Politics and institutions are increasingly governed by risk management, not leadership. But real leadership requires imagination, courage and the willingness to challenge false stories.

Of course there are Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, Xi, Kim, and the Ayatollahs, who run their worlds according to their own story line, but none in any meaningful way serve democracies. But are they leaders? Leaders act and think transformationally. These guys, especially Trump, are interested only in transactions that further their storyline.

George Browning

[SEE GUS's COMMENT AT THE END.......]

The focus of Block 3 of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion was on online hate but the commission did not hear about the hate directed at pro-Palestinian groups. 

How can the “discomfort” felt by certain Zionists when they see a keffiyeh or hear pro-Palestine peace slogans be more serious than the mutilation and murder of tens of thousands of children? More important than the unspeakable suffering of an entire people being dehumanised, dispossessed and erased from their land, culture and history? More pressing than the escalation towards an all-out war?

Jepke Goudsmit

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's surprise move to replace popular Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov has caused an outburst of anger from civil society and protests from MPs.

A crowd of mostly young people gathered in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities on Thursday morning, holding up signs reading "Hands off Fedorov" and "Stop sabotaging victory!" and chanting "Shame!".

By evening, Zelensky had put forward the name of Maj-Gen Yevhenii Khmara, the acting head of the Security Service (SBU), as acting defence minister.

Israel’s relentless expansion of illegal settlements into the West Bank and East Jerusalem while the E.U., U.S. and Britain look the other way has left any hope of a two-state solution in tatters.

For decades, the E.U. has devised ever more convoluted ways to avoid penalising Israel’s illegal settlements, even as they devour a two-state solution it claims is the only path to regional peace

If I asked you to cut off your arm, would you do it?

What if I pointed out that that your arm regularly punched a neighbour in the face so violently that it broke their nose and teeth, and left them unconscious? Would you cut your arm off then?

Jonathan Cook: Two-State Solution Was Always a Sham

The British government has announced it is going to ban Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, an idea which on the face of it sounds ridiculous.

The IRGC is the primary military branch of another country tasked with defending that country from hostile aggressors.

Soon It Will Be Illegal To Oppose Imperialism

Nate Bear Do Not Panic

GusNote: In 2004, a book from a Pentagon analyst/insider was published with no shame. This is what the blurb about it said:

Since the end of the Cold War, America's national security establishment has been searching for a new operating theory to explain how this seemingly "chaotic" world actually works. Gone is the clash of blocs, but replaced by what?

Hong Kong —  China is struggling to offset economic challenges both at home and abroad, as its economy grew at a slower-than-expected pace in the second quarter of the year.

On Wednesday, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said the economy grew 4.3% in the quarter ending June 30, compared to the same period a year ago.

China misses growth target for first time since Covid as Iran turmoil roils global trade

By Stephanie Yang

Markets are often treated as if they naturally maximise public benefit, but they can just as easily reward speculation, weak care, low wages and ecological destruction.

Mark Diesendorf recently recounted eight economic myths that are helping to destroy our future. Here are some more.

Geoff Davies

Absorbing the revelations in the book Regime Change by journalists Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan, I posed a question to an American colleague:  why do figures like Donald Trump continue to get elected?  With his signature measured calm, he offered a chilling truth.  He suggested that Americans have not felt history’s harsh winds blow with hurricane force since the Civil War, which has left U.S. society dangerously naive and perilously unserious.

Perception of Iran: Veils, Beards & the Bomb

A Tyrannosaurus rex skeleton known as "Gus" sold for $50.1 million (roughly €44 million) at Sotheby's in New York on Tuesday, setting a new record for a dinosaur fossil at auction. The sale followed a tense 10-minute bidding battle involving seven bidders and ended with an anonymous purchaser.

Before Tuesday's sale, the record for the most expensive dinosaur fossil was held by Apex, a Stegosaurus skeleton that sold for $44.6 million at Sotheby's in 2024.

It was discovered in 2021 on a South Dakota cattle ranch, owned by the late Gary "Gus" Licking, for whom the fossil was named,

Europe cannot play a meaningful role in resolving the Ukraine conflict while trying to exclude Russia from the process, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said, calling the bloc’s position a “dead end.” 

Peskov was responding to remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who argued that any future “security guarantees” for Kiev should be determined by Ukraine and its Western backers without Russia’s participation. 

Europe’s position on Ukraine is a ‘dead end’ – Kremlin
A resolution of the conflict without Russia is impossible, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said

“Such statements demonstrate that the position taken by the Europeans is a dead end. If they insist on it, they will have no role in the settlement process,” Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. 

The danger of a nuclear war has never been greater than today. The Merz-Klingbeil government is rearming on a scale not seen since Hitler and is brazenly preparing for a war with Russia, a nuclear-armed power. The cost of this madness is being borne by the workers through mass redundancies, cuts to social services and, ultimately, with their lives.

Socialism Instead of War! Against austerity, rearmament and fascism

Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage is the highest-paid Member of Parliament. In less than two years as the MP for Clacton, Farage has racked up £2 million in personal income and gifts, on top of his £94,000 a year parliamentary salary.

As DeSmog has revealed, a substantial amount of Farage’s income has come from overseas interests – including foreign governments, companies, and donors.