Kursk, Moscow, Sunday, August 11, 2024 (MB) Thousands of troops of the Ukrainian army, which penetrated into Russia 20 km deep and occupied Suja, are holding their own for the sixth day in the face of tanks and heat bombs directed against them. There are reports of fierce fighting, 76,000 Russian residents had to be…
"The Albanese government with their policy is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States, writes former Prime Minister of Australia, Paul Keating." Paul Keating is a critic of the Labor Party's all-in support for the AUKUS submarine deal and growing military relationship with the US. In the interview below, he spoke to ABC 7.30 Report’s Sarah Ferguson 10.8.24 Transcript by Pearls and Irritations.
[Wikipedia: Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously served as treasurer under Prime Minister Bob Hawke from 1983 to 1991 and as the seventh deputy prime minister from 1990 to 1991. ]
By WARWICK POWELL | China Daily Global | Updated: 2024-07-29
The ongoing chaos that seems to be the defining characteristic of US domestic politics sets the backdrop for the attempts of the United States to reassert its hegemony across the world through the global expansion of NATO. US political chaos reflects a political economy that is failing to meet the aspirations of the US people, let alone enable the US to recover its position as the unparalleled global military hegemon.
"As a result of investments made under the Obama, Trump and Biden administrations, NNSA was able to deliver more than 200 upgraded nuclear weapons to the Department of Defense last year. This is our largest delivery in one year since the end of the Cold War," Jill Hruby, administrator of the National Nuclear Safety Administration (NNSA), said at the breakfast of the National Institute for Deterrence Studies "Peace through Strength."
August 19 was the anniversary of the signing of the historic Quebec Agreement by President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill in Quebec City in 1943 for the joint development of the atom bomb by the U.S., the United Kingdom and Canada.
Pressenza By Anton Wagner
Demokratioiden heikentyminen eri maissa on yksi syy, miksi tutkijat ovat aloittaneet monivuotisen ”demokratian läpivalaisun” eli auditoinnin Tanskassa. Hanketta johtaa Aarhusin yliopiston politiikan laitoksen professori Michael Bang Petersen, jonka mukaan projektin tarkoituksena on tarjota poliitikoille ja kansalaisille parasta mahdollista tietoa väittelyn tueksi.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky rode to power on pledges to clean up the Eastern European country, but the Pandora Papers reveal he and his close circle were the beneficiaries of a network o...
Newsweek Jan 24, 2023. Despite being elected in 2019 on the platform of fighting corruption, the Ukrainian president was found to have a network of companies based in tax havens.
av Jonathan Turley 29 juli 2024
Below is my column in The Hill on the recent notice that this blog is now being formally "reviewed" by NewsGuard, a company that I just criticized in a prior Hill column as a threat to free speech. The questions from NewsGuard were revealing and concerning. Today, I have posted the response of NewsGuard's co-founder…
By Jonathan Turley (Professor of Public Interest Law at George Washington University.)
I hope that our readers have read the response of NewsGuard's Gordon Crovitz to my recent criticism of the company's rating system for news sites. He makes important points, including the fact that the company has given high ratings to conservative sites and low ratings to some liberal sites. I have mutual friends of both…
I am particularly concerned over the reported government contracts given to NewsGuard by the Biden Administration as well as agreements with teacher unions to help filter or rate sites. The Twitter Files have shown an extensive system of funding and coordination between agencies and these companies. The funding of such private rating or targeting operations is precisely what I have warned about in congressional testimony as a type of “censorship by surrogate.” The government has been attempting to achieve forms of censorship indirectly that it is barred from achieving directly under the First Amendment.
Speech by Sevim Dagdelen, Member of the German Bundestag at
„No to NATO – Yes to Peace“-rally in Washington DC on July 7th 2024.
"In fact, Germany is the second most important arms supplier for Israel after the USA. From 2019 to 2023, 30 percent of weapons came from Germany. In 2023, the figure was 47 percent while the USA supplied 53 percent. I think that is irresponsible and a shame to send weapons to an ongoing war."
