All of Kellogg’s underlying assumptions lacked any basis in reality. Yet Trump seemingly took them on trust.

Political warfare in Washington is endemic. But the body count at the Pentagon has started to rise precipitously. Three of Secretary of Defence Hegseth’s top advisors were placed on leave, and then fired. The war continues, with the Secretary now in the firing line.

GREAT CARTOON FROM CATHY WILCOX — SMH 29/04/2025.....

Hairdresser Renee Johnson hears a lot in her Muswellbrook hair and beauty salon. 

But one thing she has not heard, in the two weeks since the federal election campaign kicked off, is anything from either major party that would cement her vote. 

She is still undecided.

As a small business owner in a traditional mining town, her biggest fear, and one that she shares with her customers, is job insecurity. 

In the lead-up to the Australia election, new research examines the ALP and Coalition messaging and policy on the People’s Republic of China.

Elena Collinson

The report, from the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, examines how these positions are evolving under increased international pressure and domestic scrutiny. The key findings of the report are:

THE IRAQ WAR WAS A MASSIVE DECEPTION WHICH WAS EASY TO UNPICK EXCEPT FOR THE MMMM (MEDIOCRE MASS MEDIA DE MIERDA). THE WAR IN YUCKRAINE IS A MORE COMPLEX DECEPTION WHICH STARTED WAY BACK IN 1917, WHEN THE AMERICAN EMPIRE DECIDED TO DESTROY RUSSIA...

HOPEFULLY WE ARE SEEING THE END OF THE WAR IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD, BUT THE DECEPTION WITH A TRUMPIAN TWIST MAY CONTINUE... THE EUROPEAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THEIR AMERICAN TUTORED LEADERS, AND THE ENGLISH EMPIRE, UNDER THE THUMB OF MI6, ARE STILL ACTIVELY OVERTLY PURSUING THE CAPER... 

OBAMA, BORIS JOHNSON AND JOE BIDEN ARE THE MODERN REPRESENTATIVES OF THIS PUSH TO DESTROY RUSSIA... RUSSIA HAS BEEN EXTRAORDINARILY LUCKY TO HAVE VLADIMIR PUTIN AT THE HELM...

A fleet of retired tanks the Albanese government pledged to Ukraine last year remains stuck in Australia, with defence figures in part blaming resistance from the United States for their delayed transfer.

More than six months after the donation of the M1A1 Abrams was first announced as part of a $245 million Australian military aid package, the ABC can reveal the aging army vehicles are still awaiting final clearance to be shipped overseas.

Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz and his CDU won Germany's election, yet his personal popularity is low — and getting lower. Most Germans don't trust him, not least because of his approach to the far-right AfD.

As the Kremlin massed troops on Ukraine’s border in early 2022, and the threat of sanctions grew, wealthy Russians began flying crates of cash home — with help from Raiffeisen Bank International, Brink’s and Bank of America.

Trade data reviewed by OCCRP and Paper Trail Media shows that the three global institutions moved more than $12 billion worth of foreign currency to Russia just before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Most of the cash was in U.S. dollars, euros, and Swiss francs.

Austria’s Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) was by far the biggest money mover, sending 189 shipments worth a combined $10 billion.  

Boris Johnson rages at Donald Trump's 'capitulation' to Russia - 'Putin will attack again'

Boris Johnson says it is time to take the boot off the neck of the Ukrainians and put the squeeze on Vladimir Putin.

In 2016, US Vice-President J.D. Vance published a best-selling memoir titled Hillbilly Elegy. Curiously, he explained on the Fox News network recently that China’s pivotal influence on American consumption was due to the US borrowing “money from Chinese peasants to buy the things those Chinese peasants manufacture” (YouTube link here). Let’s consider the sort of individuals in question.

Richard Cullen

European understanding

We still cannot feel confident in predicting the outcome of this 2025 election. But what we can confidently say is that it has been a quite remarkable campaign, shaped by external events in unpredictable ways.

This has been quite a remarkable election campaign whatever the outcome. That stands out. I can trace its unpredictability by looking at my speaking notes since last December on the local Canberra community speaking circuit.

John Warhurst

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWddiYK8_uc

"I can't stop cracking up my eyes are watering this is so funny. Zelensky's face went from joy and confidence to pure anxiety once the French dude was told to scram...." — comment

YOURDEMOCRACY.NET RECORDS HISTORY AS IT SHOULD BE — NOT AS THE WESTERN MEDIA WRONGLY REPORTS IT.

         Gus Leonisky

As the world watches tariff brinkmanship unfold between the US and China, analysts have cast doubt on the truth of US President Donald Trump's claim in a magazine interview that China's President Xi Jinping called him.

Mr Trump told Time magazine that tariff talks were taking place between the US and China, an assertion he repeated to reporters as he was leaving the White House to attend the funeral of Pope Francis in Rome.

Beijing denied any talks were taking place.

Leaked documents reviewed by The Grayzone reveal that a blueprint for Ukraine’s failed effort to capture the village of Krynky was assembled by Project Alchemy, a secret military-intelligence cell created by the British Ministry of Defence which sought “at all costs” to “keep Ukraine fighting.” The Krynky plot led to a bloodbath that remains one of the war’s biggest disasters.

UK intel behind Ukraine’s disastrous Krynky invasion, leaked documents reveal

BY KIT KLARENBERG

IA's catalogue of major reasons Peter Dutton should never be prime minister – begun a few months ago and updated here by Michelle Pini – is now at 95 big fat whopping reasons.

If Dutton’s Coalition fails the May 3 contest, members of the media circus will still be able to hold their heads high, since the loss won’t be due to lack of effort on their part.

A whopping 95 reasons why Dutton is unfit to be PM — and still counting
By Michelle Pini

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly prepared to hold peace talks with Ukraine, the Kremlin said on Saturday, as the Russian military claimed to have recaptured the border region of Kursk.

According to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Putin stated his readiness to negotiate during a meeting with US President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Friday.