Tuesday 27 December 2022 — Behind the Headlines
About Energy, Again.
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/12/about-energy-again.html
After a Fawning Netflix Doc, AOC Still Doesn’t Get It!
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/after-a-fawning-netflix-doc-aoc-still-doesnt-get-it/
Antiwar Activist Faces Repression In Germany
https://popularresistance.org/antiwar-activist-faces-repression-in-germany/
President Vladimir Putin addressed an expanded meeting of the Russian Defence Ministry Board, Moscow, Dec. 21, 2022The defining moment in US President Joe Biden’s press conference at the White House last Wednesday, during President Zelensky’s visit, was his virtual admission that he is constrained in the proxy war in Ukraine, as European allies don’t want a war with Russia.
Ten surprisingly good things that happened in 2022
https://popularresistance.org/ten-surprisingly-good-things-that-happened-in-2022/
Christmas Jottings from North Queensland
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/christmas-jottings-from-north-queensland/
Why Time Isn’t Ripe For Ukraine Talks
https://orientalreview.org/2022/12/24/why-time-isnt-ripe-for-ukraine-talks/
Photo via dacian dorca-street photographie on Flickr, licensed under CC BY 2.0.I have never thought about what I would look like as a superhero or a spaceman or, I dunno, a lion. As such, I’ve never had the desire to submit photos of myself to an AI generator to spit out stunning images of my likeness in technicolour. And I don’t begrudge the folks who have done this — they all look really, really good.
The number of strikes has intensified. However, there is no attempt yet to bring the strikes together in one general public sector strike. Nothing less will suffice to break the bosses resolve. This article explains why. The capitalists in England have their back to the wall or is it the cliff?!
Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) with Chairman of the United Russia Party Dmitry Medvedev, Beijing, December 21, 2022The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken probably thought that in his self-appointed role as the world’s policeman, it was his prerogative to check out what is going on between Germany, China and Russia that he wasn’t privy to. Certainly, Blinken’s call to Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Friday turned out to be a fiasco.
What is the Rules-Based Order?
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/what-is-the-rules-based-order/
Modi Ignores West’s Sanctions On Russia
https://orientalreview.org/2022/12/23/modi-ignores-wests-sanctions-on-russia/
Will Korea send its shells to Ukraine, and more importantly, which Korea?
https://journal-neo.org/2022/12/23/will-korea-send-its-shells-to-ukraine-and-more-importantly-which-korea/
Credit: Carlos LatuffThe death of Palestinian soccer player Ahmad Daraghmeh, 23, is a reminder that the ongoing colonial occupation cripples the dreams of young athletes.
Daraghmeh is just one of the thousands of young athletes whose potential was taken from the world by Israeli violence.
Wow, what a year eh! 2023 promises to be a watershed year for the planet and for all kinds of reasons. I think it may well be the year that decides whether our species has a future or not. Will the Evil Empire triumph or will it take us all down with its demise?
Meanwhile, I’m reducing my work here, largely because I have to complete a novel I started some years ago and after rereading it recently and having a friend (and a professional) read and critique it I’ve decided that’s well worth completing and hopefully, get it published in 2023. It needs some work, not a lot of work but I need to clear the deck so-to-speak, to complete it without the pressure of maintaining The New Dark Age. Maintaining this site to my own satisfaction, actually takes several hours of work a day and to think I started doing something very similar when I launched New York On-Line when I lived in Brooklyn, NY in 1983, that’s a long time, 40 years!
So here’s to a just and healthy 2023
¡A luta continua!
billy
“Daring”?
Zelensky’s Weapons Wish List Goes Mostly Unfulfilled on Trip to Washington – New York Times – Dec 22, 2022
After his daring 10-hour dash to the nation’s capital on Wednesday, Mr. Zelensky left with nearly $2 billion in new arms and equipment — as well as a likely commitment from Congress for nearly $50 billion in additional aid next year.
Ukraine President Vladimir Zelensky addressed a joint session of the US Congress, Washington, DC, December 21, 2022With the Republicans poised to take narrow control of the House of Representatives in the US Congress in January, the Biden Administration is hoping to extract as much funding as possible for the proxy war in Ukraine against Russia before the locus of legislative business shifts on the Hill. The White House is requesting nearly $45 billion in new funding. Who else could canvass better than an accomplished actor-politician?
U.S. Congress Prepares To Declare War Against Russia
https://orientalreview.org/2022/12/22/u-s-congress-prepares-to-declare-war-against-russia/
America’s 2022 Allocations to Ukraine Total $112 Billion
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/americas-2022-allocations-to-ukraine-total-112-billion/
On the first results of the US-Africa Leaders Summit
https://journal-neo.org/2022/12/22/on-the-first-results-of-the-us-africa-leaders-summit/
Reference photograph: Sandinistas at the Walls of the National Guard Headquarters: ‘Molotov Man’, Estelí, Nicaragua, July 16th, 1979, by Susan Meiselas/Magnum PhotosDear friends,
Greetings from the desk of Tricontinental: Institute for Social Research.
The International Labour Organisation’s Global Wage Report 2022–23 tracks the horrendous collapse of real wages for billions of people around the planet. The gaping distance between the incomes and wealth of 99% of the world’s population from the incomes and wealth of the billionaires and near-trillionaires who make up the richest 1% is appalling. During the pandemic, when most of the world has experienced a dramatic loss in their livelihoods, the ten richest men in the world have doubled their fortunes. This extreme wealth inequality, now entirely normal in our world, has produced immense and dangerous social consequences.
Every year at this time, I look back at any books that I have reviewed. I’ll start with Bradford DeLong’s book, Slouching towards Utopia, because this was considered the best economic history book of the year.
Of Note.
https://smoothiex12.blogspot.com/2022/12/of-note.html
Ten Surprisingly Good Things that Happened in 2022
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/ten-surprisingly-good-things-that-happened-in-2022/
The decline and fall of the US world order is inevitable
https://journal-neo.org/2022/12/21/the-decline-and-fall-of-the-us-world-order-is-inevitable/
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) with Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, Minsk, December 19, 2022The visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Minsk on Monday, accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, turned out to be immensely consequential for European security.
No Brainer: What is a Solstice?
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/no-brainer-what-is-a-solstice/
Former German Chancellor Merkel Admits that Minsk Peace Agreements Were Part of Scheme for Ukraine to Buy Time to Prepare for War with Russia
https://dissidentvoice.org/2022/12/former-german-chancellor-merkel-admits-that-minsk-peace-agreements-were-part-of-scheme-for-ukraine-to-buy-time-to-prepare-for-war-with-russia/
U.S. Regime Now Tempts Ukrainian Stooge Regime To Invade Russia
https://orientalreview.org/2022/12/20/u-s-regime-now-tempts-ukrainian-stooge-regime-to-invade-russia/