Douglas Jones. "Although the technology used in voting continues to evolve, it remains vulnerable to both malicious and unintentional errors. To protect the systems against both, explains Douglas W. Jones, a computer scientist at the University of Iowa and co-author of the book Broken Ballots, election officials need to be able to check and double-check the election’s results."
‘There was no promise not to enlarge NATO’
Robert Zoellick, the U.S. diplomat who helped negotiate the end of the Cold War, says Vladimir Putin’s claims about Ukraine are part of a disinformation campaign
Jasmine Owens. The link between colonialism, exploitation, and nuclear weapons is seen most clearly in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "Eighty percent of the uranium used in the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombs originated from the Shinkolobwe mine in the Belgian Congo, now known as the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Throughout the 1940s and 1950s, the Congo was the number one supplier of uranium to the U.S., and the people of the DRC paid a heavy price."
Was kann die Nato für die Ukraine tun? Was passiert, wenn Trump die US-Wahlen gewinnt? U.a. mit Omid Nouripour, Sahra Wagenknecht und Claus Kleber
Nato in der Krise – stark genug gegen Putin?
"maybrit illner" – Der Polit-Talk im ZDF vom 11. Juli 2024
Von 2026 an sollen Marschflugkörper vom Typ Tomahawk mit deutlich mehr als 2.000 Kilometern Reichweite, Flugabwehrraketen vom Typ SM-6 und neu entwickelte Überschallwaffen für einen besseren Schutz der Nato-Verbündeten in Europa sorgen.
Das gaben das Weiße Haus und die Bundesregierung am Rande des Nato-Gipfels in Washington bekannt.
Die genannten Systeme hätten eine "deutlich weitere Reichweite als gegenwärtige landgestützte Systeme in Europa", hieß es in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung. Sie sollen zunächst zeitweise in Deutschland stationiert werden, später permanent.
Der Beginn der geplanten Stationierung liegt mehr als ein Jahr nach der US-Präsidentenwahl im kommenden November. Die Entscheidung könnte also rückgängig gemacht werden, falls der Republikaner Donald Trump die US-Wahl gewinnt.
Trump hatte während seiner Amtszeit von 2017 bis 2021 eine Reduzierung der US-Militärpräsenz in Deutschland eingeleitet, die später unter dem jetzigen Präsidenten Joe Biden gestoppt wurde.
Sergei Karaganov: "For many years I have studied the history of nuclear strategy and come to an unambiguous, albeit seemingly not quite scientific, conclusion. The creation of nuclear weapons was the result of divine intervention. Horrified to see that people, Europeans and the Japanese who had joined them, had unleashed two world wars within the life-span of one generation, sacrificing tens of millions of lives, God handed a weapon of Armageddon to humanity to remind those who had lost the fear of hell that it existed. It was this fear that ensured relative peace for the last three quarters of a century. That fear is gone now. What is happening now is unthinkable in accordance with previous ideas about nuclear deterrence: in a fit of desperate rage, the ruling circles of a group of countries have unleashed a full-scale war in the underbelly of a nuclear superpower."
Sergei A. Karaganov
Professor Emeritus
National Research University–Higher School of Economics, Moscow, Russia
Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs
Academic Supervisor;
Council on Foreign and Defense Policy
Honorary Chairman of the Presidium
Karagano speaks abt the necessity of fear.
Eeva-Kaarina Kolsi, Ilta-Sanomat:
21.11.2020 12:35 Juice Leskinen teki Imagine-kappaleelle suomenkieliset sanat luokkakaverinsa Eija Ahvon laulettavaksi. Se julkaistaan levyllä nyt, kun John Lennonin kuolemasta tulee 40 vuotta.
Rejecting calls for him to step aside, Biden defended his determination to remain in the race by using one of his favorite foreign policy talking points, the conceit that America is the indispensable or essential nation. Building on the idea expressed by then-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright a quarter century ago, the president said, “You know, not only am I campaigning, but I'm running the world. Not — and that's not hy — sounds like hyperbole, but we are the essential nation of the world. Madeleine Albright was right.”
Sanna Ukkola Iltalehti.
