World
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Could the rise of China eclipse the enlightenment
According to the dominant Western narrative, the history of the entire modern world has been prodigiously shaped by Western historical turning points beginning with the Renaissance and running through the Reformation, the Enlightenment and the science-driven, first Industrial Revolution. A recent, US-published book, “China’s Age of Abundance: Origins Ascendence and Aftermath” by Professor Wang Feng, Continue reading »
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‘Easily 200,000 deaths in Gaza’ – Ralph Nader
“I was muttering to myself, ‘I hope I die,” Continue reading »
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Mainstream media turns blind eye as UN visits Xinjiang, criticises US
Human Rights are big news again. There are murders in Gaza, there are restrictions in Ukraine, there are allegations of abuses in Iran and any other place that the US sees as an adversary but, one thing that isn’t big news is that the United Nations has recently visited Xinjiang. So far, 100% of our Continue reading »
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Western decline: Denial and anger at China’s vitality
In her work, ‘On Death and Dying’ Elisabeth Kübler-Ross wrote of the stages one goes through on being told one is dying. She called these ‘Five Stages of Grief,’ of adjusting to reality: denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. Continue reading »
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About that elusive ‘context’
Why do mainstream journalists write as if today’s events just popped up out of nowhere? Why has it become de rigueur to ignore the events of all the yesterdays and yesteryears that brought us here? Where is that elusive ‘context’ in stories on Ukraine, Gaza, China and others? Without context, how can we navigate our Continue reading »
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The US Empire isn’t a government that runs non stop wars, it’s a non stop war that runs a government
The US as a country is just a source of funding, personnel, resources and diplomatic cover for a nonstop campaign to dominate the planet with mass military violence and the threat thereof. Continue reading »
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The risks of world war III
I have been thinking about the unthinkable. Maybe you have too? Continue reading »
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Why Israel’s Gaza war violates Just War principles
Israeli defences of their current military assault on Gaza invoke various defences of it couched in moral terms that evoke the concept of a just war. What follows discusses the war and its defences from the perspective of the widely acknowledged (though often misused) theory of the just war and find that the defences offered Continue reading »
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War fears and rate worries: monthly economic and market review
Since my last report, the All-Ords share price index rose by 3.2% from Friday 3rd May to Thursday 16th May, but then fell by 2.2% to Friday 31st May. But for a 0.9% uptick last Friday there would have been no gain in the last four weeks. Continue reading »
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Why we must never stop exposing cant and hypocrisy
To witness repeated atrocities around the world is hard enough. To observe wilful slaughter, when it’s openly supported by nations claiming adherence to human rights and international law, is nauseating. The killing of dozens of Palestinians in a supposed safe zone in Rafah is just the latest bloody outrage on global view. Continue reading »
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“We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality…”
“Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.” Continue reading »
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Shattered theory: the war on terror and Western impunity
Could the final act of the US’s Global War on Terror (GWOT) be the conviction of a US President for terrorism? Tantalising but implausible? Read on. Continue reading »
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Death machine: striking at the heart of the planetary problem
What is it going to take, asks climate activist Violet Coco, to stop the death machine, to save humanity and the living world? We first need to find the engine, the beating heart of this global materialist-consumerist-industrial civilisation. Continue reading »
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Did a US funded biotechnology experiment ignite the worst pandemic of modern times?
In a momentous development, the US Government has suspended funding from the biotech company increasingly linked to the origins of the Covid pandemic that slew seven million people. Continue reading »
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Washington’s hope: will rabid penguins eat the BRI?
China keeps building infrastructure in other countries that is needed by those other countries. Surely this is sinister. But all is not lost. As Joe Biden wonders if cannibals may have eaten his uncle Ambrose during World War II, Washington discovers remarkable new instruments in its geopolitical tool kit. Continue reading »
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America’s febrile anti-China madness
The vast majority of US politicians, media and scholars adhere to an outdated Cold War mentality, regard China as an existential threat, and use all means possible to harm it. The purpose of discrediting, isolating and containing China is to maintain the US’ global hegemony. However, the US’ hostile policy toward China will eventually bring Continue reading »
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US vs. China: Who really stands for peace?
Thousands of innocent civilians are dying– men, women, children– being bombed to death as they sit in their homes. Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian men have been unwillingly drafted into the military, torn from their families, forced to kill each other, and forced to die. Images and videos of cold-blooded genocide plague our news in Continue reading »
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Under the cloak of genocide, nuclear brinkmanship escalates in Ukraine
While the antiwar zeitgeist has been quite understandably focused on the genocide in Gaza, over the past few weeks we’ve been seeing some very disturbing reports about empire managers ramping up nuclear brinkmanship escalations in Ukraine that are worth going over. Continue reading »
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China and Russia have one bed but different dreams
Russian weakness has enabled China to emerge as Eurasia’s dominant power. But it also limits the partnership of the two. Continue reading »
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Chinese experts urge tariff hikes on imported fossil fuel cars to accelerate green transition
Liu Bin, chief expert of China Automotive Technology & Research Centre (CATARC), explained that raising the temporary tariff rate on imported cars with large engines can further accelerate the green transition in China’s auto industry; and an article analysing the Biden Administration’s Section 301 Tariffs on China by a think tank affiliated with China’s Ministry Continue reading »
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To restore humanity, stop the genocide and make Israel accountable
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Archbishop Desmond Tutu Continue reading »
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Polly Waffle policy
Some readers will remember the Polly Waffle snack bar. This favourite was a hollow crunchy biscuit tube, coated with chocolate and filled with fluffy marshmallow. After a significant break in production, the Polly Waffle has been re-introduced to the Australian market. Many of us waited with bated tastebuds to sample the resurrected Polly Waffle. Continue reading »
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World War III and The Grand Chessboard
Imagine being Tony Blinken, and facing the arduous responsibility as US Secretary of State to rule the globe! This seems a daunting task, but fortunately, Blinken doesn’t have to strain his brain too much because he has a manual already written to instruct him. Continue reading »
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Playing defence Mini-Me for the US will cost Australia dearly
The complaint by Canberra about the latest Chinese military flare-up close to China’s coast is not only hypocritical but highly escalatory. Continue reading »
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Gaza genocide protests by students shames the elites in the Western world
These elites in politics, business, media, and church have brought shame on themselves and us. Either covertly or overtly they have supported or wilfully ignored the genocide. History will be a very harsh judge. Continue reading »
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From ‘isolated’ Russia with love: Moscow festival unites filmmakers from the Global South and the West
At one of the world’s oldest film festivals, 240 pictures from 50 countries were shown in Russia. Continue reading »
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77% of top Climate Scientists think 2.5°C of warming is coming – and they’re horrified
“I expect a semi-dystopian future with substantial pain and suffering for the people of the Global South,” one expert said. Continue reading »
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If China became a democracy, would it still be rejected by the West?
Over the last few years, I have wondered about what drives the relentless Western animosity towards China. It seems a very logical question to ask if one wants to understand the world today. But you will be hard pressed to find this explained in commentary provided by the Western media. What one gets is screaming daily headlines, Continue reading »
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The State Department report on human rights
Blinken knew exactly what he was doing, he could have delayed the release but he chose, instead to release the State Department’s “2023 Country Report” on the eve of his arrival in China. Continue reading »