Across the West, economic dislocation and demographic change have triggered a demand for strong leaders. This surge of populism is more than an emotional backlash; it encourages a political structure that threatens liberal democracy. While populism accepts principles of popular sovereignty and majoritarianism, it is skeptical about constitutionalism and liberal protections for individuals.

 

The Populist Challenge to Liberal Democracy

William A. Galston

April 2018

 

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) warned Democrats on Monday against moderating their economic agenda to cater to the demands of wealthy donors ahead of the 2026 and 2028 election cycles.

Instead, Warren said during a speech at the National Press Club, Democrats should embrace “full-throated, economic populist ideas” and reject the idea that the Democratic party lost in 2024 because its platform was “too progressive.”

The high-powered folks of Wall Street, Silicon Valley and Washington, according to Warren, “want the Democratic Party to respond to the 2024 losses by watering down our economic agenda and sucking up to the rich and powerful, claiming that a less progressive Democratic Party will win more elections.”

Trump’s Washington runs on proximity, power and unpredictability. Australia’s next ambassador must be chosen for clarity, skill and seriousness.

Whoever Anthony Albanese appoints to replace Kevin Rudd as Australia’s ambassador to the US is likely to have a tough task explaining to the White House why Australia stands with Europe to resist Donald Trump’s designs on Greenland.

 

James Curran

Greenland is why Rudd’s DC replacement must be a diplomat

 

 

The EU leaders have held an emergency meeting over Trump’s tariffs threat over Greenland. After the meeting was concluded the EU officials have stated that the EU would respond with tariffs of their own and some have even suggested the Anti-Coercion Instrument, a tool which hasn’t been used before.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIa8DO-9WyE

Trade Tensions Escalate: EU Reacts to Trump Tariffs, Canada in the Spotlight

 

Just like during all the recent Iran protests, the language used by Western politicians and media follows a familiar script: “freedom,” “democracy,” and “support for the protesters” is what Europe and the US present as their priorities. Washington and London present themselves as moral actors, standing on the side of the protesters against an oppressive state. 

 

They don’t care if you die: How Iran’s protests became a bargaining chip for oil and power
The story of the 1953 Iran coup that cost Washington less than $100,000, took just six days, and left hundreds of Iranians dead while reshaping the Middle East for decades.....

By Elizaveta Naumova

 

Chancellor Friedrich Merz has launched a fresh critique of German work ethic, questioning why employees take an average of “almost three weeks” of sick leave annually instead of working harder to boost the country’s dwindling economy.

Campaigning in Baden-Württemberg last week, Merz took aim at the system of telephone sick notes, introduced during the coronavirus pandemic, wondering “does it still make sense today?”

 

Paul Ritter was born in Prague on 6 April 1925 to Jewish parents Carl Ritter and Elsa (née Schnabel).[3] In 1939, at the age of 13, Ritter was evacuated from Czechoslovakia to England via the Kindertransport.

 

You can always tell how murderous the U.S. empire is being from day to day from the expression on warmongering senator Lindsey Graham’s face, and right now he looks like he just found his mother dead in the bathtub.

 

Caitlin Johnstone: Just Read Lindsey Graham’s Face

Lindsey Graham’s long face is encouraging. Maybe war with Iran really has been put off for the time being.

 

“The United States of America is running Venezuela. By definition that’s true,” Donald Trump’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, said in a notable CNN interview last week.

“You can talk all you want about international niceties and everything else, but we live in a world – in the real world – that is governed by strength, that is governed by force, that is governed by power. These are the iron laws of the world since the beginning of time.”

 

Trump 2.0 is all about power. His biggest move may be just days away

BY Michael Koziol

 

IN PHYSICS EVERY ACTION HAS A REACTION…

Isaac Newton's Second Law of Motion describes what happens when an external force acts upon a massive body at rest or in uniform linear motion. What happens to the body from which that external force is being applied? That situation is described by Newton's Third Law of Motion. It states, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." 

Newton published his laws of motion in 1687, in his seminal work “Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica” (Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy) in which he formalized the description of how massive bodies move under the influence of external forces. 

CSIRO chief Doug Hilton announced he’s sacking 350 scientists, but the $965K pa head of the science body now refuses to have his own ‘sacking science’ publicly reviewed. Transparency Warrior Rex Patrick reports.

Back in April 2024, in the context of a newly announce ‘Made in Australia’ policy, MWM wrote about our flat-lined manufacturing as a percentage of GDP (5%) and our plummeting economic complexity world ranking (105th).

 

The science of sacking. Be gone CSIRO scientists!
by Rex Patrick

 

The old aphorism that makes the aw-shucks-golly-gee-willikers observation, “Laws are like sausages; it is best not to see them being made,” has been referenced by docile nitwits since the late 1800s as a cloying and unforgivable defense as to why it might be acceptable to remain a passive nonparticipation in the democratic process, its urbane quotability crafted no doubt for those least likely to be victimized by legislation rendered in contempt of a person’s ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, religious conviction, or political affiliation.

 

F(ascism) YOU!
“I'm afraid, based on my own experience, that fascism will come to America in the name of national security.” ― Jim Garrison

MR. FISH — THE INDEPENDENT INK

 

In this interview, I [WALLY RASHID] speak with Elina Xenophontos, a Cyprus-based international law specialist, about the rapid influx of Israeli nationals relocating to Cyprus and the growing political debate surrounding it.

Elina explains how entire communities are being built that remain socially and economically closed off, why some local politicians are now publicly raising concerns, and how these developments are being discussed inside Cyprus itself. We also explore what this trend means for housing, demographics, sovereignty, and regional dynamics in the eastern Mediterranean.

This conversation focuses on facts, legal context, and on-the-ground perspectives from someone who lives in Cyprus and closely follows the issue. The goal is to understand what is happening, why it matters, and why the discussion is becoming more visible inside the country.

The past year has demonstrated a notable decline in the influence of Western civilization. Discord in the actions of the United States and the European Union is felt across various domains and has manifested with particular intensity regarding the Ukraine conflict.

While Washington genuinely seeks to resolve this crisis [GUSNOTE: WE DO NOT BELIEVE THAT TRUMP SEEKS TO RESOLVE THIS CONFLICT. HE PLAYS A DISHONEST CARD], the leaders of major European powers are steering toward prolonging the war.

 

The West Is in Disarray

BY Mohammed Amer