Lyle Austin

The only 'White House' this man belongs in is a psychiatric ward.

I for one wasn't impressed that Maria Corina Machado won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, and I'm not in the least bit surprised by her latest action.

Machado may be bravely fighting for democracy against a corrupt and brutal dictatorship, which is certainly commendable, and she's clearly a darn sight better than Maduro. But given some of her political positions, I don't think she was really a great choice for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Some of Machado's other positions don't inspire much confidence, either. Like Maduro, she supports irredentist claims to the Essequibo region of Guyana, although she's against seizing it by force. And she has aligned herself with right-wing populist parties such as Vox in Europe.

And, to be honest, I doubt Trump is upset about Machado winning. She supports his policies, including bombing boats off the Venezuelan coast, and would apparently support a U.S. invasion of Venezuela to overthrow Nicolas Maduro. She's even partly dedicated her prize to Trump.

People are celebrating because Trump didn't win, even though he was never a serious candidate to begin with. In reality he had about as much chance of being awarded the Nobel Peace Prize as Vladimir Putin, ISIS, or Emperor Palpatine.

It's surreal reading some of the responses to the Nobel Peace Prize announcement by Americans who perhaps hadn't heard of Maria Corina Machado before yesterday.

It makes no sense to claim to support a two-state solution if you're only willing to recognise one state. And it's disingenuous to claim that recognition has triggered Israel's recent actions in the West Bank, when Israel has been trying to take over the West Bank and undermine the PA for years.

NZ not yet recognising Palestinian state, Foreign Minister Winston Peters announces The government has decided against recognising Palestinian statehood, retaining its "when, not if" position.

The NZ government has decided not to recognise Palestine. It's a pretty spineless decision, IMO, grounded in fear of retribution by an ailing dictator who couldn't find NZ on a map.
www.rnz.co.nz/news/politic...

It's great to see that France, Luxembourg, Monaco, Malta, and San Marino have now joined the list. Four of the five permanent members of the U.N. security council, most of NATO, and almost half of the members of the E.U. have now recognised Palestine. And I'm sure the number will continue to climb.

On this day in 1939, German and Soviet forces marched together in a victory parade in Brest-Litovsk.

Moscow called it a “liberation campaign.” For Poland, it meant occupation, executions and mass deportations.

Well done Canada, the U.K., Australia, and Portugal for recognising Palestine.

I'm hopeful that New Zealand will join the ever-growing list later this week, but Winston Peters likes to keep his cards close to his chest and keep everyone guessing.

1/ South Korean workers who have been deported from the US have spoken of enduring squalid conditions in ICE custody, including being chained, handcuffed and zip-tied, being made to lick up water rather than drink it, and having to menstruate and use the toilet in public. ⬇️

Were any of these acts of government brutality ordered by the "stupid and evil man" mentioned by the OP, or the regime he heads? I have no problem with treating government brutality as a measure of evil. How about you?

Can AI speak the language Japan tried to kill? More than a century after colonisation, the Ainu language almost vanished. Now machines are listening to hours of old recordings and learning to give it a new voice.

AI is being used to help revitalise Ainu, and there's even a project for Ainu speech synthesis.
www.bbc.com/future/artic...

Yep. I'd guarantee that Turkey and Saudi Arabia are already making plans to get nuclear weapons, and other countries are sure to follow.

Indeed, we are worse off now, and the effect of the air strikes on Saturday is probably the exact opposite of their claimed objective.

This should make us question their real purpose.

It's clear what Bibi and US neocons actually want to achieve, and it should be obvious how air strikes fit in.

It is in this context that Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, sent this utterly nauseating letter to Trump, praising him for making everyone 'safer'.
How can Rutte lead NATO if he writes this about a highly reckless act that could have serious repercussions for the organisation he leads?

The air strikes again Iran threaten to set in motion a chain of events that could, potentially, not only plunge much of Europe and the Middle East into a devastating war in the relatively near future, but they could effectively destroy NATO.

Imagine if Putin decided to attack one of the Baltic states or Sweden while the U.S. was tied up in Iran. Would there even be any point in invoking Article 5? European members might answer the call, though even that's far from certain, but the U.S., clearly, would not.

It would obviously be in Putin's interests to divide NATO and lure its most powerful member into a dangerous war in the Middle East, while Russia continues to seize swathes of territory belonging to its neighbours in Europe.

What makes the prospect of a war in Iran particularly troubling is that Trump's decision to attack may have been influenced in part by Vladimir Putin, who he clearly admires, even though Putin presumably views him as a mere tool and looks on him with contempt.

Given that most NATO members are already threatened to some degree by a revanchist Russia, it's unlikely they'd be willing to join any war in the Middle East at the present time. They need to shore up security in Europe and dramatically increase support for Ukraine.

Looking past the next-level sycophancy, what really alarms me about this letter is the praise of the air strikes against Iran. These were clearly dangerous and destabilising, and may lead to a much more serious war that NATO members would almost certainly be asked to join.

Rutte’s Peak Sycophancy.
truthsocial.com/@realDonaldT...

‘We want our own people in charge’ Residents of Russia’s Altai Republic protest Kremlin-driven reforms that strip local authority — Meduza Over the weekend, thousands took to the streets in Russia’s Altai Republic to oppose changes to the region’s constitution and a set of amendments eliminating local self-governance. Passed by regional…

Over the weekend, thousands took to the streets in Russia’s Altai Republic to oppose changes to the region’s constitution and a set of amendments eliminating local self-governance.
meduza.io/en/feature/2...

Did you read the original thread? They probably still have some facilities operational. And even if they don't, they have the technology and could rebuild within months.

Unfortunately, I think there are really only two credible regime change scenarios now:

1. A coup by a more hardline, pro-nuclear faction close to the current leadership.

2. A full-scale US invasion leading to a pro-US government being installed by force. This is looking more and more likely.

There's nothing like that in Iran, and it's not going to suddenly arise because of Israel and the US bombing military or nuclear facilities.
Perhaps the US should have looked into this, but it's too late now.
The current war will make it harder for ordinary citizens to rise up against the regime.

I'm afraid this seems unlikely. Syria was actually quite different - the rebel alliance there had controlled a sizable part of the country for years, and they launched a major offensive and managed to wrest control from the Assad regime, which had been weakened due to a number of factors.