Back in the 1960s and 70s, the media was referred to as ‘The Fourth Estate’. The media played a role as a check and balance against government abuse of power, corruption, and overreach. The media was an integral part of any healthy democracy.

Ursula von der Leyen will formally announce her candidacy for a second term as president of the European Commission on Monday, German tabloid Bild has reported. Von der Leyen has already hinted that she seeks a second term, promising on Saturday to appoint a dedicated “defense commissioner” if she holds on to her office.

To secure a second term, von der Leyen will first have to be nominated by her faction in the European Parliament, the centrist European People’s Party (EPP). Speaking to Reuters last month, EPP lawmaker Daniel Caspary said the party would nominate von der Leyen at a congress in March, “if that’s what she wants.”

US President Joe Biden’s efforts to punish Moscow over the Ukraine crisis have failed, and his rhetoric and weak leadership have only encouraged more aggression by Russian leader Vladimir Putin, ex-White House aide John Bolton has claimed.

Bolton made his comments in a NewsNation interview on Friday, after Biden and other US officials rebuked President Putin over the death of opposition politician Alexey Navalny in a Siberian penal colony. The former US national security advisor argued that contrary to statements by the Biden administration, Navalny’s death does not demonstrate weakness in Putin’s government.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has seemingly agreed with American investor David Sacks, who believes that the Ukraine conflict will end in a heavy defeat for Kiev, but that the West will try to spin the narrative in a way to sweep the truth under the rug.

On Sunday, Sacks published a post on X (formerly Twitter) entitled “A war of lies,” arguing that the Ukraine conflict is based on falsehoods and deceit about “how it started, how it’s going, and how it will end.”

The entrepreneur stated that citizens of Western countries are being told that “Ukraine is winning when in fact it is losing” while being lied to that Kiev’s main problem is a lack of US funding, while in reality it is the “fact the West can’t produce enough ammunition.”

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has offered to give Donald Trump a tour of Kiev’s battlefront with Russian forces, saying America’s leading opposition presidential candidate should see the conflict with his own eyes before making policy decisions.

“If he will come, I’m ready even to go with him to the frontline,” Zelensky said on Saturday at the Munich Security Conference. “I think if we are in dialogue how to finish the war, we have to demonstrate to people who are decision-makers, what does it mean – the real war, not in Instagram.”

"In order to preserve life and encirclement, I have withdrawn our units from Avdiivka." 

Media reports recently offered a rare glimpse into the shoulder rubbing and deal making that takes place at gatherings of Europe’s most secretive organization – the Institut International d’Etudes Bancaires. However, sensitive issues related to global policymaking are hardly the prerogative of this gilded banking society.

France and Ukraine signed a bilateral security pact on Friday during President Vladimir Zelensky’s visit to Paris. While President Emmanuel Macron did not offer Kiev any ironclad military commitments, he promised another €3 billion in aid over the rest of 2024, as well as “cooperation” in the area of artillery.

The agreement states that France views the prospect of Ukraine’s accession to NATO positively, as “a useful contribution to peace and stability in Europe.” The largely symbolic deal is designed to help “pave the way towards Ukraine’s future integration into the EU and NATO,” French media noted, citing officials.

American politics are often seen through the lens of lame comedy… Some news channels try to explain some serious angles but most of them are biased along party lines — and battle for or against the gutter trickeries of the government in place… This creates a containment of the idea of democracy that pleases the establishment channels — the CIA, the FBI and the NSA… and the elites who foment and control the trickeries of rules.

SEE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpBPm0b9deQ

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People in the West are Gaza-war weary. You see it in fewer reports, articles and commentary. It is an understandable by-product of the complicity-cum-impotence of Western civilisation in the face of Israeli barbarism.

The non-Israeli barbarians of the world are taking note at what they can now get away with.

The vile and pointless Hamas terrorism of a single day, 7 October 2023, gave way to a week, then weeks, then months of continuing Israeli revenge in the form of mass murder and wholesale destruction – in short, a war of alleged genocide.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fkS4k8bKe4

The Ukrainian government desperately needs billions more in aid from the US, a senior Pentagon official has admitted, citing the critical situation in Avdeevka, a frontline town in Donbass.

Earlier this week, the US Senate approved a $95 billion aid package that includes $61 billion to fund Ukraine’s war against Russia, but the House of Representatives failed to sign off on the measure before a two-week recess.

Biden aide responds to Putin endorsement

White House representative John Kirby did not appreciate the Russian president’s preference for the incumbent in the forthcoming US elections. 

Russia should stay away from the US elections altogether, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters at the White House. Kirby was speaking after Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed the qualities of his US counterpart Joe Biden, during an interview with a Russian journalist on Wednesday.

Putin said he would prefer if Biden won the November election, as he is more experienced and predictable. 

Comedian Melanie Bracewell has poked fun at Barnaby Joyce after video footage emerged showing the politician lying on his back on a public footpath after a late night out in Canberra. 

The Cheap Seats host posted a witty side-by-side off her draped across the red carpet in a floor length gown after the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards on Thursday night. 

It comes as members of the public begin to post their own reactions to the shocking incident, which has labelled “disturbing” and “sexist” by senior political leaders.

Earlier, Peter Dutton defended Mr Joyce after he was caught on video and criticized passersby for not checking on the MP’s welfare. 

“It’s pretty rough when people are walking past somebody who might need support,” Mr Dutton told Sky News on Sunday. 

As a “Useful Putin Idiot” (UPI), Mr Gus Leonisky will explain a few things….

First, it is unfortunate that Navalny died… RIP.

Second, it was not in Putin’s interest to “have him killed”...

Third, the whole Western World is up in arms about Navalny’s “murder” without any proofs…

Fouth, Navalny was no hero (except to the Western political loonies and their sycophantic media). 

Five, MORE TO COME…..

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Former United Nations weapon inspector Scott Ritter says the timing of congressman Mike Turner’s headline-grabbing announcement is not a coincidence.

Ohio Representative Mike Turner (R-OH) made waves this week when he warned of an alleged “serious national security threat” to the United States. The supposed risk was soon revealed to be Russian in nature, with a media cycle quickly emerging over the danger of alleged “space nukes” the country could detonate to disable US satellite communications.