USA - Of course it can be argued that it has been here for quite some time already, but only a few in the alternative media were publishing the truth, as the corporate media and those financial “experts” employed by corporate media properties instead used terms like “recession,” mainly because the manipulated stock markets were still plowing ahead full steam gambling away the future and seemingly keeping things afloat and not understanding, or if understanding certainly not admitting, that the American stock exchanges had become nothing more than huge ponzi schemes.

GERMANY - The “Bundeswehr Special Fund” of more than 100 billion euros has now been agreed to by both chambers of parliament, providing a massive boost to Germany’s rearmament drive. The World Socialist Web Site and the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Socialist Equality Party, SGP) condemn this war offensive. We give voice to the massive opposition among workers to the war madness and provide a socialist perspective for the struggle against it.

USA - The post–World War II international order is often described as a product of American strength. Together with its allies, a victorious United States imposed its will on the rest of the world, crafting institutions and norms that served its interests and assured its primacy. But to an often under appreciated degree, that order is also a product of the artificial weakness of Germany and Japan. For three-quarters of a century after 1945, both countries consciously eschewed great-power status and pursued pacifist approaches to foreign policy.

GERMANY - The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute warns of a new worldwide nuclear arms race, with China rushing ahead. Activists in the anti-nuclear movement are becoming lonely figures. Just six months ago, it looked as if peace activists had most Germans on their side. A "Germany free of nuclear weapons" had also been set as a goal of the new government by the center-left Social Democrats, environmentalist Greens, and neoliberal Free Democrats. After the Russian attack on Ukraine and nuclear threats from Moscow, that now seems to be water under the bridge. In a recent survey commissioned by the public broadcaster ARD, 52% of those polled said they were now in favor of keeping the US nuclear weapons in Germany. After decades of nuclear disarmament, all nuclear powers are currently spending a lot of money on new nuclear warheads and associated delivery systems, such as long-range missiles, ships, submarines, and aircraft.

CHINA - Beijing will "not hesitate to start a war" if Taiwan declares independence, China's defence minister warned his US counterpart Friday, the latest salvo between the superpowers over the island. The warning from Wei Fenghe came as he held his first face-to-face meeting with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue security summit in Singapore. Beijing views democratic, self-ruled Taiwan as its territory and has vowed to one day seize the island, by force if necessary, and US-China tensions over the issue have soared in recent months. Wei warned Austin that "if anyone dares to split Taiwan from China, the Chinese army will definitely not hesitate to start a war no matter the cost", defence ministry spokesman Wu Qian quoted the minister as saying during the meeting.

USA - Is the Biden Administration purposely destroying reliable energy in the United States? I have no doubt in my mind that this is very much a deliberate undertaking. It is most certainly a controlled demolition, and it is causing unprecedented carnage to American economic productivity and prosperity. However, it remains unclear what exactly is driving the current administration to pursue this “green transition” policy. Here’s my take, based on too many years of experience operating in The Swamp among this crowd: No, you can’t run a nation on solar and wind. But the people in charge of the power and the money want to pretend otherwise.

USA - New Zealand tech CEO, Kim Dotcom did the math on the United States’ sovereign debt and he tweeted a thread about it, saying it may be the most important thread that he may ever make. Kim explains that US spending and debt have spiraled out of control and the Government can only raise the money it needs by printing more of it, which means that hyperinflation is guaranteed.

USA - A senior software engineer at Google who signed up to test Google's artificial intelligence tool called LaMDA (Language Model for Dialog Applications), has claimed that the AI robot is in fact sentient and has thoughts and feelings. During a series of conversations with LaMDA, 41-year-old Blake Lemoine presented the computer with various of scenarios through which analyses could be made. They included religious themes and whether the artificial intelligence could be goaded into using discriminatory or hateful speech. Lemoine came away with the perception that LaMDA was indeed sentient and was endowed with sensations and thoughts all of its own. 'If I didn't know exactly what it was, which is this computer program we built recently, I'd think it was a 7-year-old, 8-year-old kid that happens to know physics,' he told the Washington Post. 'I think this technology is going to be amazing. I think it will benefit everyone. But maybe other people disagree and maybe we at Google shouldn't be making all the choices.'

USA - Will this be a summer of widespread politically-motivated violence in the United States? The Supreme Court decision that finally overturns Roe v Wade is expected to be released this month, and authorities are fearing the worst. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security just issued an advisory warning specifically of “mass casualty violence” once the Supreme Court decision is officially released. And as you will see below, violent acts related to this controversy are already happening. There are millions upon millions of Americans that are extremely angry that Roe v Wade is going to be overturned, and we are about to see a national temper tantrum of epic size and scope.