4.7.24Dakota Robin. On typerryttävää katsella, kuinka toimittajia erikseen sysitään pois klassisen journalismin periaatteista. Ei ihme, että Yle kieltäytyy luovuttamasta tietoja koulutuksista, kirjoittaa Sanna Ukkola.
Det är glädjande att Julian Assange nu har släppts från Belmarshfängelset där han tillbringat 1901 dagar. Det faktum att han gjort en uppgörelse med det amerikanska justitiedepartementet och kommer att dömas enligt spionerilagen innebär dock ett farligt prejudikat för pressfriheten och för alla dem som försöker avslöja missförhållanden och ställa makthavare till svars.
The Hill, by Jeffrey Sachs, opinion contributor - 06/27/24
Sachs is University Professor at Columbia University. He advised Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, Russian President Boris Yeltsin and Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma.
Anduril's Manifesto: "Since World War II, America and its allies’ lead in military technology has been the pivotal factor in preventing World War III. The incumbent defense companies are unable to build the technology we…"
Young, hot upstarts want to shorten the kill chain with AI weapons
William Hartung
Jul 03, 2024 [earlier: https://tomdispatch.com/philosopher-kings-or-new-age-militarists/ ]]
...the approach advocated by Brose and his acolytes is going to make war more likely as technological hubris instills a belief that the United States can indeed “beat” a rival nuclear-armed power like China in a conflict, if only we invest in a nimble new high-tech force.
Fred är en grundförutsättning för utveckling av hållbara samhällen. I en tid av både klimatförändring och upprustning krävs en samlad plan för hur Sverige och världen kan ställa om till fredliga och rättvisa lösningar. Jordens Vänners fredsutskott uppmanar freds-miljö- och rättviserörelsen att samlas i ett upprop för fred och rättvisa.
Not everyone in the field of science has abandoned the truth that carbon dioxide (CO2) and other “greenhouse gases” are good for people and planet as opposed to bad. More than 1,600 scientists – 1,609 as of this writing, to be precise – belonging to the Global Climate Intelligence Group (CLINTEL) signed the World Climate […]
är marinbasen White Beach bjuder in lokalinvånarna till öppet hus. Foto: Alexander MahmoudInvånare på ön Okinawa protesterar mot den amerikanska närvaron som de tycker skapar omänskliga bullernivåer, för med sig olyckor och förstör miljön.
And we're finally hitting the sweet spot of the crucial one Substack 11.6.24
"So even amidst all the desperate news from climate science, I have some legitimately good numbers to update you on this morning. They come from the veteran energy analyst Kingsmill Bond and colleagues at the Rocky Mountain Institute, and they demonstrate that the world has moved on to the steep part of the S curve, which will sweep us from minimal reliance on renewable energy to—we must hope and pray— minimal dependence on fossil fuel. The angle of that curve may prove to be the most significant geometry of our time on earth, competing only with the slope of the Keeling Curve which documents the growing accumulation of co2 in the atmosphere above Mauna Loa"
Giornata mondiale del rifugiato: quasi 120 milioni di persone sono costrette a lasciare la propria terra. Un numero in continuo aumento da 12 anni -- sparad
Is de-dollarization finally here? (Juni 2024) "A Russian commodities exporter told Reuters: "We don't care, we have yuan." According to the report, China's yuan has ousted the dollar to become MOEX's most traded currency, accounting for 53.6% of all foreign currency traded in May."
Debattinlägg, svt.se 13.5.2019
Malin Nilsson
generalsekreterare Internationella Kvinnoförbundet för Fred och Frihet
Clara Levin
t.f. generalsekreterare Svenska Läkare mot Kärnvapen
"Under 1940- och 50-talet hade Sverige hemliga planer på att utveckla kärnvapen. Det var oroliga tider och överbefälhavare Nils Swedlund ansåg att Sverige behövde en atombomb.
Debatten blev en historisk kraftmätning i svensk utrikespolitik, där det socialdemokratiska kvinnoförbundet med Inga Thorsson i spetsen spelade en viktig roll.
