Never before in history have so many begun to realise that are they under the control of so few. The very foundations of what all they grew up believing are being shaken with each new revelation of how so many aspects of their very identify have been shaken, and how social media has become the gatekeeper of what it means to be human – going beyond freedom of speech to “freedom” of thought itself.

As Caitlin Johnstone writes, the real reason why many of us don’t live in a free society is so very- very much more pervasive than that … “we don’t live in a free society because people can’t even think freely” as they think “they already have it!””

BY Henry Kamens

But all that is changing!

In 2002, Australia was on the cusp of joining the United States-led invasion of Iraq and had already committed troops to Afghanistan — but previously secret cabinet records released make very few references to what would become a decades-long engagement in the Middle East.

Around 240 previously secret Cabinet records from the year 2002 have been released by the National Archives of Australia.  

The trove of documents is a time capsule of sorts, which gives an insight into the issues that were being considered at the highest levels of government and transport us back into the room where it happened. 

Every now and then, American voters get a reminder that they have no real voice in how their country is run. Mitch McConnell, the top-ranking Republican in the US Senate, made that abundantly clear a few days before Christmas, when he revealed that those constituents who wanted their real needs addressed would again be getting only coal in their stockings.

“Providing assistance for the Ukrainians to defeat the Russians, that’s the No. 1 priority for the United States right now, according to most Republicans,” the 80-year-old Kentuckian told reporters on Capitol Hill while praising the $1.7 trillion spending bill that was then sailing through Congress. “That’s sort of how we see the challenges confronting the country at the moment.”

BY TONY COX

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Western military aid to Ukraine is what is needed to bring peace to the Eastern European country in the shortest time possible. He claimed that Russia will only agree to peace talks when it faces a situation in which it cannot achieve its goals militarily.

In an interview with German news outlet DPA, parts of which were published on Friday, Stoltenberg said: “It may sound paradoxical, but military support for Ukraine is the quickest way to peace.”

The Western military bloc’s chief claimed that for the conflict to end, Russian President Vladimir Putin has to come to the conclusion that his forces are unable to take over Ukraine. It is only then that the Kremlin would be ready to negotiate a settlement.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has alleged that “hundreds” of American servicemen are deployed to Ukraine, claiming that US soldiers, military advisers and intelligence officers have long been direct participants in the conflict.

Sitting down with Russia’s Channel One for an interview on Wednesday, Lavrov spoke at length about Washington’s deep involvement in the hostilities in Ukraine, which has steadily grown despite repeated assurances from American leaders that US personnel would have no role in the fighting.

The 2014 Minsk Agreement was indeed a ploy to buy Ukraine time and should be credited for Kiev’s “successful resilience” now, former French president Francois Hollande said on Friday. Confirming former German chancellor Angela Merkel’s assessment of the truce, Hollande also blamed US weakness for the failure to deter Russia.

Earlier this month, Merkel described Minsk as “an attempt to give Ukraine time” to build up its military. Speaking with the Kyiv Independent, a pro-government Ukrainian outlet, Hollande agreed, saying Merkel was “right on this point.”

Public subsidies for coal plants are merely the icing on the cake of a triumphant year for multinational fossil fuel corporations operating in this country. Michael West and Callum Foote report on Fossocracy Australia.

If democracy is government of the people by the people for the people, surely a government whose two major parties are financed by fossil fuel payments, and which returns the favour with favourable policies and billions in fossil fuel subsidies each year, can reasonably be labeled a fossocracy.

Tony Blair argued Vladimir Putin should be given a seat at the world's "top table" despite misgivings from officials, newly released files reveal. 

Papers released by the National Archives show in early 2001, the then-prime minister believed it was important to encourage the new Russian president to adopt Western values. 

Vous n’êtes pas sans savoir, cher Dmitri Medvedev, que vos dernières prévisions politiques et économiques pour l’année 2023 ont provoqué la stupeur des chancelleries européennes et occidentales. Il est vrai que cette nouvelle année s’annonce pleine d’incertitudes et d’inquiétudes… d’aucuns redoutent non pas la fin de l’Histoire, non pas la fin de la civilisation mais carrément la fin de l’humanité…

by Lotfi Hadjiat

In a recent article in the Ottawa Hill-Times, journalist David Crane asked an important question: “Is Canada trying to match or outdo American hostility to China?”

Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy (CIPS), announced in Vancouver recently by Liberal foreign affairs minister Mélanie Joly and other ministers, answers that question unequivocally: “China is an increasingly disruptive global power” begins the CIPS assessment of China. True enough if taken in isolation. Insidious, however, in the way it is used in this report.

Cathy Vogan, the executive producer of Consortium News‘ webcast CN Live!, recently coined a new term to describe rule by psyops, or psychological operations: psyopcracy.   According to Wikipedia: 

THE US EMPIRE HAS BEEN A BIG INFLUENCER IN THE SHAPING OF THE MIDDLE-EAST AND EASTERN EUROPE. THE MAP ABOVE SHOWS WHAT THE AMERICAN EMPIRE HAS PLANNED FOR THE MIDDLE EAST IN TERMS OF REDRAWING BORDERS AND SMASHING "TERRITORIAL INTEGRITIES".... THIS IS STILL A WORK IN PROGRESS, THOUGH MULTIPOLARITY HAS BECOME A TEN-TONNE STONE IN THE "BOOTS AND ALL" OF THE AMERICAN UNILATERAL CONTROL OF THE PLANET.

IN 1954, THE US THREW OUT THE "SECULAR" GOVERNMENT OF IRAN AND REPLACED IT WITH A FAKE DYNASTY… BY 1979, IRAN THREW THE SHAH OUT AND BECAME AN ISLAMIC REPUBLIC. BY 1980, IRAQ DECLARED WAR ON IRAN. WE COULD SUGGEST THAT THE USA PUSHED SADDAM TO TAKE OVER THE LARGEST OILFIELDS OF IRAN... BUT THERE WERE SOME COMPLICATIONS. 

At a meeting of the European Parliament's committee for combating foreign interference earlier this month, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell stated that the sincerity of African support for Russia is questionable since they “do not know where Donbass is or maybe they do not even know who Putin is.” This points not only to Europe’s frustration with Africa’s position on Russia over the course of 2022, but the deep-rooted racist and condescending attitude Europeans have towards Africans.

Judging by his public appearances, it is noticeable that the current head of EU diplomacy refers more often to the so-called “African issue” compared to his predecessors. It is recalled that Borrell had also made another racist remark recently by referring to Europe as a “garden” amidst a global “jungle.”

Current and former Western leaders, from Boris Johnson to Emmanuel Macron and Joe Biden have queued up to shake hands with the khaki-clad Volodymyr Zelensky, as he tries to re-mould himself from comedian to statesman and war-leader.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky may be unpopular in parts of his own country, but he is the darling of Western politicians.

Since Russia launched its military operation to de-Nazify Ukraine on February 24, Zelensky has received dozens of foreign VIP visits and done his own share of jet-setting around European and North American capitals.

As part of his constant appeal for handouts of cash and military arms, the former comedian and actor has addressed national parliaments by video-link and occasionally in person.

Stealing the BoJo Mojo

THE CARTOON ABOVE BY CATHY WILCOX WAS REPUBLISHED IN THE SMH YESTERDAY (I THINK)… IT LEADS TO INTERPRETATIONS… 

1. "UKRAINE" IS A DECENT OLD LADY.
2. THE RUSSIAN SOLDIER IS BROKEN-HEARTED FOR HAVING TO INVADE THE OLD UKRAINE.
3. THE OLD LADY CAN DEFEND HERSELF WITH A HANDBAG.

UNFORTUNATELY, THE REALITY IS FAR FROM THIS SIMPLISTIC VIEW.

1. "UKRAINE" IS A SPLIT COUNTRY WITH FEROCIOUS NAZI DOGS ON ONE SIDE AND OPPRESSED RUSSIANS ON THE OTHER.
2. THE HANDBAG OF THE OLD LADY HAS BEEN FILLED UP SINCE 2014 WITH AS MUCH MILITARY HARDWARE AS POSSIBLE, SUPPLIED BY NATO, THE US AND THE UK.
3. THE RUSSIAN SOLDIERS HAVE TO DEFEND THE RUSSIANS IN THE DONBASS BECAUSE THE WEST CHEATED ON THE MINSK AGREEMENTS.

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