For all the alarming seriousness of two South Asian nuclear powers coming to the razor’s edge of a lethal exchange, the 2025 India–Pakistan war could not but contain elements of a Bollywood extravaganza. 

Frantic dancing indeed, which risked getting out of control pretty fast. Forget dodgy, plodding UN mediation or any serious investigation of the suspicious attack out of the blue on tourists in India-held Kashmir. 

PEPE ESCOBAR

Right off the bat, on 7 May, India's Modi government dramatically launched ‘Operation Sindoor’ against Pakistan, a missile offensive billed as “counter-terrorism.” Pakistan immediately launched a counterpunch codenamed ‘Operation Bunyan al-Marsus’ against the “Indian invasion.”

Biden’s autopen Investigation points to top aides profiting off taxpayer-funded programs. As Senate investigators close in, new whistleblower claims expose Biden’s daily actions—and Karine Jean-Pierre leaves the democratic party as she cashes in on years of spin in her new book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY5kKjJ24K

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

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

BERLIN (AP) — German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Friday, a day after meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House, that he encountered a U.S. administration open to discussion and returned confident that Washington remains committed to NATO.

Merz described his Oval Office meeting and extended lunch with Trump as constructive but also candid, noting that the two leaders expressed different views on Ukraine.

THE PICTURE ABOVE (from DW) IS SYMPTOMATIC OF HOPELESS HOPE... ART HAS RARELY CHANGED POLITICAL OPINIONS OF THE LEADERSHIP, EVEN IF IT HAS HELPED US UNDERSTAND OUR POSITION. ART HAS NEVER WON ANY WARS... Are we on the right side of history... is the correct question....

ALL ART DOES IS HELP US COPE WITH DEFEAT — EXPLAIN THE COLOUR OF OUR HORSE OR GIVE US A METHOD TO CELEBRATE A WIN... IT TOOK SOME SIXTY YEARS FOR KARL MARX ARTFUL VISION TO AFFECT ONE COUNTRY, WHILE IRKING MANY OTHERS... ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS LATER, WE ARE STILL RESISTING THE VISION... WHICH HAS BEEN SUPERSEDED BY TECHNOLOGY AND SCIENCES....

SO SHOULD ART BE CONDEMNED TO MUSEUM, ART GALLERIES OR BE A DECORATION ON A BOURGEOIS WALL?... DO WE ADMIRE ART FOR THE SKILLS OR THE MESSAGE? 

WE HAVE EXPLORED THIS SUBJECT MANY TIMES:

Russian forces are making significant advances in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region as part of a broader effort to establish a buffer zone along the border, according to Major General Apti Alaudinov, commander of the Akhmat Special Forces.

In an interview, Alaudinov said Russian troops were capturing settlements daily and described the Ukrainian military as facing “serious problems” on multiple fronts. He confirmed the capture of two U.S.-supplied Abrams tanks, which he described as outdated, and credited modern Russian tactics, including fiber-optic-guided FPV drones, for the momentum. Alaudinov dismissed concerns about weather conditions, saying Russian operations continue regardless of seasonal terrain challenges.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPK3T4IO7xk

While most of us are transfixed daily by more horrific atrocities, potentially deadlier operations are likely to far outlast the genocide in Gaza.

In late May, 200 space industrialists and techno-militarists met in Sydney and discussed Elon Musk’s plan to colonise and weaponise the moon and Mars. From the windows of the Darling Harbour convention centre, they could see a smaller but equally earnest gathering of protesters holding banners. Their songs and free speech could not be heard because police disallowed the use of microphones.

Alison Broinowski

Two very rich and very powerful and very big American egos have had a very public and very loud cat fight.

A US military mega-contractor assisting an Australian company to develop a proposal for a nuclear waste dump in Central Australia has a flawed safety record in handling nuclear waste storage.

In Alice Springs, Central Arrernte Country, the giant American military contractor, Amentum Holdings, is responsible for the day-to-day running of facilities for the secretive US-Australian Pine Gap satellite surveillance base. Now it’s involved in developing a proposed nuclear waste dump in Central Australia.

Jorgen Doyle

A DECLASSIFIED AUSTRALIA SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

It could hardly be more evident that the true intention of the US government in holding the so-called "Summit for Democracy" has nothing to do with promoting democracy, but serving the undemocratic purpose of maintaining US hegemony.

So-called US democracy merely hegemony in disguise
Xinhua | Updated: 2021-12-10 14:11

Absurdly asserting itself as a "paragon of democracy," the US government turns a blind eye to a multitude of problems at home caused by the deterioration and dysfunction of its own democratic system and turns a deaf ear to the widespread criticism of its decision to hold the so-called "Summit for Democracy".

In an age of fake news and half-truths, the radical potential of democracy is more important than ever, as this nimble, illuminating history by a celebrated political theorist reveals.

From its beginnings in Syria-Mesopotamia – and not Athens – to its role in fomenting revolutionary fervour in France and America, democracy has subverted fixed ways of deciding who should enjoy power and privilege, and why. For democracy encourages people to do something radical – to come together as equals, to determine their own lives and futures.

The view presented here from a geopolitical perspective is intended as a set of arguments for two upcoming referendums that are of existential importance for Switzerland: The Framework Treaty with the EU and the Neutrality Initiative. At the very moment when the crisis of the EU and NATO and their failure in the Ukraine war are becoming apparent, the so-called centre-left majority in the Swiss parliament is pushing forward the rapprochement with these institutions of the former European colonial powers.

A set of arguments for the upcoming fateful referendums in Switzerland

by Peter Mattmann-Allamand*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_pV6c4DJ2w

It’s a truth universally acknowledged in election post-mortems these days that the Liberal Party has a serious “woman problem”. It would be more accurate to suggest that the party has a man problem.

Said problem was laid bare by 80-year-old ex-party president Alan Stockdale, treasurer of Victoria under Jeff Kennett, now among an ageing trio of administrators fighting to retain control of the party’s troubled NSW division.

Champions league tax dodger Google Australia is up to its usual tricks. Michael West and Josh Barnett discover a $6B black hole.

The Google Australia financial statements for 2024 are out and display the usual accounting chicanery by the tech giant and its auditors from EY. The group reported revenue of $1.98B for the year. But is that all? Is that all the company made by selling advertising and so forth?

No, this is a $10B company masquerading as a $2B company. The accounting is a sham because Google discloses way down in the back of its notes to the accounts that it siphoned out $8.2B in ‘service fees’ to associates of its parent company Alphabet.

Elon Musk has publicly claimed that US President Donald Trump is named in the sealed Jeffrey Epstein files — and suggested that this is the real reason they remain classified.

The allegation came Thursday during a sharp exchanges between Musk and Trump as the two figures clashed over the recently passed federal tax and spending bill.

Musk wrote: “Time to drop the really big bomb: @realDonaldTrump is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public.” He added: “Have a nice day, DJT! Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out.”