Tillsammans med kampanjen AMSA manade S-kvinnor regeringen att välja avspänning istället för kärnvapen. De möttes av hård kritik. Inga Thorsson och AMSA anklagades för att vara ogenomtänkta, irrationella och till och med farliga."
Will America and China heed the warnings of twentieth-century catastrophe?
Kirj. Odd Arne Westad, "Odd Arne Westad (s. 5. tammikuuta 1960 Ålesund, Norja) on norjalainen historioitsija. Hän on erikoistunut poliittiseen historiaan. Hän on julkaissut tutkimuksia Kiinan historiasta ja kylmän sodan historiasta. Westad on toiminut historian professorina Yalen yliopistossa vuodesta 2019 lähtien
On Monday, June 3, the Ukrainian government banned the World Socialist Web Site across the country, issuing an order commanding all internet service providers to block access to the WSWS indefinitely.
The decision to ban the WSWS is a response to the outpouring of support within Ukraine and internationally for Bogdan Syrotiuk, a 25-year-old socialist internationalist who was arrested by the Zelensky regime on April 25 on trumped up charges of “high treason” for writing articles for the WSWS, which SBU prosecutors (Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency) deceitfully claim is “Russian propaganda.” Syrotiuk and the organization to which he belongs, the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists (YGBL), are Trotskyists and irreconcilable opponents of the US-NATO war against Russia as well as the capitalist government of Vladimir Putin.
Newsweek 13.6.24 Russia's nuclear drills relocated closer to NATO borders this week, in a military district formed after Finland joined the alliance.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on May 21 that the first stage of the drills had started involving the "practical testing of the preparation and use of nonstrategic nuclear weapons" in the country's Southern Military District.
Moscow's second stage of drills began on Tuesday alongside Belarusian troops.
In a statement shared on Telegram on Wednesday, Russia's defense ministry said the country's newly formed Leningrad Military District—stationed close to Finland and the Baltic States—had also joined the nuclear maneuvers. The district was announced in February in response to Finland joining the NATO alliance.
10.6.24 « Au sujet de l’Ukraine, le président Lula a réitéré sa défense de négociations de paix impliquant les deux côtés du conflit », a indiqué la présidence brésilienne dans un communiqué, précisant que Lula avait « reçu un appel » de M. Poutine dans la matinée, au moment où se prépare en Suisse, sans Moscou et à l’initiative de Kyiv, une conférence sur la paix en Ukraine qui aura lieu le week-end prochain.
2 april, 2024
Jordan Bardella s’est dit contre une sortie de la France du commandement intégré de l’Otan.
La mesure figure pourtant dans le projet présidentiel du Rassemblement national.
Ce n’est pas la première fois que le patron du RN semble en dissonance avec Marine Le Pen sur la Russie de Vladimir Poutine. Une simple différence de forme ?
Eric Toussaint mfl i en analys av EU-utvecklingen några dar före EU-valen 9.6.24 "The European Eurocracy is planning to give the extreme right a specific role in European government, thereby burying all of the taboos and precautions that Western democracies have taken against these political movements since the end of WWII".
Apropå "the Eurocracy". Jag misstänker att Spinelli är upphovsman till begreppet, liksom det egentligen var han som namngav den europeiska unionen. Se Spinellis bok "The Eurocrats" från 1966 och Spinelligruppens utkast till fördrag om Europeiska unionen, som antogs av europaparlamentet år 1984.
Toussaint m fl skriver:
"The most powerful EU leaders not only approve the Zionist state’s policy of war crimes against the civilian population of Gaza, citing a non-existent ‘right to defence’ on the part of an occupying power. They also repress and attempt to ban any internal voices that oppose unconditional EU support for the Israeli occupation of Palestine and genocide of Gazans. The McCarthyite drift has a true goal: not simply to eliminate solidarity with the Palestinian cause, but to discipline the European population around the geostrategic interests of its elites, namely the remilitarization of Europe around the war in Ukraine and unconditional support for Israel".
