Reading

Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 20:48

Dave Proudlove is one of the most eloquent advocates of the greater Potteries area on the Midlands/Northern England border. A columnist at the Staffordshire Sentinel for many years, and an enthusiastic champion of local sites and subjects on social media, Proudlove has regularly given voice to the hopes and dreams of Stoke-on-Trent and its backcountry, […]

Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 16:17

John Legend’s concert in Rwanda signaled global elite support for Paul Kagame amid his bloody invasion of the DRC. The event was organized by Global Citizen, a pseudo-activist NGO backed by corporations hungry for Africa’s resource wealth. On February 21st, as the Rwandan army deepened its invasion of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), John Legend took the stage in Rwanda’s capital, Kigali. There, the superstar singer-songwriter headlined a Move Afrika concert produced by Global Citizen, the international NGO […]

The post Billionaire-backed Global Citizen whitewashes Kagame’s invasion of DRC first appeared on The Grayzone.

The post Billionaire-backed Global Citizen whitewashes Kagame’s invasion of DRC appeared first on The Grayzone.

Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 16:07
Sarah Schwarz speaks to the silencing tactics against those speaking up for Palestine. Francesca Albanese outlines the many elements that make up genocide. Peter Cronau suggests Australia appears to have breached the International Court of Justice ruling by exporting coal from Newcastle to Israel, while Cameron Leckie suggests a peacekeeping force for Ukraine is disingenuous Continue reading »
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 15:35
Today (December 4, 2024), the Australian Bureau of Statistics released the latest – Australian National Accounts: National Income, Expenditure and Product, December 2024 – which shows that the Australian economy grew by just 0.6 per cent in the December-quarter 2024 and by just 1.3 per cent over the 12 months (up from 0.6 per cent).…
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 11:47
Understanding Trump’s Tariffs effects On the World Trade & How He’s Ending The American Era

To understand how tariffs are going to hit various economies, you need to understand how neoliberal era trade and production was set up. In the old world supply chains were much less integrated. In general, if you made it in your country, your supply chain was in your country. There were always some exceptions, especially for resources like nickel and copper and uranium and so on, but it was the rule. Trade deals and laws in the old era usually required foreign companies which were going to produce in a host country to source a minimum amount of parts from said host country. Almost always this was over 50%. If the infrastructure didn’t exist, the company, usually with government help, would set it up.

Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 10:00
It’s hard to keep track of all the atrocities so I’ll just try to highlight a few of them each day. This one kind of broke my heart. He’s going to raze the forests, take down the trees that help prevent wildfires and kill the endangered species. For real: Donald Trump has ordered that swathes of America’s forests be felled for timber, evading rules to protect endangered species while doing so and raising the prospect of chainsaws razing some of the most ecologically important trees in the US. The president, in an executive order, has demanded an expansion in tree cutting across 280m acres (113m hectares) of national forests and other public lands, claiming that “heavy-handed federal policies” have made America reliant on foreign imports of timber. “It is vital that we reverse these policies and increase domestic timber production to protect our national and economic security,” the order adds.
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 08:30
Which may be sooner than they expect It’s a personal bond between them and Trump and a shared mutual hatred for “Democrats” who they see as their most dangerous enemy. The last man in the piece, who walks off in anger because he doesn’t like hearing the facts the reporter is pointing to in her questions. He is emotional and uncomfortable and that means he is being confronted with an uncomfortable truth. (I’ve been there with people in my own life… it’s always very obvious when it happens.) It’s clear they are all living in a MAGA cult information silo, of course. But the way things are going, the right wingers had better get some talking points together on war and recession and that’s not easy. He’ll try to blame Joe Biden for everything and he believes blame is all that’s necessary. But at some point, it has to click in with a few of his cultists that he promised to fix everything instantly and has taken radical actions that guarantee chaos not solutions. Maybe. They are very far gone.
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 07:30
The Trade War has begun BREAKING: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau just dropped a bomb on Trump. He speaks directly to the American people. He explains clearly the repercussions of Trump's Trade War on Canada, and exactly how it's going to cause tremendous pain to Americans. He is clear that… pic.twitter.com/vGZyHZifWt — Ed Krassenstein (@EdKrassen) March 4, 2025 Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced President Donald Trump for launching a trade war with his country, saying that he won’t back down from a tariff fight with the United States. “Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada. At the same time, they’re talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin — a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said in Ottawa.“Canadians are reasonable and we are polite, but we will not back down from a fight, not when our country and the well being of everyone in it is at stake.” Trudeau pledged relief to Canadian workers caught in the trade war’s crosshairs, and told the American people that his quarrel was not with them. “We don’t want this.
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 06:30
Lech Walesa, former hero of the right wing: Your Excellency, Mr. President, We watched the report of your conversation with the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, with fear and distaste. We find it insulting that you expect Ukraine to show respect and gratitude for the material assistance provided by the United States in its fight against russia. Gratitude is owed to the heroic Ukrainian soldiers who shed their blood in defense of the values of the free world. They have been dying on the front lines for more than 11 years in the name of these values and the independence of their homeland, which was attacked by Putin’s russia. We do not understand how the leader of a country that symbolizes the free world cannot recognize this. Our alarm was also heightened by the atmosphere in the Oval Office during this conversation, which reminded us of the interrogations we endured at the hands of the Security Services and the debates in Communist courts. Prosecutors and judges, acting on behalf of the all-powerful communist political police, would explain to us that they held all the power while we held none.
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 05:30
I have no great love for H.R Master but he’s got Trump’s number — and Putin’s. Trump isn’t happy about it: “H.R. MCMASTER IS A WEAK AND TOTALLY INEFFECTIVE LOSER!” Trump posted to his social media platform Truth Social late Sunday. “We should spend less time worrying about Putin, and more time worrying about migrant rape gangs, drug lords, murderers, and people from mental institutions entering our Country—So that we don’t end up like Europe!” Trump wrote in a separate post. In another post early Monday, Trump claimed that he was “the only president who gave none of Ukraine’s land to Putin’s Russia,” despite the fact that the deal cooked up by his administration thus far would fail to return Ukraine to its prewar borders. He’s mad about a 60 Minutes interview with McMaster in which he said that Trump is being played by Putin. (Duh…) “Vladimir Putin couldn’t be happier.
Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 05:00

Learn to Speak Russian
(Like Your Life Depends on It)

“Where is the bathroom?”
Gde tualet?
A good phrase to know in any language.

“Hello, nice to meet you.”
Zdravstvuyte, priyatno poznakomit’sya.
Best accompanied by a broad smile that indicates you’re not a threat. You never know who’s a mole.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you…”
Spasibo, spasibo, spasibo, spasibo, spasibo…
This cannot be said enough, especially to state officials. (Thirty-three times is too few.)

“Many thanks! Endless thanks! A world of thanks!”
Ogromnoye spasibo! Beskonechnoye spasibo! Mir blagodarnosti!
Say this when a bureaucrat insults you in public.

“Please put that on the record.”
Zanestite eto v protocol, pozhalusta..
Use this phrase immediately after offering thanks. You know, just in case.

Created
Wed, 05/03/2025 - 04:59
Witnessing the extraordinary cage fight this week between Volodomyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump in the Oval Office provided an eye-popping glimpse into what is normally kept behind closed doors when world leaders meet to nut out matters of great consequence. The two presidents loudly talked over each other, eyeballs rolling, aggressively gesticulating and contradicting each Continue reading »