It may be time to think the unthinkable: all the signs are pointing to the West preparing to launch a proper war in Europe. Once started it could bring, for the first time in living memory, millions of Western civilians into uniform and see the cities of the West attacked. Preposterous? Jumping the Shark? Listen to what the leaders in the West are saying. The time to stop the madness is now, not once the elites drive us into the abyss and civilians are stripped of all rights to oppose.

Marine Le Pen’s right-wing National Rally (RN) has topped the 1st round of France's parliamentary elections, winning 33.4% of the votes on Sunday. The New Popular Front leftist coalition came in second, securing 27.99%, while President Emmanuel Macron's center-right alliance Ensemble took third place with 20.04%.

Keir Starmer is not afraid of a U-turn. After running for the Labour leadership on a platform promising nationalised public services, restricted foreign arms sales, and tax hikes for the richest, Starmer’s policies now look a little different.

It’s been called a “Ming vase” strategy – slimming down what he’s offering to the public, hoping to avoid dropping the metaphorical vase as he makes the slippery journey to power. Starmer and his top team say a struggling economy has forced them to change tack.

Experts are divided on whether a U-turn itself damages a politician. While a reputation for “flip-flopping” is to be avoided, they say, there is also more room for manoeuvre in opposition when fewer voters are paying real attention. 

A weary world needs heroes, and now we have a new one. Julian Assange has long been a hero to his natural supporters: the usual crowd of rich actors, preachy human rights lawyers and professional activists. Celebrities look after their own, and there is no doubt that Assange is in the club.

GEORGE BRANDIS — SMH-01-07-2024

Biden’s decline has been known to friends and insiders for months.

Readers of this column know that President Joe Biden’s drift into blankness has been ongoing for months, as he and his foreign policy aides have been urging a ceasefire that will not happen in Gaza while continuing to supply the weapons that make a ceasefire less likely. There’s a similar paradox in Ukraine, where Biden has been financing a war that cannot be won and refusing to participate in negotiations that could end the slaughter.

‘She eats Russians for breakfast’: Who is Kaja Kallas, the EU’s next foreign policy chief?
The hawkish Estonian prime minister is leaving a political crisis at home to take the top diplomatic post in Brussels

Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas has been nominated by the leaders of EU member states to become the next high representative for security and foreign policy.

The politician – selected to speak for Brussels internationally and balance conflicting interests in the EU – has a reputation as an uncompromising hawk on Russia.

Before beginning a five-year term, Kallas will need approval from the European Parliament, whose members are expected to vote on her appointment in July, a step widely seen as a formality. 

In a landmark decision, the Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved the Law of Foundations and Starting Points for the Freedom of Argentines, known as Ley de Bases. This approval marks a victory for President Javier Milei's administration, aiming to steer the nation towards economic stability and prosperity.

In the history of human societies, the concentration of power in the hands of a privileged minority is a recurring phenomenon that raises fundamental questions about the nature of power, social justice and the foundations of democracy. Oligarchies, these systems where a restricted elite exercises a disproportionate influence on the political and economic life of a country, embody this tendency towards the crystallization of power.

Since 1917, America has vowed to destroy Russia by whatever means… It is one of the main steps towards conquering the entire world. Conquering the world is the aim of the American Empire. One of the next step for the American Empire is the destruction of China… We know.

The present war in Ukraine was NOT unprovoked, but followed the long-held American plan of achieving the destruction of Russia. Russia is fighting back.

This modern momentum against Russia mostly started during WW2, by secretly encouraging Hitler to invade Russia, despite the agreement of non-aggression between Russia (Stalin) and Germany (Hitler).

Ukraine is preparing a “comprehensive plan” for ending the conflict with Russia that should be ready by the end of the year, Vladimir Zelensky has said.

Zelensky made the comments at a press conference in Kiev, after meeting Slovenian President Natasa Pirc Musar on Friday.

“We will also work out all other points of the Peace Formula and prepare a comprehensive plan that will be on the table before our partners,” Zelensky said. “It is very important for us to show a plan to end the war that will be supported by the majority of the world. This is the diplomatic path we are working on.”

While Peter Dutton gets headlines for his nuclear fairytale and the Labor Government presses on with its AUKUS submarines, the fallout from nuclear bomb testing in the Pilbara in 1956 finally reaches court. Sue Roff reports from London.

In 1956, on the remote Montebello Islands off Western Australia, an atomic bomb was tested. It was supposed to be no more than 50 kilotons, but in fact measured 98 kilotons, or more than six times the strength of the bomb dropped over Hiroshima in 1945.

     by Sue Rabbitt Roff

The USA has shot itself in the head with its own wonder weapon. The most powerful weapon in the US arsenal is not F-16 jets, Himar missiles, or any of the other conventional war toys. Real US power resides in the US dollar.

By increasingly weaponizing the dollar and access to the dollar-denominated global trading system, America has taken to the greenback with a blowtorch that will trigger a reckoning for the ages. It is a classic case of imperial overreach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6Nqbo2oUgI&t=1534s

2024 is going to be an inflection point for humanity. But it is also going to be a major test not just of liberal democracy as a political system, but for human civilisation as a whole.

Over 80 countries – more than half the world's population – are holding elections this year that could be pivotal for the future of democracy.