Ovanstående är lätt att hålla med om. Däremot vill åtminstone inte jag förena mig i de tre skribenternas -- en fransmans, en spanjors och en irländares -- överdrivet antieuropeiska utgjutelse i följande stycke:
"Perhaps the only positive outcome of all of this is that we can finally consign to the dust bin, all of the so-called ‘European values’ and ‘founding myths of peace’ that the EU liberal propaganda machine continues to hammer away at".
Vad de "europeiska värdena" beträffar ska vi nog akta oss att slänga bort rubbet. Idag är det visserligen uppenbart att EU, trots Spinellis och hans kollegors ansträngningar, aldrig blev ett fredsprojekt men det är svårt att se hur vi människor någonsin ska få till världsfred om vi inte lyckas få Europa att slå in på fredens väg.
Henrik Skrak
31 Maj 2024
Hanna Gedin, kandidat för Vänsterpartiet till EU-parlamentet, skriver debattartikel i danska Alltingets forum den 22 maj. Hon gör det tillsammans med Frederikke Helleman, kandidat till EU-parlamentet för danska Enhetslistan. Artikeln är en uppmaning till regeringarna i Danmark och Sverige att stoppa rysk fartygstrafik i Öresund, detta som en utvidgning av sanktionerna mot Ryssland. De skriver:
”Genom att stoppa olovlig rysk oljeexport genom våra farvatten tar vi ifrån Putin pengar han räknar med att använda till kriget i Ukraina. Därmed skulle vår insats stärka både vår egen och Ukrainas säkerhet. Det måste ändå kallas för ett win-win-scenario.”
Sverige och Danmark har verktyg för att stoppa Putins oljetransporter. Det är därför vårt moraliska och politiska ansvar att agera. Det skriver Frederikke Hellemann [enhetslistan]och Hanna Gedin [vp], dansk respektive svensk kandidat till EU-valet, som uppmanar regeringarna att omgående tillsätta en gemensam arbetsgrupp för att stoppa den ryska skuggflottan.
Pre-planned logistical routes could help stave off a potential Russian attack
How US troops could be sent to front line in European ground war with Russia
In the event of a Russian invasion of Nato, US troops would be shipped to the port of Rotterdam before being transported eastward.
But arrangements are also being made behind the scenes to expand the routes to other ports to ensure the ground line of communications cannot be severed by Moscow’s forces.
Myöskään Saksassa kannatusta kasvattava vasemmistopopulisti Sahra Wagenknechtin puolue ei ole tervetullut vasemmistoryhmään, Andersson sanoo. Wagenknecht vastustaa aseapua Ukrainalle ja tukee kaasukaupan palauttamista Venäjän kanssa.
”Sellaisten tulo ryhmään on täysin poissuljettua.”
Emmanuel Macron s'est dit prêt à ouvrir un débat sur une défense européenne qui, outre les armes de longue portée et antimissiles, pourrait comprendre les armes nucléaires. Des propos qui ont suscité la colère de la classe politique française.
In der Nacht zu Donnerstag greift die Ukraine eine wichtige Radaranlage auf russischem Boden an. Nicht nur in Russland ist die Empörung groß. Doch ein US-Sicherheitsexperte wittert strategisches Kalkül - und eine Botschaft an die US-Regierung.
Iltalehti ti 28.5. klo 22.49. Iskut Venäjän ydinohjusten ennakkovaroitusjärjestelmään ovat uusi käänne Ukrainan sodassa, ja niiden seuraukset voivat olla kauaskantoisia.
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Torstaina 23.5. Ukraina iski Armavirin kaupungissa Krasnodarin alueella sijaitsevaan tutka-asemaan. Heti perään maanantaina se iski tutka-asemaan Orskin kaupungissa Orenburgin alueella.
Huhtikuun puolivälissä Ukraina yritti iskeä Kontainer-järjestelmään Mordvan alueella.
A major example of solidarity with the jailed socialist and anti-war activist came from the leaders of France Unbowed (pictured), including its historical leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon (second right).
The Boris Kagarlitsky International Solidarity Campaign calls on all supporters of freedom for Kagarlitsky to follow their example and rebouble efforts to win his release.
On June 1, the Campaign will be promoting a social media storm under the hashtag #freeboris!
