Jacinda Ardern who has led New Zealand with intelligence, kindness and humanity is leaving the stage. Her last day as Prime Minister will be February 7.

This will be very sad news for those who have admired her leadership, her ability to think on her feet, her intelligence, and above all her kindness, compassion and warmth.

There will be a measure of relief on the opposition benches in Parliament. They have found Ardern to be an extraordinarily effective opponent. They have found it difficult to coordinate a challenge.

Despite the dithering, the Opposition’s polling has improved. This year’s election, to be held on October 14 will be closely fought.

The Lunar New Year comes early in 2023, and the incoming Year of the Rabbit offers possibilities of significant changes in personal and national fortunes. Those responsible for formulating Australia’s China policy are advised to watch developments carefully and be flexible in their responses.

LET’S HAVE A LOOK AT A FEW AMERICAN PRESIDENTS:

CARTER WAS A NAIVE FARMER UNDER THE SPELL OF THE DEVIL: Zbigniew Brzezinski.

REAGAN WAS A CORRUPT MONEYBUM WHO MADE BAD JOKES ABOUT GORBACHEV AND HIS WIFE, BEHIND THEIR BACK. REAGAN'S HANDSHAKES WERE WORTH LESS THAN USED CHEWING GUM BLOBS ON THE PAVEMENT TO HELL

BUSH SENIOR USED TO RUN THE DECEITFUL CIA… SAY NO MORE.

CLINTON BILLY-THE-SEX-MANIAC WAS DUPLICITOUS WITH NATO EXPANSION AND CREATED THE BIGGEST FINANCIAL NIGHTMARE: DERIVATIVES FOR BANKS.

BUSH JUNIOR WAS AN IDIOT FAKING TO BE AN IDIOT. HE HAS BECOME A PAINTER OF BATH SCENES WHICH SHOWS THAT HITLER WAS A GREAT PAINTER BEFORE BECOMING A NASTIER(?) IDIOT THAN BUSH JUNIOR....

Thirty years ago, Germany was reunited, thanks to the common sense and generosity of Moscow. Thirty years later, the political sons of Helmuth Kohl, grandsons of those who invaded the USSR in 1941, are debating sending German tanks to fight Russia. And the fight will take place in Ukraine, one of the main theaters of the great massacre unleashed by Germany at the time.

by Rafael Poch de Feliu

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky claimed that he was not certain if Vladimir Putin actually holds  the office of president of Russia, or is even alive. The Kremlin dismissed the remark as an expression of Zelensky’s wishful thinking.

Russia and Putin are “a big problem” for Zelensky, so it’s natural that he “would prefer that neither Russia nor Putin existed,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman told journalists on Thursday.

He was reacting to a claim that Zelensky had made earlier in the day during his virtual appearance at the Ukrainian Breakfast, an event hosted on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has told British broadcaster Piers Morgan that inflation and coronavirus are “nothing” compared to Ukraine’s struggle, and Americans should support aid for Kiev “until we win.”

As the US grapples with a 40-year-high inflation rate and record gas prices, multiple polls name these economic concerns as more pressing among Americans than the conflict in Ukraine. Furthermore, nearly five times as many people in the US blame President Joe Biden’s policies for their misfortune as Russian President Vladimir Putin, regardless of the Biden administration’s efforts to brand the soaring cost of living as “Putin’s price hike.”

World leaders have begun meeting in Davos to discuss cooperation to address multiple crises, from Covid-19 and escalating inflation to slowing economic growth, debt distress and climate shocks.

In advance of the invasion of Iraq 20 years ago, the UK media parroted government lies and fabrications uncritically and became an enthusiastic part of the state’s propaganda machine. An inquiry into British reporting of the Iraq war is well past due.

Twenty years ago, Tony Blair provided the British public with false information about Saddam Hussein’s possession of weapons of mass destruction in order to make the case for the illegal invasion of Iraq.

PETER OBORNE

18 JANUARY 2023

'If you want to take on the federal government, you need some F-15s. You don't need an AR-15': Biden's message to his 'right-wing friends' as he again promises to ban assault weapons that have 'no social redeeming quality'

President Joe Biden said there is 'no redeeming value' to assault weapons

Argued AR-15s wouldn't be effective in overthrowing the federal government

Said that American citizens would need F-15 jets to be successful

Main Second Amendment protection was to make sure citizens could rise-up against the federal government and protect themselves against government

READ MORE:

Thank you, David Livingstone, for explaining that the proposal for the purchase of eight nuclear submarines has “taken on a life of its own” and is “divorced from disciplined considerations such as cost, effectiveness, and alternatives” (“Sub deal an exercise in futility and should be sunk”, January 18). As Livingstone clearly explains there is no rationale in the argument that the purchase would have a bearing on any action China may take and is “militarily meaningless. Now and into the future.” As he points out at a cost of at least $170 billion, probably much more, the same amount of wealth could be used domestically on health, education, infrastructure, national debt and more meaningful defence capabilities. 

On January 4, Putin announced a Christmas truce in the Ukrainian conflict. Orthodox Christmas takes place on January 7, according to the Julian calendar, in use since 45 BC, rather than the more commonly used and astronomically accurate Gregorian calendar, introduced in 1582 by the Pope Gregory XIII. The gap between the two is now 13 days, but it is the nature of Orthodoxy not to change no matter what, let alone follow what the pope says.

“Here’s something you must understand. We were not given any opportunity to act differently.” Vladimir Putin

The plan to engage Russia militarily is a tacit admission that the United States can no longer maintain its global dominance through economic or political means alone. After exhaustive analysis and debate, western elites have settled on a course of action aimed at dividing the world into warring blocs in order to prosecute a war on Russia and China. The ultimate strategic objective of the current policy, is to tighten the grip of western elites on the levers of global power and to prevent the dissolution of the “rules-based international order.”

In times of peace as well as in times of war, the Western domination over the rest of the world, as much as that of the United States over its allies, passes through the instrumentation of Law. Thus, the international tribunals do not seek to render justice, but to confirm the world order and to punish those who challenge it. U.S. law and European law also serve to force the rest of the world to comply with the policies of Washington and Brussels. This system is beginning to fade.

Russia’s President, Vladimir Putin, first took office at the very start of the 21st Century, when he hoped and intended for there to emerge a real partnership between Russia and the rest of The West. He then interpreted The West (U.S.-and-allied countries) to be motivated by basically benign intentions, which he shared himself.

BY Eric Zuesse

I am about to do what old people have done throughout history: call those younger than me lazy, entitled, selfish and shallow. But I have studies! I have statistics! I have quotes from respected academics! Unlike my parents, my grandparents and my great-grandparents, I have proof.