USA - “Have you ever wondered who’s pulling the strings? …Anything we touch is a weapon. We can deceive, persuade, change, influence, inspire. We come in many forms. We are everywhere.” — US Army Psychological Operations recruitment video. The government is so confident in its Orwellian powers of manipulation that it’s taken to bragging about them. Just recently, for example, the US Army’s 4th Psychological Operations Group, the branch of the military responsible for psychological warfare, released a recruiting video that touts its efforts to pull the strings, turn everything they touch into a weapon, be everywhere, deceive, persuade, change, influence, and inspire. This is the danger that lurks in plain sight. Of the many weapons in the government’s vast arsenal, psychological warfare may be the most devastating in terms of the long-term consequences.

USA - As we reported last year, World Bank President David Malpass made a telling admission. In a nutshell, Malpass stated that Pfizer won’t go into countries unless those governments grant them immunity from any an all damages caused by their vaccine. If the country allows individuals or organizations to sue after Pfizer hurts them, Pfizer stays out. “Pfizer has been hesitant to go into some of the countries because of the liability problems, they don’t have a liability shield,” Malpass stated.

USA - The editorial board at the Wall Street Journal wrote about what it calls the WHO’s “neurosis” over climate change: The WHO has found a way to link climate change to every social problem under the sun. If rising sea levels, warmer temperatures, wildfires and hurricanes don’t destroy civilization, anxiety about apocalyptic predictions will. The WHO says many young people report feeling “impairing distress,” perhaps due to alarmist news stories. “Various terms have emerged to describe these responses, particularly among youth affected by climate change, including climate change anxiety, solastalgia, eco-anxiety, environmental distress, ecological grief, and climate-related psychological distress,” the report says. Maybe the WHO could do a public-health service by informing young people that the world isn’t doomed. Ah, but its goal is to persuade wealthy countries to give it more money. The WHO knows that mental illness has become a hot issue in the West in the wake of Covid lockdowns, which it supported. Now it sees a new opportunity to expand its brief, which could be a money-maker for decades.

USA - Four species of bumblebees have been reclassified as ‘fish’ in the state of California so that they can be protected under its Endangered Species Act, a court ruled on Tuesday, reversing a 2020 ruling and affirming that the term ‘fish’ shouldn’t be confined to merely ‘aquatic’ invertebrates under the law. “We acknowledge the scope of the definition is ambiguous but also recognize we are not interpreting the definition on a blank slate,” the California Court of Appeal for the Third District declared in its ruling. The four species of bumblebees are now protected by the California Fish and Game Commission as at-risk plants and animals, sheltering the insects from import, export, possession, purchase, or sale. The move is a blow to agricultural groups, in particular the Almond Alliance of California, which has lashed out against the ruling, arguing it would further financially burden growers of the crop who use pesticides known to harm bees.

VATICAN - The Vatican said the July 2-7 trip to Congo and South Sudan would be rescheduled “to a later date to be determined.” “At the request of his doctors, and in order not to jeopardize the results of the therapy that he is undergoing for his knee... and has been forced to postpone, with regret, his Apostolic Journey to the Democratic Republic of Congo and to South Sudan,” the Vatican said in a statement. Francis has used a wheelchair for about a month due to strained ligaments in his right knee that have made walking and standing difficult and painful. He also has received injections, kept the knee as immobile as possible and walked with a cane or the help of an aide, when necessary. Speculation has swirled about the future of the pontificate because of Francis' knee problems, his decision to create 16 new voting-age cardinals, and his plans to pay homage in August to a 13th century pope who resigned, Celestine V. But Francis has given no indication he wants or plans to resign. Vatican watchers say a papal resignation now would be unthinkable given that Francis' predecessor, Emeritus Pope Benedict XVI, 95, is still alive.

ISRAEL - In face of Iran’s continued development of a nuclear capability, the Israeli Air Force has developed a new capability to be able to fly its F-35 stealth fighter jets from Israel to the Islamic Republic without requiring mid-air refueling. The development is a boost to IAF capabilities and comes as the Israeli military has upped its preparations for a future strike against Iran’s nuclear capabilities. In addition, the IAF recently integrated a new one-ton bomb into the arsenal of weapons used by the F-35s (known in the IAF as the “Adir”) that can be carried inside the plane’s internal weapons compartment without jeopardizing its stealth radar signature.