Writing from a Russian prison, sociologist Boris Kagarlitsky has penned the following open letter in support of a broad solidarity campaign with left-wing Russian political prisoners. (4 April)
Anat Matar: Walid and I shared a political, personal, and philosophical correspondence for two decades. Even in death, he accompanies me on the path of truth.
In den USA ist ein «Agentengesetz» schon lange in Kraft. Das Gesetz über ausländische Agentenregistrierung (Foreign Agents Registration Act, FARA) schreibt eine Meldepflicht vor. Wenn eine Organisation als «ausländische Agentin» im Sinne von FARA betrachtet wird, muss sie sich registrieren lassen und regelmässige Berichte über ihre Aktivitäten und Finanzierungen vorlegen. Dies dient der Transparenz und der Vermeidung von unlauteren Einflussnahmen aus dem Ausland.
Quanto alle proteste nelle università italiane, De Luca conclude sottolineando che le autorità hanno fatto subito capire come girava il vento e quindi dopo quanto accaduto durante le proteste di Pisa, Napoli e Roma “non si è mossa più una foglia”.
Palestine solidarity action is holding firm and spreading despite the brutal efforts of university authorities to suppress them, reports Des Freedman The morning after hundreds of New York City cops smashed up the pro-Palestinian occupation on the campus of Columbia University, the city’s mayor Eric Adams warned that ‘There is a movement to radicalize young people and I’m not going to wait until it’s done and all of a sudden acknowledge the existence of it’.
Iida Siimes.: "Diplomatiaa ennen tuomiopäivää" , Voima 2/2024
Norjan Kirkkoniemeltä käsin raportoiva Barents Observer julkaisee uutisia Arktisista alueista ja erityisesti Venäjän valtavista Kuolan niemimaan ydintukikohdista. Kun lehden päätoimittaja Thomas Nilsen vieraili Helsingissä esitelmöimässä journalisteille vuoden 2024 tammikuussa, hän vei yleisöltään yöunet pitkäksi aikaa. Nilsen kertoi, miten veden alla ydinvoimalla kulkevaa ja ydinkärkeä kantavaa nopeaa Poseidon-torpedoa ei voi mitenkään torjua. Kun se on laukaistu liikkeelle, se kulkee vääjäämättä maaliinsa. Jos se räjähtää esimerkiksi Venäjän oletettujen vihollismaiden, kuten Yhdysvaltain tai Britannian rannikolla, sen räjähdysvoima ja aiheuttama tsunami tuhoavat koko rannikon. Myöhemmin ydinlaskeuma tuhoaa vielä lisää.
Tiedeyhteisö ympäri maailmaa nimittää Poseidonia ”tuomiopäivän aseeksi”. Putin on uhonnut rakentavansa näitä ainakin kolmekymmentä.
Venäjällä on maailman suurin ydinasearsenaali. Maa ei kunnioita diplomatian eikä sodan sääntöjä. Venäjä ei ole edes julistanut sotaa Ukrainaa vastaan, mutta se sotii maassa silti, jo yhdennettätoista vuotta.
Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană met Argentine Defence Minister Luis Petri at NATO Headquarters on Thursday (18 April 2024) for talks on working toward a partnership between the Alliance and Argentina.
Russia Post: April 20, 2024
In this essay, journalist Leonid Ragozin argues that calls for “decolonizing” Russia play into the hands of the Kremlin’s anti-Western propaganda by evoking the fear of civil war – the same fear that makes Russians tacitly support Putin’s aggression in Ukraine.
Om Russia Post: "Welcome to Russia.Post, an expert journalism platform of The Russia Program at the George Washington University that seeks to lift the new Iron Curtain and shed light on developments inside Russia. We aim to become a digital hub where Russian humanities and civil society-related issues can be debated in a pluralistic atmosphere. We put the spotlight on Russian voices, in dialogue with international experts, to discuss the future of Russia and its place in the world. Russia.Post also envisions itself as a platform for educating a broader audience on Russian society in all its complexity and diversity, with the belief that cultural exchange and mutual understanding remain as important as ever."