I BELIEVE THAT IN ORDER TO DISTRACT US FROM THE REALITY THAT RUSSIA IS WINNING THE WAR IN UKRAINE, THE BBC INVESTS SOME SILLY TIME IN EXPLAINING THAT THERE ARE IDIOTS ON THE NET WHO DISPUTE THAT THE WAR IS ACTUALLY HAPPENING. (https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64789737)

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME THAT I HAVE HEARD/READ ABOUT SUCH DENYING OF THIS WAR. THESE MORONS REPRESENT A MINUSCULE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION/DISINFORMATION/MISINFORMATION RUBBISH — BUT THE BBC IN HER GRAND WISDOM CHOSES TO PAINT THEM AS EQUAL TO HER VIEWS THAT RUSSIA IS LOOSING. 

IT’S NOT EVEN PAINFUL TO WATCH, OR SEE. IT’S JUST RIDICULOUS.

WHEN I WAS A CHILD, ONE OF OUR NEIGHBOURS (A FRIEND — CALLED SAY TUTU) HAS BEEN BORN WITH A DISTORTED FACE. SHE WAS IN HER TWENTIES AND MANAGED TO LIVE WELL DESPITE HER DISFIGURATION. NOW, IF YOU HAVE A SMART-IDIOTIC PHONE, YOU MIGHT HAVE AN APP THAT TAKES PORTRAIT AND DISTORT FACES. IT'S FUN AND YOU CAN MAKE PEOPLE SCREAM WHEN THEY SEE THEMSELVES LIKE A PICASSO PORTRAIT.

THE PHOTO APP MIGHT ACTUALLY SHOW TUTU WITH A NORMAL FACE. IS THIS APP AN INSENSITIVE INSTRUMENT TO PEOPLE LIKE TUTU, BY SHOWING ALL THE PEOPLE WITH FACE LIKE HERS? WOULD IT BE A REMINDER OF THE TRAUMA SHE HAD ENDURED ALL HER LIFE?

WE CARTOONIST DO HORRIBLE THINGS TO PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY THE RICH, THE POLITICIANS AND POWERFUL. AND WE HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT THE WEAK AND DOWNTRODDEN. 

PRESENTLY THERE IS A CONTROVERSY ABOUT WHITE PEOPLE BECOMING THE REJECT OF SOCIETY.

Could kyiv be the new fashionable diplomatic destination? In any case, the Western dignitaries take turns there with application and after Biden or Von Der Leyen, it is the turn of the Spanish Prime Minister to go there. Apparently, the Ukrainian capital would be the essential place to show up to hope to be entitled to a photo in the mainstream media…

Article not to be missed... The author, a Chinese official, describes in a reasoned and rational manner the absurdity behind the ruthless wars, and invites "human society" to adopt other political perspectives corresponding to the traditions and interests of everyone for the peace and development of all.

BY Danielle Bleitrach

It updates the contradictions of the hegemony of the United States, the distance between the FACTS and their narration, the way of stirring up fears and wars for the sole profit of a handful. China, which passionately wants peace and planetary development, is rightly surprised that we do not see who has worked to make the Russian-Ukrainian conflict a permanent escalation harmful to the whole world.

The US is preparing to stage false flag chemical attacks in Ukraine to pin the blame on Moscow for the use of banned toxic agents, the chief of Russia’s Nuclear Biological and Chemical Defense troops, Igor Kirillov, has said.

The Americans believe that the international community wouldn’t be able to organize an effective investigation of such “provocations” due to the fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces, which would allow Washington to escape responsibility, Kirillov said during a briefing on Tuesday.

Russia’s Defense Ministry has obtained information that a train with a cargo of chemical substances in one of its cars had apparently arrived in the Ukrainian-controlled city of Kramatorsk in Donbass on February 10, the commander said.

It’s clear that Australian sovereignty is being seriously, perhaps fatally, imperilled by the policies of successive Australian governments populated by Austral-Americans. 

Defence Minister Richard Marles’ address to parliament on February 9, entitled ‘Securing Our Sovereignty’, deserves a close reading.

It was delivered at a time when, in the minister’s own words, “it has never been more important to guard, reinforce and enhance our sovereignty”.

by GUEST AUTHOR MICHAEL CALLANAN

However, it’s clear that this vaunted sovereignty is being seriously, perhaps fatally, imperilled by the policies of successive Australian governments.

IF YOU WERE A BETTING MAN, AN INSURANCE ACTUARY AND A COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF AN ARMY OF PASTRY COOKS, WOULD YOU BET AGAINST RUSSIA GETTING WHAT IT WANTS IN UKRAINE? 

AS A BETTING MAN, YOU WOULD SAY THAT RUSSIA WILL EVENTUALLY GET 99.9 PER CENT OF WHAT IT WANTED BACK IN DECEMBER 2021.

IF YOU ARE AN INSURANCE ACTUARY YOU WOULD ASSESS THE RISK OF MOST OF WESTERN WEAPONS SUPPLIED TO UKRAINE BEING BLOWN UP AT ABOUT 90.5 PER CENT. 

THE CHIEF OF THE PASTRY COOKS WOULD PREPARE CAKES FOR A RUSSIAN "VICTORY" — WHICH WOULD BE HUMBLY GETTING THE DENAZIFICATION OF MOST OF UKRAINE, THE DEMILITARISATION OF UKRAINE, THE SPLIT OF UKRAINE AS THE DONBASS REGION IS RETURNED TO RUSSIA AFTER A CENTURY OF VAGARIES. 

