[What you’re about to read isn’t coming from some fringe blog or doomsday cult. These are the numbers that keep people like Steve Keen awake at night — numbers that don’t care about your political affiliation, your stock portfolio, or how many cans of beans you’ve got stashed in the garage. We didn’t want to run this story. We’d rather tell you everything’s fine, that the system works, that smart people in charge have it all figured out.

But that’s not what the math says. That’s not what the supply chains are whispering. And that’s definitely not what the empty shelves in places like Sri Lanka and Argentina were trying to tell us before the rest of us stopped listening. Read it or don’t. The fertilizer doesn’t care either way.]

“In the absence of the governmental checks and balances present in other areas of our national life, the only effective restraint upon executive policy and power in the areas of national defense and international affairs may lie in an enlightened citizenry — in an informed and critical public opinion which alone can here protect the values of democratic government. For this reason, it is perhaps here that a press that is alert, aware, and free most vitally serves the basic purpose of the First Amendment. For, without an informed and free press, there cannot be an enlightened people.”

     – Justice Potter Stewart, New York Times Co. v. United States, June 30, 1971

It is now not uncommon for 11-year-olds to be diabetic. I see one reason for it every time I check out at my local Safeway in Washington. The candy is right there at the cash register, waiting to be eaten. 

But this does not mean that the manager of the store is mean or even irresponsible. If she has qualms about this practice, she would face a real dilemma: she needs to show a profit. The margins at supermarkets are tiny. No matter what her morals, she has almost no choice but to place those sweet impulse buys where customers can see them. In other words, there is an economic equilibrium in which businesses take advantage of every opportunity to increase profits. In such an equilibrium, the candy will be at the checkout counter. 

Consciousness is being aware of something internal to one's self, or of states or objects in one's external environment.[1] It has been the topic of extensive explanations, analyses, and debate among philosophers, scientists, and theologians for millennia.[2][3] There is no consensus on what exactly needs to be studied, or whether consciousness can be considered a scientific concept.[4][5] In some explanations it is synonymous with mind, while in others it is considered an aspect of it.[6]

Australia’s democratic problem is not simply poor civics knowledge among citizens, but a political class too willing to avoid scrutiny, resist transparency and govern behind closed doors.

In a recent interview the Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, reflected on the state of Australian democracy. She warned of a potential catastrophe resulting from poor understanding of the tenets of our democracy that make our country work, especially among the adult population.

Albert Palazzo

The criminal actions of the Zionist colonial army against the Palestinian people, particularly against the coastal enclave of Gaza, have led to the emergence of the term “gassification” to describe this type of modern siege operation, which combines conventional siege tactics with genocidal practices and total control over the lives of a specific population. The catastrophic human consequences of these actions are irrelevant as long as the ultimate goal is achieved. In the case of “Israel,” this goal is the colonization of the territory and the expulsion of its native inhabitants.

Gassification as a technology of imperial power

In 2025, the Economic Society for Westphalia and Lippe (WWL), based in Münster, announced that the International Westphalian Peace Prize for 2026 would go to NATO. The prize is to be presented to NATO, represented by its Secretary General, Mark Rutte, in October 2026 at the historic Münster Town Hall.

The Westphalian Peace Prize 2026 goes to NATO

The ‘system’ reaffirms itself

by Ewald Wetekamp, Stockach near Lake Constance

The reigning narrative of US democracy is based on two widely shared beliefs. The first is that the capitalist system and its free markets ensure freedom and pluralism throughout society. The second is that our constitution and electoral system are forms of political wiring designed to ensure a democratic state. While an important veneer of democracy perpetuates this story, and it sounds intuitively plausible, theoretical, historical and empirical studies suggest that it is wrong in both theory and practice.

The Free Market Creates Freedom: Do You Believe It?

ABOUT A YEAR AGO, THE QUINCY INSTITUTE PUBLISHED ITS "PEACE PLAN' FOR UKRAINE. IT'S A FIZZER. THE INSTITUTE HAS NO INTENTION TO UNDERSTAND THE RUSSIAN TRAUMA IN REGARD TO THE DONBASS, TO ODESSA NOR CRIMEA [ALL FORMER RUSSIAN TERRITORIES UNDER THE USSR]... THE QUINCY PLAN IS LIKE USING A TON OF STICKY PLASTERS TO CURE LEUKAEMIA...

