What do Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher and John Howard have in common with the Piltdown Man? They all managed to sell a hoax that lasted for decades, before it was exposed as completely false. But wait, their hoax is still central to transglobal neoliberal capitalism’s stranglehold on us all, whereas Charles Dawson’s 1912 forged ‘missing link’ skull from East Sussex became a lesson in how dangerous it is to let preconceptions override evidence.

 

Hoaxes that gush for winners and trickle down for losers    By Robbie Lloyd

 

Jan 30 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump on Thursday warned off BRICS member countries from replacing the U.S. dollar as a reserve currency by repeating a 100%-tariffs threat he had made weeks after winning the November presidential elections.

"We are going to require a commitment from these seemingly hostile Countries that they will neither create a new BRICS Currency, nor back any other Currency to replace the mighty U.S. Dollar or, they will face 100% Tariffs," Trump said on Truth Social in a statement nearly identical to one he posted on Nov. 30.

 

NPR Chief's DIABOLICAL Comments on ‘Truth’ Trigger FCC INVESTIGATION

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SyG2p-YBEe8

 

The CEO Of NPR, Katherine Maher, proudly showed off her lack of respect for the “truth” in a bizarre pseudo-intellectual Ted Talk. Trish Regan rips Maher’s ridiculous and elitist narrative. Is it any wonder that Trump’s FCC just launched an investigation into National Public Radio?

 

The Bureau of Meteorology has been using hundreds of millions of dollars granted specifically for “proactive” maintenance of its ageing weather observing system to prop up the agency’s deteriorating financial position and cover cost overruns on major technology rollouts. According to a scathing audit report, it has also failed to account for this money.

The blistering assessment from the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) has revealed an agency with missing plans or inexplicable broken promises. It is only meeting between 52 and 79 per cent of its own preventive maintenance targets and there are unresolved work orders on its live dashboards that are four years old.

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GUSNOTE: NOT BEING FAMILIAR WITH THIS SHAKESPEARE'S PLAY, I HAD TO DIG AROUND TO FIND A MODERN INTERPRETATION. FROM THE NEW YORKER:

There’s cleverness in Ralph Fiennes’s adaptation of “Coriolanus” but little beauty. It would be an insult to prose writers to say that his filming is prosaic rather than poetic; rather, the movie is filmed merely functionally. Fiennes updates the story—of a great and proud Roman warrior whose contempt for commoners results in his exile, where he makes common cause with the city’s enemies, the Volscians, and prepares to make war on Rome—to a current-day “place calling itself Rome” (a reference to John Osborne’s 1973 adaptation; also, a place where Serbian graffiti is legible on walls).  

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/notes-on-coriolanus

A “huge” new bureaucracy, numbering thousands of extra public servant positions, would need to be created by the Coalition to establish and support an Australian nuclear power industry, according to the minister for public service, Katy Gallagher.

The proposal for a civil nuclear power program, as described by shadow energy minister Ted O’Brien last year, included “institutional architecture” that he said would entail an expansion of the regulatory agency, the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA), a new independent nuclear energy coordinating authority and a government business enterprise to be called Affordable Energy Australia.

 

Exclusive: Dutton’s nuclear plan requires ‘huge’ new bureaucracy

Moscow has condemned remarks by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres which omitted mention of the Red Army’s role in freeing the inmates of Auschwitz, as well as the Soviet Union’s sacrifices in defeating Nazi Germany.  Guterres spoke on Monday to mark the anniversary of the concentration camp’s liberation.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova stated on Saturday that the UN chief’s remarks were “outrageous” and accused him of yielding to “distorted political correctness popular in the West.”

When Donald J. Trump sued CBS for $10 billion days before the 2024 election, accusing the company of deceptively editing a “60 Minutes” interview with Vice President Kamala Harris, many legal experts dismissed the litigation as a far-fetched attempt to punish an out-of-favor news outlet.

 

Paramount in Settlement Talks With Trump Over ‘60 Minutes’ Lawsuit

A settlement, if reached, would be an extraordinary concession by a major U.S. media company to a sitting president.

He began with a sombre tone.

"This was a dark and excruciating night in our nation's capital and in our nation's history — a tragedy of terrible proportions," Donald Trump told the packed room of journalists.

"As one nation, we grieve for every precious soul that has been taken from us so suddenly."

He asked those at Thursday's press conference to join him in a moment of silence to reflect on the 67 lives lost the night before.

But that moment proved to be the proverbial calm before the storm.

 

Donald Trump turns aviation tragedy into new front in the culture wars
By North America correspondent Carrington Clarke

Ukrainian MP Aleksey Goncharenko has openly called on EU lawmakers to support the idea of assassinating Russian President Vladimir Putin and of promoting it among ordinary people. On Friday the legislator published a video on Telegram of himself making controversial statements at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE).

 

Ukrainian MP calls for Putin’s murder at Council of Europe
Such rhetoric would supposedly help Kiev get more aid from its Western backers, Aleksey Goncharenko believes

 

Washington seems to have developed a new habit — throwing tantrums whenever it falls behind. When did "American greatness" turn into nonstop whining?

 

‘Hostile’ BRICS dares to challenge ‘mighty US dollar’

US President Donald Trump has once again threatened BRICS countries with 100% tariffs if they dare to create a new currency — despite Russian President Vladimir Putin already clarifying that a unified BRICS currency isn’t even on the table.

 

DeepSeek: the latest ‘stolen’ US tech scandal

In the last three years there has been a blizzard of new laws with respect to youth justice across Australia. While some laws have been welcome, a substantial number have been retrograde. In this category, laws with respect to young children have been the most controversial. This fact has attracted critical attention from a number of respected international and non-governmental human rights organisations.

 

Youth Justice: punishment or prevention?    By Spencer Zifcak

 

A number of Democrats voted for a bill designed to crack down on undocumented immigrant criminals but so far only one Democratic lawmaker has said he'll attend a White House signing ceremony for it.

Pennsylvania Sen. John Fetterman is the first Democrat committed to attending President Donald Trump's signing of the Laken Riley Act, a bill mandating the detention of more undocumented immigrants charged with crimes.

 

 

Fetterman lone Democrat so far to attend immigration bill signing

BY DANIELLA DIAZ

 

US President Donald Trump’s return to the center stage of world politics has once again ignited discussions about his peculiar political behavior. While the subject may feel numbing to some, Trump continues to dictate the global information agenda, underscoring two key realities about the modern world. First, the United States’ central role remains undeniable, no matter how much others might wish for a multipolar order. Second, Trump’s approach – pushing boundaries both literally and figuratively – has proven to be an effective way of achieving goals in today’s climate. 

 

Fyodor Lukyanov: How Trump’s bluntness shatters the liberal world order
The US president’s unapologetic leadership exposes Western hypocrisy