED

On June 22, a large portion of the France 2, 8 p.m. newscast, hosted by Laurent Delahousse, was devoted to the US attack on Iran.

Note 1. Clearly, this was far from a balanced presentation. Laurent Delahousse's tone, like that of his colleagues, was one of fascination, even admiration, for the US operation. It was as if we were back in 1991, at the time of the first Gulf War, when journalists, safely tucked away in their studios, played at scaring each other by inflating the "Iraqi threat" (the world's fourth-largest army), facing an armada representing at least a 100-to-1 power ratio. It was at this time that the first "military experts" appeared on television, in the guise of retired generals, proud of their sudden celebrity.

I was born and raised in Maryland, which is a pleasant way to be, but I’ll happily admit that New York is the center of gravity for my way of thinking. My father’s family was from the outer boroughs, and the city—New York, that is, unless you say it with capital letters, The City, which only ever means Manhattan—has been the distant background for me since my childhood in the DC suburbs. I lived in the city while I was in grad school and still try to make it back when I can. It’s a fine place.

The Great Mamdani Freakout

BY Jude Russo

The forms of 19th-century European fictions, including the Russian, have a powerful relation to older Christian stories, from the Bible to Bunyan. The novels meet the old tales with part parody, part dialogue, part rejection and reconstruction.

The Idiot
by Fyodor Dostoevsky, translated by David McDuff

The Poetry Of Reality is a podcast hosted by renowned evolutionary biologist, Richard Dawkins. This is an audio and video experience that tracks our acclaimed protagonist in his navigation of the natural world and his pursuit of truth through scientific curiosity.

WELCOME TO The Poetry of Reality