THIS WHY WE STILL PUSH FOR THIS MORE SIMPLE PLAN:

MAKE A DEAL PRONTO BEFORE THE SHIT (WW3) HITS THE FAN:

NO NATO IN "UKRAINE" (WHAT'S LEFT OF IT)

THE DONBASS REPUBLICS ARE NOW BACK IN THE RUSSIAN FOLD — AS THEY USED TO BE PRIOR 1922. THE RUSSIANS WON'T ABANDON THESE AGAIN.

THESE WILL ALSO INCLUDE ODESSA, KHERSON AND KHARKIV.....

CRIMEA IS RUSSIAN — AS IT USED TO BE PRIOR 1954

TRANSNISTRIA TO BE PART OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION.

Jillian Segal holds power over what Australians may say, teach, report and believe. No election gave it to her. No Parliament ratified it. Nothing like her office has existed in the federation. Labor built it. The Coalition wants it bigger. Nobody asked you. Andrew Brown – The Segal State, Part One.

Remember the referendum in which Australians voted to create a Voice to Parliament for Israel?

You don’t. It never happened. We got one anyway.

The Segal State: the office Australia never voted for

by Andrew Brown

Fiona Katauskas’ departure from Guardian Australia points to a larger decline in permanent cartooning jobs, even as political cartoons remain vital to satire, public debate and local media culture.

It is a sad day for Australian cartooning when an artist as good as Fiona Katauskas has not had her contract renewed. But that is what has happened at the Guardian Australia.

ON THIS SITE WE DO NOT SHY AWAY FROM THE “DIFFICULT” QUESTIONS… WE CAN BE CONTRARIANS TO OTHER CONTRARIANS. 

LET’S INVESTIGATE A [NOT SO OLD] BOOK IN REGARD TO ATHEISTS BY CHRIS HEDGES WHO EXPOSES THE FUNDAMENTALISATION OF RELIGION AND THAT OF ATHEISM… 

I WILL HUMBLY POINT OUT THAT ATHEISM IS NOT A RELIGION, NOR IS IT FUNDAMENTALISTIC. NOR IS IT FASCIST. THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE ONLY BEEN DEFENDING THEIR OWN FORT, AS THEY HAVE BEEN UNDER ATTACK FROM VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE COMMUNITY THAT DEMANDS THAT WE BELIEVE IN A SUPERIOR BEING OR SOMETHING ABSOLUTE… AND THE “NEW ATHEISTS” HAVE MORE OR LESS VANISHED FROM THE MEDIA HEADLINES, NOW OCCUPIED BY WARS, RIGHT-WING POLITICS, RELIGIOUS BIFFO BETWEEN SUNNIS AND SHIAS, AND THE CONTROVERSIES ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING.

When Atheism Becomes Religion 

WHEN FASCISM WAS DEFINED BY A POET, FILIPPO TOMMASO MARINETTI, THE WORLD CHANGED FROM BEING "ARTY FARTY" WITH "ART NOUVEAU" TO BECOMING BRUTALIST... BUT WAS THE POET FOLLOWING A TREND, THAT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION, OR WAS HE INTRODUCING THE INEVITABLE NEXT STEP OF SOCIAL INTERACTIONS: FASCISM AND FUTURISM.

THE WORLD HAS NOW BECOME UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE GLOBALISTS — THE MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, THAT, IN VERY CLEVER TERMS, HAVE BEEN CORRALLING THE WESTERN WORLD ON BEHALF OF A SMALL RICH ELITE.

THE NEXT OF COURSE IS BEING THROWN UPON US WITH THE MAGIC OF THE NEW RELIGION: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE. WE SHALL INVESTIGATE, AS DEMOCRACY IS PART OF THE NEW PACKAGE IN WHICH FREE THINKING IS BEING BLANCMANGED...

BUT IS THE PROCESS NEFARIOUS OR BENEFICIAL? ARE WE EXPECTED TO GO TO WAR BY THE REMAINING BOOFHEADS?

Blue sky, white clouds, cartoon smiley faces. This is the cover of Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper. Cute, isn't it? But open this nearly 600-page official document, and you'll find missiles, drones, space warfare, and lethal weapons exports.

The lessons of history remain. If Japan insists on this path, it won't gain greater security but will only become a powder keg of regional instability.

Cute disguise hides Japan's rearmament

By Zhao Manfeng and Cheng Zixin | chinadaily

https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202608/07/WS6a7528caa310986e2b469721.html

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