As we hydroplane toward the brink of nuclear armageddon while Bono and the Edge play U2 songs in Kiev, it’s probably worth taking a moment to highlight how this war could have been avoided. The U.S. could have simply pledged military protection for Volodymyr Zelensky against the far-right extremists who were threatening to lynch him if he enacted the peacemaking policies he was elected president to enact.

This Government seems to have departed from a tradition of liberal conservatism and broken a fundamental continuity that has defined the Coalition since Robert Menzies.

Encouraging innovation and the rapid adoption of digital technologies can enable China to avoid middle-income trap

The first decade of the 21st century saw Western economies take the world to the brink of economic collapse. China's economic management enabled the West to recover from its self-inflicted injuries. Despite this, some commentators cling to the idea that China cannot escape the middle-income trap in which countries are unable to reach advanced economic status.

China's policy initiatives clearly show an awareness of the challenge and provide structural solutions for escaping this "trap".

By DARYL GUPPY | China Daily Global

Back in the 1960s and 1970s during the war in Vietnam, everybody knew about the “credibility gap,” which morphed into Credibility Gulch as the official story stretched ever-farther from reality.

Kiev has so far lost 30 drones, 10 helicopters, four jets, three ships, and upwards of 50 troops in failed attempts to take Snake Island, the Russian Ministry of Defense has revealed. Urged on by British advisers, President Volodymyr Zelensky personally ordered the attack and wanted to see a victory by May 9, media reported citing security sources.

Another Bayraktar TB-2 strike drone, a Turkish import, was shot down over the island on Tuesday, said Major General Igor Konashenkov, the spokesman for the Russian military. That makes nine Bayraktars destroyed over Snake Island since Saturday, he pointed out.

READ MORE:

https://www.rt.com/russia/555268-snake-island-pr-military/

FREE JULIAN ASSANGE NOW....................

The first foreign fighters to arrive in Ukraine at the start of the war in February, 2022 were Canadians. The first foreign officer arrested by Russian forces on May 3 was a Canadian general. Clearly, Canada, although more than 6,000 kilometers away from Ukraine, has a hidden involvement in this conflict.

RISING TENSIONS (18)

Canada and the Banderites

by Thierry Meyssan

After careful evaluation, the Kremlin is rearranging the geopolitical chessboard to end the unipolar hegemony of the “indispensable nation”.

But it’s our fate / To have no place to rest, / As suffering mortals / Blindly fall and vanish / From one hour / To the next, / Like water falling / From cliff to cliff, downward / For years to uncertainty.

Holderlin, Hyperion’s Fate Song

Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told Congress on Tuesday that, in the view of the US’ spy agencies, Russian President Vladimir Putin was gearing up for a “prolonged” conflict in Ukraine, and was looking to establish control of Ukraine’s southern coast, from the Donbass in the east to Transnistria in the west.

“We assess President Putin is preparing for a prolonged conflict in Ukraine during which he still intends to achieve goals beyond the Donbass,” Haines told a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

Haines explained that according to her “indications,” Putin is seeking to extend Russian control from the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics – which collectively make up the Donbass region – along Ukraine’s Black Sea coast to the breakaway province of Transnistria on the Moldovan border.

MUCH OF what exists originated as an inkling in the human mind. That enslaving other people is acceptable; that it is utterly heinous. That a royal despot is the norm; that freedom, rights and self-governance is better. Conservative or left-leaning, capitalist or Marxists, sushi-lover or vegan—they’re all products of thinking.

A history of these synaptic outputs is the subject of Felipe Fernández-Armesto’s latest book, “Out of Our Minds: A History of What We Think and How We Think It” (Oneworld, 2019). It covers the range of human ideas, from prehistoric man’s preoccupations to artificial intelligence. But the focus is on topics like the emergence of scientific truth and democracy—themes that seem under threat today, with talk of “fake news” and authoritarians on the march. 

By K.N.C. — THE ECONOMIST

The enforcement of "democracy" and "freedom" is a purely fascist operation when imposed through wars and economic blackmail. The USA have perfected both, as well as setting traps for other nations to fight what they believe is a "noble cause", that will be counter-acted by their opponents being supplied with US made weapons and "intelligence", until the noble cause is lost... 

In their quest for WORLD DOMINATION, the USA will also "help" countries to become dependent of the US capitalist system, through various mechanisms, such as the IMF and the World Bank — and others subterfuges such as USAID, "loans" and powerful propaganda.

By helping other nations become capitalistic and indebted, the US can therefore control other nations. 

Up to 11,000 troops marched on Moscow’s iconic Red Square on Monday as Russia celebrated the 77th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany during World War II. The conflict is largely called the Great Patriotic War in Russia, and May 9 is one of the country’s most revered holidays.

The marching columns represented all branches of Russia’s Armed Forces, including airborne troops, military police, national guardsmen and cadets.

More than 130 armored vehicles were led by the iconic T-34-85 tank, which was one of the main ‘workhorses’ of the Red Army during the war. The state-of-the-art T-90M Proryv (Breakthrough) main battle tanks, S-400 air-defense missile systems, and Yars thermonuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles, were among other top-notch weapons showcased on the Red Square.

READ MORE:

In response to the Trump administration's trade war that began in 2018, at the same time that China was raising tariffs to retaliate against the United States, it was reducing its tariffs on imports from most of the rest of the world. China lowered its applied MFN tariffs from 8.0 percent at the kickoff of the trade war to 6.6 percent by the time the Phase One agreement was signed, in January 2020.

There is a legislated process prescribing how government grants should be administered, but it clearly is not being followed and  we need an integrity commission to enforce it.

An important issue for many voters in this election – particularly the Teal Independents – is government integrity and the need to establish a national integrity commission with teeth.

Labor is supporting this initiative, but the stumbling block is opposition from the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison.

According to Morrison, members of parliament are accountable to voters and should be able to allocate funding for community grants and infrastructure without undue fear of being investigated.

Paolo Gentiloni made a speech at the Peterson Institute for International Economics: Transatlantic economic policy in times of war.

the Institute is an "independent organisation" that has roots in all the usual non-independent sources: US administrations, CIA, and other institution that consider the entire world (and the universe, including the moon) as their oyster. We shall investigate the institute’s policies after looking at that hypocritical speech by Paolo — who must be very busy, considering his allocation of tasks in the EU. But in reality, his main job is to BULLSHIT the usual crap about “economy” and such turd polishing devices...

AS for previous notations GusNotes IN CAPS/(BOLD) on this stupid speech by this macaroni, from Europe: 

THE USA SPY ON OUR [French/EU] COMPANIES AND WAGE AN ECONOMIC WAR on us - Ali Laïdi — May 7, 2022

Ali Laïdi is one of France's foremost specialists in economic warfare. He explains here how the United States ... abuse their dominant position, to economically tame the world. Between espionage and extraterritoriality, all means are good to ensure the monopoly of power. It would be very naive to believe, in this type of balance of power, that our allies are necessarily our friends!

SEE MORE:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hnm-lLER-s

(Get Jules Letambour to translate for you)

See also: https://yourdemocracy.net/drupal/node/36561

Meanwhile: