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“There were angry reactions across Europe to Elon Musk’s apparent use of a salute banned for its Nazi links in Germany, where some condemned it as malicious provocation or an outreach of solidarity to far-right groups.” — The Guardian

1. Have the wealthiest man on Earth (ideally someone who has gone out of his way, perhaps on a social media platform that he purchased, to lend credibility to even the most shocking hate speech) “accidentally” perform the gesture on stage at a victory rally for the fascist autocrat that he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to elect.

2. Put out a press release claiming that the gesture was accidental, or an unrelated and totally benign gesture, or can be attributed to his “well-known neurological condition.” Also, isn’t criticizing him—a person with a condition they can’t control—for this accidental gesture a little ableist?

We have all condemned fake news, and the lies continually spread on social media, but do we recognise that our political leaders and responsible journalists fail to promote truth telling in significant political debates which reflect the kind of society we have become? For fifteen months Australians have watched the relentless bombardment of innocent civilians Continue reading »

Much has been said about the impending trade war amid Donald Trump’s threats to implement new tariffs against China, Mexico and Canada. But while many fear this could exacerbate tensions between China and the United States, we could find China is not as impacted as first thought. As Trump’s second presidential term begins, there is Continue reading »

Wearing his clearly marked press vest, and flanked by his older colleagues, 22-year-old former soccer commentator and `accidental journalist’ Abubaker Abed earlier this month indicted the negligence and hypocrisy of international media organisations regarding reporting of the genocide in Gaza: `You’ve seen us killed in every possible way. We’ve been immolated, incinerated, dismembered, and disembowelled. Continue reading »

Informed observers are amazed that the blackened legacy of Ferdinand E. Marcos has been sanitised to such an extent that his only son Bong Bong Marcos could become the 17th elected president of the Philippines in June 2022. Who on earth can take the Philippines seriously ever again? One such observer is Australian journalist Keith Continue reading »

The Israeli government has been accused of War Crimes including the murder and genocide of the Palestinians of Gaza. They should be indicted for the murder of Israeli civilians too. Israeli prime-minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant have recently been charged as war criminals by the International Criminal Court for genocide against Continue reading »

The current housing crisis is not an accident. It is the logical outcome of transforming homes into investment vehicles. And it has been decades in the building. The only thing unique about the present crisis is that it is now destabilising both the major political parties – in that sense the housing crisis is now Continue reading »

Anniversaries are not harbingers of doom. Twenty-five years back, Walter Marks of Oakland Capital, which now manages $US200 billion, had warned his clients that the dot.com boom was a bubble about to burst. On March 23 that year, the market peaked. From there, the Millennium Bug was not in the race to the bottom. This Continue reading »

Climate Politics: Causation can be complex, often multi-layered, multi-faceted and with links between its elements. In the context of weather-related disasters, it has to be attributed with great care, and in recognition of the complicated thing that is the environment whether natural or human. And we need to note the motives of those who attribute Continue reading »

When ABC journalist James Carleton discussed the overthrow of the Assad government on a Radio National ‘God Forbid’ program (‘Rebel fighters have overthrown the Assad regime in Syria, what does that mean for its people?’ 13/12/24), he warmly congratulated one of the program’s guests, Alia Malek, who was celebrating the ‘liberation’ of Syria. Malek presented Continue reading »

There’s a long history of the Zionist lobby pressuring, bullying and cajoling critics of Israel and they’re now upping their tactics in a time of mass slaughter in Gaza, writes Kellie Tranter in Declassified Australia. The mainstream media is often called “the Fourth Estate” – supposedly the fourth power after the church, nobility and commoners Continue reading »

When you’re raised in an authoritarian Christian community you can never quite comfortably fit into,...

Why would we expect anything different? President Donald Trump’s transition team and outside allies have been signaling for weeks that they were planning to “flood the zone” in the first 100 days of the new administration. Former senior adviser and activist Steve Bannon had pushed this idea during Trump’s first term, telling author and journalist Michael Lewis, “the Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” He called it “shock and awe” which was described by historian Douglas Brinkley as: [B]izarre, rapid-fire presidential policy making …every day there’s a new, radical initiative, and it doesn’t give journalists or the public a chance to get a grip on what just happened. Current senior adviser Stephen Miller has refined the idea for the second term. He recently told the NY Times that he believes that “those he regards as Mr.

The US government was aware of a campaign to remove a top development banker from power to stop anti-poverty loans to Nicaragua, where Washington sought regime change. In an exclusive interview with The Grayzone, Dante Mossi, who headed the Central American Bank for Economic Integration from 2018 to 2023, denounced a plot by “Costa Rica and Guatemala, with the knowledge of the US… to oust me.” After Nicaragua suppressed a violent US-backed 2018 coup d’etat which saw hundreds of deaths, […]

The post Development banker says US knew of plot to oust him over Nicaragua loans first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Development banker says US knew of plot to oust him over Nicaragua loans appeared first on The Grayzone.

An executive order from Trump helps ensure that inequities of the federal aid distribution system will keep favoring the white and wealthy.

The post Disasters Like the LA Fires Always Hit the Poor the Hardest. Trump Wants to Make It Worse. appeared first on The Intercept.

Murdoch's newspaper group apologises for 15 years of privacy breaches in landmark settlement – but the Prime Minister's office quickly dismisses calls for a fresh investigation

Trump lifted sanctions against Israeli settlers in the West Bank. Within hours, Netanyahu launched a new invasion.

The post Trump Halts Sanctions on Israeli Settlers, Threatens to Seize Assets of War Crimes Investigators appeared first on The Intercept.

Fueled by settler movements and messianic ideology, Israel’s advance into Syria signals a troubling push for territorial dominance.

The post Israel Isn’t Leaving Syria: Settlement Plans Signal a Permanent Land Grab appeared first on MintPress News.

Time to bring back that WW1 marching song? Donald Trump represents everything that for my entire lifetime this country flattered itself it was not. His reelection puts the lie to that national fantasy. The long arc of the moral universe took a nose dive on Nov. 5 like the stock market on Black Monday. Trump’s “United States of Backlash,” Paul Waldman calls it: What is the society Trump now seeks to create? It’s one in which virtually all the social progress of the last half-century is reversed. Not only will efforts to address racism in both public and private institutions be eliminated, even talking about racism will be either forbidden (as in schools) or banished through intimidation. Even the most milquetoast efforts to improve diversity will no longer be allowed. Millions of undocumented immigrants and their families — including both legal immigrants and U.S. citizens — will be deported, while legal immigration is drastically reduced, the result of which will be a re-whitened nation in line with a blood-and-soil conception of American identity.

On 20 July 2003, Tony Benn was being driven to Dorset for a festival. In the car with him was Eva Dunn, a union organiser in the sex industry. Later that night, Benn wrote in his diary: ‘I have to brace myself for the idea that sex workers are organised.’ It was a strange comment, […]