Visit many areas of state forest in parts of Victoria and you might get a shock – the forest isn’t there.

It used to be there — logged four, five, six or ten years ago — and once stood as tall, straight trees, sometimes more than 50 metres high. Now, no longer. The forest has failed to regenerate after being logged by former Victorian Government agency, VicForests.

Chris Taylor,  David Lindenmayer

Paenitentia, Solitudo et Silentium

"The universe contracted; at its exact geometric center floated that sandy tidbit of dark bread and pale cheese.*"

While Fukuyama lauded "the End of History", it should be obvious to anyone who turn stones upside down to seek cool sand in a furnaced desert, that history never ends, appears cyclical though it evolves from single cells to monkeys and humans who resent their unfinished nature in search of blessed documents. 

Former Trump national security advisor John Bolton has been indicted in Maryland on 18 federal counts of violating the Espionage Act, which is kind of poetic for a guy who’s spent a career demanding that everyone else get indicted for leaking things.

Bolton pleaded not guilty and will now enjoy the same due process that he’s long tried to deny whistleblowers, journalists, and the occasional sovereign nation.

John Bolton bombs himself in a blaze of poetic justice
The man who was so eager to destroy whistleblowers faces prison for leaking classified intel

BY Rachel Marsden

The EU is doing everything in its power to undermine the upcoming summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, Donald Trump, the Russian Foreign Ministry has said. 

Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told TASS on Monday that the bloc is carrying out “active subversive actions” ahead of the planned meeting in the Hungarian capital, Budapest.

Her comments followed a report by Spanish outlet El Pais, which said Brussels viewed the talks as “a political nightmare.” Citing diplomatic sources, the newspaper reported that the summit put the EU “in an awkward and unpleasant position” because Putin and Trump would discuss a potential settlement to the Ukraine conflict in an EU country without the bloc’s participation.

In the workshops of the Ruhr, where the fire of blast furnaces was once considered Europe’s eternal companion, today reigns a cold more expensive than any raw material. An economic pause has descended in icy silence. A tombstone rests on the grave of industrial greatness, signed by Europe’s own leaders.

Europe’s Economic Winter Transfers the Workshop of the World to Asia’s New Furnaces

Rebecca Chan

European capitals increasingly resemble branch offices of an American headquarters. Decisions on industrial policy have long turned into ritual acts of loyalty rather than independent steps.

Whether it’s the Israeli Government, an international peacekeeping force, or a post-conflict reconstruction authority for Gaza chaired (grotesquely) by Donald Trump, the fate of Palestine still rests in the hands of outsiders.

John Feffer

The Gaza, the one that existed on the morning of October 7 is gone, decimated by months of saturation bombing, shelling, bulldozing and controlled demolitions. All that was familiar when I worked in Gaza has vanished, transformed into an apocalyptic landscape of shattered concrete and rubble. 

Requiem for Gaza

By Chris Hedges

US President Donald Trump has mocked the ‘No Kings’ protests, sharing several AI-generated videos on Truth Social, including footage of himself dumping what appears to be feces on the crowds.

A wave of protests against the Trump administration hit the US on Saturday, with massive demonstrations held at more than 2,500 locations across the country.

Protesters accuse the president of abusing his power and undermining democracy, as well as condemning his crackdown on illegal immigrants and deploying the military to American cities on the pretext of fighting rampant crime.

Trump responded by sharing AI-generated videos on social media, including footage originally posted by Xerias, a prolific pro-Trump X account that creates AI-generated meme content.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has urged European leaders to hatch a peace plan for Ukraine “along the lines”of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza scheme, Axios has reported, citing sources.

Starmer made the remarks during a phone call with Vladimir Zelensky and a handful of EU leaders held following the Ukrainian leader’s meeting with Trump in Washington on Friday. European leaders should work with the US “to draft peace for Ukraine along the lines” of Trump’s 20-point plan for Gaza, Starmer reportedly said during the conversation.

I know a few people in Europe who deliberately ignore the events that are shaping the future. They also ignore the historical origins of these events… For these lucky people, the future is inked in what we decide to do and to be, without the “big picture”. Be nice to other people, do not rock the boat and enjoy the sun while on holiday. It works.

The small group of friends in which we can share meals and wine is enough to take us to the end of our happy life. 

Is this intended dismissal of the past a blessing? Is the “burden of neo-history” too much for some? Are we taking too much or too little out of our neo-democratic systems?

I say neo-democratic system as more often than not, our democratic ideals are distorted by many factors:

— disinformation 

— manipulations of voting system

— secret undercurrents

IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva has urged nations not to impose tariffs, following US President Donald Trump’s latest measures

Speaking at a press briefing on Thursday, Georgieva said, “the largest economy in the world has chosen to use tariffs as an instrument in relations with partners.”

The IMF chief urged nations to adhere to “trade on the most favored nation rule,” adding that imposing tariffs “does not work well” unless the nation has a “very large” and “relatively closed”economy. She warned that nations which place tariffs on others will see prices rise domestically.

This thesis, by undertaking a detailed, empirical analysis of the role youth and student wings play in
the recruitment of national legislators of the German Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands and
the British Labour Party, contributes to our understanding of how the social democratic party family
has changed in the decades since the early 1980s.

The role of youth and student wings in shaping Social Democratic Parliamentarians in Germany and Great Britain.

LUKE JOHN DAVIES

The 24th of October 2025 is the 80th anniversary of the ratification of the UN Charter, which opens with a determination to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war.

The world has not saved the children. According to UNICEF, about 64, 000 children have been killed or maimed in Gaza. In Britain, during World War II, 7736 children under 16 were killed and 7662 children were seriously wounded.

Francesca Beddie

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump in Washington on 20 October.

Thus far, Albanese has dealt with this administration with equanimity, declining to rush the gate for a meeting. This is no bad thing. It is best to avoid projecting neediness to Trump.

Australians will be thinking about the immediate results of the visit. We should also reflect on the nature of our alliance relationship.

John McCarthy

The media will focus principally on “deliverables” and the theatre which surrounds Trump meetings.