The Russian Ministry of Health announced Tuesday that McDonalds’ decision to leave Russia is expected to add more than four years to the average Russian’s life expectancy.

Turkey’s list of demands for NATO and its prospective members Finland and Sweden includes the removal of sanctions imposed on Ankara over its purchase of S-400 missile defense systems from Russia, as well as re-inclusion in the F-35 advanced aircraft program, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday, citing “three senior Turkish officials.”

On May 15, Finland and Sweden officially announced their intention to join NATO in the wake of the ongoing Russian military offensive on Ukraine. To make it possible, all members of the alliance would have to unanimously support their bids. Turkey, however, said it would not say “yes” to Helsinki and Stockholm because they do not have “a clear unequivocal stance” against the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and the Revolutionary People’s Liberation Front (DHKP/C), groups that Ankara considers terrorist organizations. 

This is the final Part 8 of a series titled ‘Propaganda and the Media’, the first 7 parts of which were published earlier, and available here:[1]

 The entire series will now be combined into an eBook in .pdf format, available on bluemoonofshanghai.com (in the books section).

This is primarily an article about lies, about the people who tell them, and about their methods of telling them. This essay, long as it is, is only a brief introduction to only a minor aspect of this subject.

bulldozer

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has used his description of himself as a “bulldozer” to defend his record on COVID, saying it served Australia well – despite the country’s pandemic death rate edging closer to 8000. InDaily’s Stephanie Richards reports from the election campaign trail.

Campaigning in the marginal Labor-held electorate of Corangamite in regional Victoria on Wednesday, Morrison faced a barrage of questions about Australia’s spiralling COVID death toll and infection rate.

Australia reported 28,794 cases of COVID-19 and 37 deaths on Wednesday, from NSW, Victoria and Tasmania and the ACT. South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are still to report their latest statistics.

Revisiting Gus's comments....

The war on terror has gone cold…

The only place terrorism is still significant is in Central Africa (Mali et al)… where the Wahhabi Jihadists are still active. 

Russia and China have managed to escape the clutches of the Empire — and not only this, China is also influencing many third world countries to be more independent economically.

Scott Morrison offers lucrative $300,000 incentive to retirees who downsize their homes so young families can buy their first property - and claims the incentive will free up 1.3million houses

Prime Minister said it will make up to another 1.3million houses available for sale

Proposal also features a two year grace period before asset testing for a pension

Mr Morrison said it's designed to help 'free up larger homes for younger families

A Productivity Commission survey of Australians over 60 found 70 per cent said moving to a smaller property with less upkeep was the reason for selling their house. Pictured is an older couple looking at a lap top computer...

READ MORE:

A dramatic shift in voter sentiment has tightened the race for power at the federal election by cutting primary vote support for Labor and giving the Coalition a boost that keeps it within sight of victory at the ballot box this Saturday.

The election will go down to the wire after voters softened their support for Labor over the past two weeks to cut the party’s primary vote from 34 to 31 per cent, wiping away the strong gains made by Labor leader Anthony Albanese in the lead-up to the formal election campaign.

With Prime Minister Scott Morrison on the offensive with an appeal to voters to back him on economic management and national security, the new survey shows a small increase in the Coalition primary vote from 33 to 34 per cent.

According to numerous US media reports and opinion polls in the US, Joe Biden is increasingly being described as one of the worst presidents in American history, proving to be “an unparalleled disaster.”

There have been several particularly disturbing stories in the media over the past week even if one chooses to tune out the US Congress’s pending astonishing overwhelming approval of a grant of $39.8 billion to Ukraine to continue the war to “weaken” Russia. Even so-called progressives in the Democratic Party voted for the war. So now the United States will be at war with Russia through proxy, like it or not, and the consequences could be devastating, particularly if NATO member Poland intervenes directly, as it has been threatening, but few in Washington seem to be awake to that reality.

BY Philip M. Giraldi

Britain faces the “major concern” of “apocalyptic” global food-price rises sparked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Bank of England’s governor has told MPs.

Andrew Bailey warned of a “very big income shock” to households, and admitted feeling “helpless” in the face of surging inflation.

His comments came as veteran Tory MP Michael Fabricant called on the chancellor, Rishi Sunak, to raise benefits in line with inflation, and as concerns were raised over plans by the energy regulator to revise the price cap on bills every three months instead of every six.

The discussion of foreign policy is one of the low points in the election. It is hard to be otherwise when both major parties are committed to integrating Australia’s military forces with those of the US. This severely curtails the scope for proposing independent policies and raises expectations ensuring the Government and Opposition contribute forces to almost any war America wants it to.

In the past, indiscriminate shelling by Ukrainian Armed Forces already led to the destruction of tankers full of chemicals and the leak of poisonous substances that endangered lives in the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR).

Capt. Kirk (John Belushi), Spock (Chevy Chase) and Dr. McCoy (Dan Aykroyd) encounter network executives (Elliott Gould, Garrett Morris) who announce Star Trek is cancelled. Aired 05/29/76

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sx0xOgFDXFg

The Coalition’s superannuation-backed first-home buyers scheme would push up property prices by as much as $134,000 while failing to expand the supply of housing, economists have warned.

As is well known, the Swiss Federal Council decided on 28 February to adopt all EU sanctions against Russia – not voluntarily, according to those familiar with the geopolitical situation, but in any case with more zeal than demanded in Washington and Brussels, because it also wants to please the EU and NATO turbos at home.1 Since then, the Federal Council has been constantly adapting its decrees – each time with the phrase that this does not harm Swiss neutrality(!).2 Before Easter, the Federal Council adopted the fifth package of sanctions, not without a rather casual commentary on the situation in general and the Russian “war guilt” in particular.

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.