"Those who live longest see most", so it is said.

Russia is ruled by oligarchs, just as it is in many other countries. When it was otherwise (e.g. USSR), it only lasted for two or three generations before the system returned to 'normal': oligarch rule (but call it 'democracy').

We 'know' the policies of PNAC are still being followed by the world's largest military ever; no rival will be tolerated. China and Russia pose threats, the latter only on paper, since it is a friendly feuding of oligarchs (friends, partners, and colleagues).

'Partners' and 'colleagues' of Russia hold the strongest hand and play the leading role. Russia bares its teeth: how large, how sharp, and how fast. Sadly, they are false and likely to fall out with a yelp when Ukraine and Georgia join NATO as is their right as sovereign countries following their best interests (cf. the Crimea).

Russian oligarchs observed the putsch of 2014 in Ukraine and quickly recognised the illegitimate government put in place by fellow oligarchs of the USA. The Crimea voted to join Russia, as was their democratic right, and Russia readily accepted. It doesn't want the Donbass. It doesn't want Ukraine. They are left to fellow-oligarchs.

China is a different story. It is NOT run by mealy-mouthed oligarchs and is unwilling to subscribe to the dictates of PNAC.

"Those who live longest see most".

Jesus believed he knew the difference between right and wrong, and died for it. We now have a travesty of his teachings from the realms of riches.

One could tell this same story of countless millions of humans throughout the ages. Few are remembered. Those that are, have their messages mangled to suit the prevailing orthodoxy by those who control the Narrative.

Any and all decent people understand the tragedy of Julian Assange. Of course we can stand up and be counted. But who does the counting, and (sadly) what does it matter?

Jesus threw the moneylenders out of the temple, but they live on and still dominate.

Long after we are all dead and forgotten, the money-manipulators will be still at their business of robbing and cheating; and funding wars to keep wealth circulating through their purses and pockets. And when they are overthrown by revolution, then counter-revolution will see them back in place, stirring the pot, funding change and discontent. Humans get what they deserve and … they will never learn. Such is the History of Humans.

The article doesn't suggest 'the invasion of Russia'. It talks of Ukraine becoming a 'quagmire' for Russia.
The onward march of NATO continues unabated by Putin's 'colleagues' and 'partners'. Like a whipped cur, Russia can only whine and hope for pity from the pitiless. Occasionally it tells the world it has 'big' teeth. Pity they are false.
The USA only recognises brute force. It will only listen when bombs, nuclear bombs, start raining down on American cities. Can Russia do this? If so, why does it cringe? Time for action. Give Washington DC a cause for concern. Other American cities might then understand war is not a Hollywood game with USA always the hero.

The 'powers that be' want Julian Assange to pay for what he has done in exposing the evil and associated hypocrisy of those 'powers that be'. Of course, one longs for justice, but how often is this found in a Court of Law? I was told long ago, courts deliver verdicts, not justice, in line with man-made laws.

Words express thoughts and can be truthful and honest, or lying and deceitful. Honesty is NOT a quality naturally associated with politicians, or those connected with courts, a pillar of privilege. A barrister is a TRAINED liar, spending years in perfecting that skill, splitting hairs with academic sophistry.

Who controls? Power and Wealth go hand-in-hand. and pass down from generation to generation. Wealth buys Power. Who controls Wealth controls Power and dictates the issues of War and Peace.
Julian Assange challenged this, revealing some of the evil and hypocrisy of war. He could not be allowed to go unpunished.

That is the system of which we are part and of which we have no control. Hence 'the hypocrisy of democracy'. Wealth controls.

The world is not only changing rapidly, but is accelerating rapidly.
Consider telecommunications: 6-valve radios, transistors, walkmen, mp3s, 2-way radios, mobile phones, i-phones. Same with computers over the last 50 years. The change is staggering.
Until the late Seventies, few ordinary people had bank accounts. They received their wages in pay-packets: cash. They were forced to open bank accounts into which their wages were paid automatically. Now, they have almost forgotten what cash is: plastic cars with a PIN, plastic cards without a PIN, amounts available rapidly increasing while payment with cash is becoming more restricted.
Humans NEED food, shelter, companionship; all else is surplus to survival. Money, the primary means of exchange, historically has played a large part in the first two of these necessities, and useful in the third. Who controls the means of exchange, controls access to these necessities. How are they related to Food and Big Parma?
That is POWER. Who exercises it? The Bankers. Who are the Bankers? That is the $64,000 question. I leave you to answer it.

War is PROFITABLE for some. Smedley Butler spelt it out clearly many year ago: WAR is a RACKET. Those who control the media, effectively control what people are told and what they must think. Who controls the media? And who makes the profit from war?
There is nothing new in any of this.

The USA has no recent experience of war in its own land: it has fought many wars, but all 'overseas'. Its people, in general, only know of the Hollywood version with the USA always as the hero. For this reason, the people tolerate and even welcome war – in other parts of the world. That is why it has a long history of aggression – that, and the profits involved!
Its attitude to war and aggression will not change until the USA experiences first-hand the true horrors of war: death, destruction, suffering and chaos; brutality and lies; the worst side of human nature (animal passion) predominating.
This will come to pass in all-out war when nuclear missiles rain down on the major cities of the USA. Sadly, it will then be too late: there will be nobody left to learn.

The human brain is easily fooled. Conjurors do it all the time: fool the human senses. Politicians learn to do it; if unsuccessful, their careers as politicians quickly end. Truth is the enemy and perception is king.
Mossad, CIA, MI6 and whatever, they make a profession out of fooling people en masse. Why? Clue is: money is the biggest con trick in history and still rules supreme. Who controls this con trick? The Bankers. Always have and always will. They are almost there to TOTAL CONTROL when money itself will disappear, algorithms will dictate everything, and humans will be nothing but a digital sequence of binary numbers.on a supercomputer.

For almost 80 years, I have believed the United States of America to be the most EVIL country in the history of this earth of ours. It has been exceptional, only in its EVIL.
Time has repeatedly proven this view to be well-founded.
Yes, there are exceptionally good people everywhere, including the United States of America but, despite this, EVIL policies and practices persist, are accepted and excused as unavoidable, while self-righteously condemned and reviled in others.
Edward Curtin proves beyond doubt that his country is guilty of 'terrorism'. Terrible! But much worse than that it is EVIL, hiding behind hypocrisy and sustained by the printing of money that is accepted as currency worldwide. Despite the stupidity of this, perhaps it suggests the root of this EVIL. Who benefits most from the printing of money?

Where does one start: with the nature of individuals, or the nature of groups?
Gustave Le Bon studied The Crowd and Edward Bernays studied the effects of the many on the behaviour and beliefs of the individual. He thus successfully introduced the use of propaganda, advertising, and public relations to influence mass beliefs and behaviour.

Human beings come in many 'shapes and sizes' for which “one size does NOT fit all”. Humans are born unequal. They ALL have basic needs of food, shelter, and companionship; and ALL take part in relationships involving exchange: some exchanges called 'trade', some 'contract' and, most, simply based on trust.
Any surplus to basic needs can be exchanged, or traded.

In this milieu of human interactions, the 'strong' usually prevail against the 'weak'. The weak are either defeated, or submit. This is generally true in any group of humans. 'Strong' has to be taken in its widest meanings, including physical, mental, and technological senses. Because dominance-submission is inherent in most human relationships, democracy, meaning free and fair decision-making on matters of collective importance, is at best unlikely and virtually impossible in practice.

In representative democracy, the representatives almost always form privileged groups which then act in their own best interests, including favours and rewards. It is thus unsurprising that 'true' democracy is so elusive and rare to the point of non-existence.