Based on the original article I published in 2022, in light of the subsequent shift away from “representative democracy,” we need to be clear about what democracy really is. Otherwise, how can we know what we want or what we are willing to defend?

Let’s start by discussing what democracy is not. Most people think democracy has something to do with electing leaders or “representatives.” This is called “representative democracy” (RD) and it is practically the polar opposite of “democracy.”

What Is Democracy?
Iain Davis

The Australian Government risks breaking international law splashing billions in public money on Israel weapons deals. A Stephanie Tran analysis.

The Australian government has funnelled $2.5 billion of taxpayer funds to Israeli arms manufacturers over the past two decades via government contracts.

An analysis of Austender data shows that since 2004, the Australian government has signed dozens of deals with Israel’s largest defence companies, making them some of the country’s most significant foreign suppliers of arms.

English farmers used controlled burns of gorse 300 years ago. Too hot and dry even for cacti. Urbanisation induces genetic evolution in birds. China powering ahead with the roll out of wind and solar.

Peter Sainsbury

Being slow on the uptake, non-Indigenous Australians have only recently recognised the importance of the traditional, deliberate use of fire by Aboriginal groups (cultural, controlled or cool burning) to improve environmental health, promote biodiversity and reduce the risk of late season, very hot, destructive fires triggered by lightning.

The war in Ukraine will continue and Vladimir Putin has outmanoeuvred yet another US president.

These are the realities arising from the much-heralded meeting here in Alaska between Donald Trump and the Russian leader.

This was vintage Putin, who spent years studying the art of psychological war and subterfuge as he rose through the ranks of the notorious Soviet intelligence service, the KGB.

Vladimir Putin leaves Alaska with a complete victory over Donald Trump
By Americas editor John Lyons

Putin shares the view that allowing voters to send in ballots by mail undermines the validity of elections, Trump has told a US private TV broadcaster.

"Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting," Trump told Fox News Channel's "Hannity" after the two leaders met in Alaska. "He said there's not a country in the world that uses it now."

In fact, nearly 36 countries, including Germany, allow some form of postal vote, while Trump himself has voted by mail in some previous elections and urged his supporters to do so in 2024, when he won the White House again.

The killing of Al Jazeera journalist Anas al-Sharif is shocking but that it is a culmination of planned mass assassination of journalists by the Israeli Government is an outrage.

Jeremy Webb

Since the beginning of the Gaza war the UN secretary-general reminds us that 242 journalists have been killed by the IDF – 13 journalists a month. According to Reporters Without Borders, the most deadly year for journalists covering the war was 2024 with more than 120 killed. The pace has not slackened: more than 50 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza this year.

Richard Werner discussed three different views of banking during his appearance on the Tucker Carlson show:

1. The financial intermediation theory;
2. The fractional reserve theory (which includes the “money multiplier”);
3. The credit creation theory

Richard Werner’s Credit Creation “Experiment”: How Do Banks Create Money?

BY Jonathan Newman

Werner claims to have empirically verified the credit creation theory by observing a bank making a loan. He rejects the other two theories.

DEAL-MAKING COULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT CHARACTERISTIC OF HOMO SAPIENS — MORE THAN INVENTING THE WHEEL OR WHATEVER. WHEN GORBACHEV DECIDED TO "MAKE THE USSR GIVE UP THE COLD WAR", INSTEAD OF A SITUATION WHERE WE KILL YOU IF YOU TRY TO KILL US, THE DEAL BECAME LOPSIDED: THE WINNER OF THE COLD WAR WAS NOT GOING TO BE "NICE"... IT'S THE BASEST HUMAN NATURE: WE WIN THE RIGHT TO RAPE YOU... AND THE WEST TRIED TO DO THIS TO RUSSIA UNTIL PUTIN CAME ALONG....

In 1867, the Russian empire sold Alaska to the US for $7.2 million. Perhaps the location of the upcoming summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin is a nod and a wink to such a great deal? Maybe Putin will like Alaska so much he will have seller’s remorse? 

Tara Reade: Without Zelensky, peace has a chance
The Ukrainian leader has become a liability to the West – which is why peace will be decided between Trump and Putin

Talks at the Russia-US summit in Alaska have formally begun, following the arrival of Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart, Donald Trump, in Anchorage.

The negotiations at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson on Friday, will focus on finding a settlement to the Ukraine conflict. According to Moscow, global “peace and security” as well as “further development of bilateral cooperation” in the economy and trade will also be on the agenda.

In addition to Putin, the Russian delegation includes Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Andrey Belousov, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, Kremlin aide Yury Ushakov, and presidential economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev, who has been a key figure in the Ukraine settlement process.

Moscow is ready to present a clear stance at the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, which will mainly focus on the Ukraine conflict, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said.

In an interview with the Russia 24 broadcaster released on Friday, Lavrov – who has reportedly already arrived in Anchorage, Alaska, where the talks are set to take place – declined to speculate on potential results of the summit. 

“We do not predict anything in advance. We know that we have arguments, our stance is clear and well-defined. We will present them,” he said.

The Wall Street Journal reports on Tuesday that U.S. President Donald Trump's White House is keeping an eye on the Smithsonian Museum to ensure that its exhibits on display for the United States' 250th anniversary "align with" the president's personal "interpretation of American history."

White House to Vet Smithsonian Exhibits to Ensure They 'Align With Trump's Interpretation' of US History'
Smithsonian exhibits should be "accurate, patriotic, and enlightening—ensuring they remain places of learning, wonder, and national pride for generations to come," the White House demanded.

BY BRAD REED

Those who accuse the Albanese Government of breaking with a historic Labor position of opposing recognition of a Palestinian state are wrong.

Labor has a long-held ambition of a two-state solution to the Palestinian Israeli conflict.

Craig Emerson

It is not surprising that the Whitlam Government supported what has become known as a two-state solution before the phrase was coined – the right of Israel and Palestine to co-exist in peace.

But no Labor prime minister has been more avowedly pro-Israel than Bob Hawke.

Donald Trump has had meetings with EU leaders, NATO and Zelensky yesterday. He has reassured the Europeans that he won’t negotiate Ukraine’s territory with Vladimir Putin, ahead of the Alaska meeting. The EU leaders are willing to remove sanctions on Russia following a 15 day ceasefire, but they’re not willing to negotiate territory before that. It is being reported that Donald Trump will incentivise Vladimir Putin by offering Alaska’s natural resources.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86ZtRRIDEgk

When asked to comment on reports that US President Donald Trump said he will impose a 100 percent tariff on imported goods such as semiconductors, and claimed TSMC will build world's largest wafer fabrication plant in Arizona backed with $300 billion, Zhu Fenglian, a spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, stated on Wednesday that when TSMC previously announced an additional $100 billion investment in the US, it sparked panic and public discontent in Taiwan; a $300 billion plan would further erode the island's economic vitality and autonomy. The DPP authorities are the biggest accomplice to the US in hollowing out Taiwan's industries.