THE NEGOTIATIONS WILL HOVER AROUND WHERE THE NEW BOUNDARIES OF WESTERN UKRAINE ARE GOING TO SETTLE. WILL ODESSA AND TRANSNISTRIA BECOME PART OF THE RUSSIAN UNION?

The drills’ commander, Nicolas Le Nen, called the war games the return of major military operations to French territory.

More than 7,000 servicemen are currently taking part in France’s biggest military exercise in decades, which is dubbed Orion 23 and is scheduled to be wrapped up in May.

Apart from French soldiers, servicemen from the US, the UK and Spain are involved in the drills that will simulate parachute operations and amphibious landings along the Mediterranean coast.

The operations, which are currently in full swing across the Occitanie region in France, will then move to the Atlantic coast regions of Nouvelle Aquitaine and Brittany. The drills consist of four stages, with the most important Phase 4 expected to see a major air-land "confrontation" between France and a simulated enemy.

The domesticated silver fox is a form of the silver fox which has been domesticated — to some extent — under laboratory conditions. The silver fox is a melanistic form of the wild red fox.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky warned Americans to keep supporting Ukraine or risk geopolitical irrelevance, during a press conference on the anniversary of Russia’s military operation in the country. Should it stop funding Kiev’s war effort, the US will "lose the leadership position that they are enjoying in the world," the Ukrainian leader declared on Friday. 

"If they do not change their opinion…they will lose NATO, they will lose the clout of the United States, they will lose the leadership position they are enjoying in the world," Zelensky declared, following a speech in which he declared 2023 the "Year of Invincibility" and vowed to unite the world against Russia.

Perhaps no figure from ancient Rome is as famous as the gladiator — a warrior of the arena that fought to the death against beasts, criminals, and other gladiators, for the entertainment of Roman society.

Gladiators have become heavily mythologized figures, in part thanks to famous works of fiction like the film Gladiator, directed by Ridley Scott and starring Russell Crowe, or the classic Spartacus, but what were they like really?

EXISTENTIAL ENTERTAINMENT HAS INCLUDED WAR IN MOST EPOCH OF HUMAN SOCIETIES. AT THE LIMITS OF OUR ERRANDS, HOW MUCH LIES, PORKIES, BULLSHIT ARE WE PREPARED TO ACCEPT IN OUR SYSTEMIC SHARINGS OR LACK OF THEM — AND IN OUR CONQUESTS OF "OTHERS" WHICH WE DISGUISE AS PROTECTION OF OUR OWN SPACE?

LET'S FACE IT. WE NEVER HAVE HAD FREE WILL. WE HAVE BEEN SHAPED BY LANGUAGE, HISTORY — OUR OWN AND THAT OF THE TRIBE IN WHICH WE EXIST — THE PRESENT STATUS OF THE TRIBE, RELIGIONS, PROPAGANDA, GOVERNANCE SYSTEMS, OUR PHILOSOPHIES AND EVEN OUR "FREE-WILLED" CHOICES WICH INFLUENCE THE NEXT. WE KNOW THIS.

CHOOSING TO DEFEND A SYSTEM VERSUS ANOTHER TENDS TO PLACE LIMITS ON OUR FREE WILL.

IN 2018, THE GUARDIAN, AN ORGAN OF MEDIA PROPAGANDA, PUBLISHED AN ARTICLE THAT SUMMED UP WHAT WE HAVE EXPLORED OVER THE YEARS ON THIS SITE IN REGARD TO DEMOCRATIC CHOICES. AT THE LIMITS OF OUR ERRANDS, HOW MUCH LIES, PORKIES, BULLSHIT ARE WE PREPARED TO ACCEPT IN OUR SYSTEMIC SHARINGS OR LACK OF THEM — AND IN OUR CONQUESTS OF "OTHERS" WHICH WE WILL DISGUISE AS PROTECTION OF OUR OWN SPACE? 

Financial podcasts have been featuring ominous headlines lately along the lines of “Your Bank Can Legally Seize Your Money” and “Banks Can STEAL Your Money?! Here’s How!” The reference is to “bail-ins:” the provision under the 2010 Dodd-Frank Act allowing Systemically Important Financial Institutions (SIFIs, basically the biggest banks) to bail in or expropriate their creditors’ money in the event of insolvency.

The problem is that depositors are classed as “creditors.” So how big is the risk to your deposit account? Part I of this two part article will review the bail-in issue. Part II will look at the derivatives risk that could trigger the next global financial crisis. 

As a journalist, scholar and media reformer, I have been following the activities of WikiLeaks for over a decade, assessing the disrupting force of new radical platforms for disclosure. WikiLeaks is a crucial example of a digital platform that exposes the contradictions of the internet as a tool for openness and secrecy, freedom and surveillance, free speech and censorship.

by Benedetta Brevini

DECEMBER 2 2020

But it is much more. I don’t think that anyone would dispute the incredible impact that WikiLeaks revelations have had, not just to disconcert and embarrass power elites, not just to expose crimes in the public interest, but also for bringing renewed debates on free speech, digital encryption and quests for better protections for whistleblowing to the mainstream.