Everyone has the odd “if only” thought from time to time. If only you had made a different career choice, if only you had not said the things you have said, or if only you had not done some of the things you have done. All those done and not done moments – those decisions and those things you did which, when you wake up at night, have you squirming with anguish and/or embarrassment.

Austrian President Alexander Van der Bellen on Monday tasked Herbert Kickl, the leader of the far-right Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), with the formation of a new government.

Van der Bellen's offer came after Chancellor Karl Nehammer handed in his resignation on Saturday over the collapse of coalition talks that had excluded the FPÖ.

https://www.dw.com/en/austrias-far-right-freedom-party-asked-to-form-government/a-71228157

Just before Christmas, the Albanese Government released the findings of a report into how much funding the federal government contributes to those institutions around the country that research and report on the contemporary challenges facing Australian strategic policy.

This is a significant report with important consequences for Australia’s global engagement. But it has not received the attention it deserves.

Ten years later, Charlie Hebdo is still there. The causes of the tragedy too. As well as the determination of the members of the newspaper. The geopolitical situation has evolved, even worsened. Authoritarian regimes like Russia or China no longer hide their ambitions to fight democratic values ​​with the same fanaticism as Islamist terrorist organizations like Daesh or al-Qaeda. Democracy is an idea that seems increasingly contested by increasingly active hostile forces.

Resolving the Russia-Ukraine conflict will not be quick or easy and will require Kiev to face the issue of territory, French President Emmanuel Macron has warned.

Speaking to an annual conference of ambassadors at the Elysee Palace on Monday, Macron addressed a number of global issues, including the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.

“The Ukrainians need to hold a realistic discussion on the territorial questions and only they can do that,” the French president said.
“The United States of America has to help us change the nature of the situation and convince Russia to come to the negotiating table,” while the European members of NATO have the responsibility to craft security guarantees for Ukraine, Macron added.

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

         Gus Leonisky

         POLITICAL CARTOONIST SINCE 1951.

HYPOCRISY ISN’T ONE OF THE TEN COMMANDMENTS SINS.

HENCE ITS POPULARITY IN THE ABRAHAMIC TRADITIONS…

PLEASE DO NOT BLAME RUSSIA IF WW3 STARTS. BLAME AMERICA.

In 1971, Time magazine decided that it might do a friendly cover story on newly installed Liberal prime minister, Billy McMahon, and asked for co-operation from his media office. The office asked that questions be submitted in writing. This was not from mistrust of Time – indeed the office was deeply conscious of what Jane Austen would call the magazine’s condescension in so honouring an Asian backwater. It was from mistrust of Billy, who was capable of almost any media stuff-up.

Vladimir Zelensky’s recent three-hour interview with Lex Fridman was not merely an exercise in media outreach; it was a carefully orchestrated information operation aimed at advancing his geopolitical objectives. Beneath the surface of the casual conversation lay a calculated attempt to manipulate narratives, provoke reactions, and reinforce the notion that peace with Russia is unattainable.

Switching languages, avoiding truths: Zelensky’s bizarre Lex Fridman interview
The Ukrainian leader gave a masterclass in manipulation and showed his increasing desperation during his talk with the Russian-American podcaster

By Nadezhda Romanenko

EU Commission chief von der Leyen has fallen ill with 'severe pneumonia' and has cancelled all her appointments for the next two weeks, her office has announced.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has been diagnosed with "severe pneumonia" and has cancelled her engagements for the first two weeks of January, her office announced on Friday.

"She is dealing with severe pneumonia," a spokesperson said in a statement, though he provided no further details on her condition or the cause of her illness.

Her cancelled engagements include a visit to Lisbon where she was due to make a speech, as well as a trip to Gdansk to mark "the occasion of the launch of the Polish Council Presidency, which will take place at a later stage," the spokesperson said.

Mary Kostakidis, one of Australia’s most recognizable journalists, who was accused of “antisemitism” by the Australian Zionist Federation, has sought to end the standoff with the organization by apologizing for distress her critical reporting of Israel may mistakenly have caused.  

Federation CEO Alon Cassuto filed a complaint last July to the Australian Human Rights Commission about two Kostakidis retweets from January 2024, both of which contain video of a speech by the now assassinated Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah in which he allegedly called for the ethnic cleansing of Israel.  

The "deep state", never part of the Founding Fathers' design, has turned US democracy into fiction, former US assistant treasury secretary and renowned economist Dr Paul Craig Roberts says. What does he mean?

The deep state, described by US political scientist Francis Fukuyama as a network of "unaccountable professional bureaucrats," is really a far more extensive entity.

US President Joe Biden has named 19 recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s top civilian award. Among them are former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, liberal billionaire George Soros, and culinary innovator José Andrés, who once posed for a photo with the man who attempted to assassinate then-President-elect Donald Trump.

The ceremony to present the awards was held at the White House on Saturday. This honor is given to individuals who have made “exemplary contributions to the prosperity, values, or security of the United States, world peace, or other significant societal, public or private endeavors,”according to a statement from the White House.

Washington is pressuring Zelensky to lower the draft age from 25 to 18. Meanwhile, Western media is reporting that Ukrainian recruits have begun deserting forces training in European NATO countries hundreds at a time. Retired Russian Army colonel and renowned military observer Viktor Litovkin explains how these events are connected.

Just Business: US MIC Wants Ukrainian Bloodbath to Continue Even If It Means Drafting 18-Year-Olds

Denmark’s new carbon tax targets an often-overlooked greenhouse-gas producer: agriculture. Yet the plan locks in big Danish farmers’ focus on energy-inefficient animal farming for export, frustrating hopes of a serious cut in emissions.

Greenwashing Denmark’s Big Farmers
BY ESBEN BØGH SØRENSEN

Washington supplied “a lot of weapons”to Ukraine in the months before the hostilities between Moscow and Kiev began in February 2022, outgoing US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has admitted. [WE KNEW THIS].

The top diplomat made the remarks while speaking on the New York Times’ ‘The Interview’ podcast, aired on Saturday. The US saw the conflict between Russia and Ukraine “coming”and wanted to get Kiev “prepared” for it, according to Blinken. 

“Starting in September and then again in December, we quietly got a lot of weapons to Ukraine to make sure that they had in hand what they needed to defend themselves – things like Stingers, Javelins that they could use,” he said.