retreat

Viet Nam, Iraq and now Afghanistan demonstrate that our ally, the US, is flaky.

An understanding of history might have seen Australia refuse the opportunity to get involved in Afghanistan, but an understanding of history has never amounted to much in Australia, unless it has been to embellish white supremacist myths, like Bean around Anzac.

Afghanistan has been the death bed of modern invading armies, first Britain, then Russia and now America. The reasons are topography and use of it by the Pathans, the ruthless and dominant tribe.

zed

Noting that China saw vaccines as a “global public good” and had no “geopolitical agenda” or “political strings” attached to its rollout, Wang urged Australia to “stop disrupting and undermining vaccine cooperation between China and Pacific island countries” and “work together to... advance international anti-pandemic cooperation with concrete actions.”

arrak

TALLINN - Surrealism is the natural art style of Estonians, someone once told me. For decades they knew nothing but the absurd middle world between occupation and freedom, indigence and luxury, modernity and backwardness.

Estonia's most famous artist, Juri Arrak, popularized surrealism through his instantly-recognizable characters with their angular and wavy dragon-like heads. But long before he turned to surrealism, Arrak experimented with pop art, cubism and realism across a variety of media. Assemblage, jewelry, metalwork and performance art were also vehicles for his expression.

newsubs

assange

The news that WikiLeaks volunteer turned FBI informant Sigurdur Ingi Thordarson fabricated some important parts of his accusations in the indictment against the site’s co-founder Assange “was not a surprise,” Smith pointed out. Those close to WikiLeaks have long known that the man “had behavioral issues,” he said.

goals

The Vatican has set the trial date for 10 people, including Cardinal Angelo Becciu, on charges related to the Holy See's 350 million euro investment in a luxury London real estate venture. 

fourth

On Sunday, Americans from sea to shining sea mark Independence Day, commemorating the 4 July, 1776 declaration of independence from the British Empire. On the anniversary of the holiday, Sputnik explores some of the iconic symbols which the modern world commonly associates with the United States.

pillage

The United States and its Syrian Kurdish allies have taken control of wide swathes of eastern Syria, which contains the vast majority of the country’s oil and gas resources, and is its traditional breadbasket. The theft of these resources has forced Syria’s Russian and Iranian allies to provide the country with emergency fuel and food aid.

fire

Canada: Firefighters battle 170 wildfires amid heat wave

Fires have devastated towns in British Columbia, with the military on standby to respond to the threat.

Over 170 wildfires were raging in the western Canadian province of British Columbia (BC) on Saturday, as the region experiences a record heat wave.

The Canadian military was put on standby to help fight the blazes and evacuate citizens from affected towns.

Many of the fires were caused by lightning strikes. 

swimming

Trump Holds Rally in Florida, Across State From Building Disaster

Aides to Gov. Ron DeSantis questioned Trump associates about whether the event on Saturday night in Sarasota should proceed given the scope of the tragedy in Surfside.

bender

I have it under no authority that Bender the robot of Futurama is based on Остап Бендер  — a Russian character otherwise know as Ostap Bender, or Ostap-Suleyman-Berta-Maria-Bender-Bey or even Bender-Zadunaysky, until his name settled on Ostap Ibragimovich Bender.

diana

If the British royal family wished to underline their status as an antiquated institution, out of touch with the present day, they could hardly do better than commission a larger-than-life-size bronze statue of Diana, Princess of Wales.

space cadets

Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos is now ready to take people into space.

The US entrepreneur's Blue Origin company says it will launch a crew aboard its New Shepard rocket and capsule system on 20 July.

The astronauts are likely to include company personnel, but one seat is being auctioned online.
New Shepard's flights are sub-orbital. They're designed to take passengers on a straight up-and-down trip that briefly goes above 100km (62 miles).

aliens...

blink

We owe a debt to the most intelligent humans on the planet.