#G7 Conference

[silveragelovechild]

Rumours is Nonsense

I read about a new movie starring Cate Blanchett that sounded odd and intriguing… “Rumours”. It’s advertised as black comedy about World leaders meet at a G7 conference and something weird happens. It was only playing at a theater chain I don’t go to often (the tickets are more expensive). But I thought I’d give it a try.

Blanchett plays the German head of state hosting the event at a remote palace. After showing the other attendees a 2000 year old corpse found on the grounds, they head to a picturesque gazebo to prepare a statement regarding a never described world crisis.

A short time later the Seven realize that all their aides and the catering staff have disappeared and they are alone… and something menacing is lurking in the forest.

Was the movie poking fun at how ineffectual world leaders are? I don’t know. The best thing I can say about the movie is that it’s utter nonsense.

The characters aren’t even stereotypes, they are just vague ideas, and the setup and plot seemed pointless.

The Canadian is a serial adulterer, the Frenchman is a blowhard, the Italian is a pipsqueak, the Japanese ambassador is so under written it’s an embarrassment. And Blanchett’s German chancellor inexplicably wants to have sex with the Canadian. Is that a comment about World politics?

The American president is presented as a doddering old man. Was this a jab at Biden? If so actor Charles Dance was horribly miscast as he doesn’t remotely come across as American with his English accent. What was the point?

I was tempted to walk about the time the Canadian discovered a giant brain sitting on the forrest floor. But the ticket price was so high, I thought I should at least see the whole movie.

When the bog monsters appeared, I wish I did walk out.

(To be eligible as a Black Comedy a movie needs to be occasionally funny - Rumours was not funny, it was stupid.)

[itsallpoliticsstupid]

Donald Trump has run away from the G7 conference. Macron alleged it was to start ceasefire talks between Israel and Iran (because apparently he is now the only person who can do this?), but it seems that it may be something more sinister.

Considering he has told people to leave Tehran it isn’t out of the realms of possibility he is considering supporting Israel with military effort.

Whilst I do believe the Iranian regime is horrifying, especially towards women, it yet again feels like they are no longer just attacking members of the regime. Innocent people are being killed. This needs to stop.

besides, it isn’t up to Israel or America to bring about this regime change. Why do they think it is?

[saywhat-politics]

Trump Spends the Day Playing with His Flagpole, Infighting at White House & Elon Takes a Drug Test

Trump left the G7 conference early to put up the beautiful flagpoles on both sides of the White House, he spent the morning on the lawn to preside over the instillation, he asked some of the workers if they are here illegally, carved out some time to share thoughts on the people of Iran, Trump has ordered two thousand more national guardsmen to LA even though nothing is happening, there will be another No Kings rally next month on July 17th, we learned from Trump tell-all author Michael Wolff that Trump secretly calls Stephen Miller “Weird Stephen,” Elon Musk took a drug test and released the results on X, and we sent a crew to the NBA Finals for a social experiment we like to call Garbage Nachos.

[allthebrazilianpolitics]

For Lula, Milei Has Gone From Being a Nuisance to Being a Problem

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has aspirations for regional and global leadership. Standing in Lula’s way is the fact that he cannot even get a meeting with his counterpart from neighboring Argentina, President Javier Milei.

Seven months after Milei’s inauguration, the two leaders have met only once and even then briefly, on the sidelines of the G7 meeting last month in Italy. Otherwise, they have unartfully dodged each other as they have darted around the region and the world promoting their opposing ideological views.

Lula’s global agenda is expansive. He wants Brazil to have a permanent United Nations Security Council seat. He plans for the country to take a leading role in climate change negotiations as he hosts the U.N. COP30 Climate Change Conference in Brazil next year. He has tried to insert himself as a mediator in the Ukraine conflict. And when BRICS—the political grouping that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa—moved to expand last year, Lula made sure to bring along Argentina under then-President Alberto Fernandez as one of its new members.

Milei withdrew Argentina from the BRICS expansion process as soon as he took office in December. That’s consistent with his desire to move the country away from China and closer to the United States. Besides that, he has not clearly outlined an international agenda for his country. But Milei definitely has an international agenda for himself. He has portrayed himself as an ally of Israel and Ukraine, a contrast to Latin America’s left-wing leaders who have opposed the former’s war in Gaza and mainly attempted to remain neutral on the latter’s fight against Russian aggression.

Ideologically, Milei is attempting to turn himself into a global icon for free market libertarianism, speaking at conferences in South America, the U.S. and Europe, and meeting with venture capital investors and social media stars. He uses strong rhetoric in favor of capitalism and against any form of what he views as socialism or Marxism. His relatively extreme views, which only appeal to a small minority of Argentine voters who comprise his base, get him wild cheers overseas.

Continue reading.

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Marc Murphy :: Drawn 6 years go today. It was rejected and called unfair and alarmist.

* * * *

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

June 16, 2025

Heather Cox Richardson

Jun 17, 2025

At a news conference today, acting U.S. attorney for the District of Minnesota Joseph H. Thompson, who was appointed by President Donald Trump just two weeks ago, said that Minnesota suspect Vance Boelter went to the homes of two more politicians than the two he eventually shot along with their spouses. One was on vacation with her family, and at another home, a police officer apparently scared him off.

Thompson said Boelter had “voluminous” writings that showed he had been planning the attacks for “quite some time.” “But,” Thompson added, “I have not seen anything involving some sort of political screed or manifesto that would clearly identify what motivated him. Obviously, his primary motive was to go out and murder people. They were all elected officials. They were all Democrats. Beyond that, I think it’s just way too speculative for anyone that’s reviewed these materials to know and to say what was motivating him in terms of ideology or specific issues.”

Zoe Sottile of CNN reported that Boelter is facing federal charges of two counts of stalking, two counts of murder, and two counts of firearms offenses. He is facing state charges of first-degree murder, second degree murder, and attempted murder.

MAGA loyalists have continued to radicalize in the wake of the shootings, spreading disinformation that blamed the violence on Democrats or joking about the event. Walker Orenstein of the Minnesota Star Tribune debunked the disinformation spread by MAGA loyalists, noting that Boelter was not close to Walz, who simply okayed his reappointment to a bipartisan board that then-governor Mark Dayton had put him on in 2016. According to his roommate, Boelter was a “strong supporter” of Trump.

Emily Anderson Stern and Robert Gehrke of the Salt Lake Tribune called out Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) for his behavior in the aftermath of the shootings. Lee joked about the killings and falsely blamed the violence on his political opponents, tying the shooting to Minnesota governor Tim Walz. Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) responded: “This was an incredible woman, her husband, her two kids—yesterday on Father’s Day, there was no Father’s Day for them. They lost both their parents…. This is not a laughing matter, and certainly what we’re seeing is an increase in violence, and this evil man who did this—this is not a joke.”

Of Lee’s behavior, influencer George Takei wrote: “Utah voters: Are these really your values? Mike Lee is the best you can do?” After Lee pinned one of his disturbing tweets to the top of his social media timeline, Tim Miller of The Bulwark wrote: “This is less of a political matter than a sign of deep mental illness.”

As of this afternoon, Trump had not called Walz, calling him “a terrible governor” and “a grossly incompetent person.”

Trump drew criticism of his own incompetence today at the meeting of the Group of Seven (G7) in Kananaskis, Alberta, in Canada. The G7 is a forum of democracies with advanced economies that includes Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as the European Union. During today’s meetings, Trump seemed to think the United Kingdom and the European Union were the same thing.

Trump also parroted Russian talking points, telling reporters: “The G7 used to be the G8. Barack Obama and a person named Trudeau didn't want to have Russia in, and I would say that that was a mistake, because I think you wouldn't have a war right now if you had Russia in, and you wouldn’t have a war right now if Trump were president four years ago.”

In fact, the members of the G7 kicked Russia out of the forum after Russian president Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in 2014. And former Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau didn’t take office until 2015.

On Friday, journalist Dean Blundell reported that Washington insiders and observers from abroad had noticed how rarely Trump appears in public and how often he falls asleep when he does, prompting speculation that he is not physically able to do the work of the presidency. Blundell suggested Trump’s team would look for a way to get the president out of the G7 early to avoid exposure.

After today’s meetings, at which it appears the U.S. was delaying a joint statement in which G7 members called for an end to the conflict between Israel and Iran, Trump posted on social media: “Iran should have signed the ‘deal’ I told them to sign,” although it was Trump who pulled out of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), the “Iran nuclear deal” that limited Iran’s nuclear program. He continued: “What a shame, and waste of human life. Simply stated, IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. I said it over and over again! Everyone should immediately evacuate Tehran!”

More than 9 million people live in Tehran, with more than 16 million in the metropolitan area.

Then Trump’s team announced the situation in the Middle East required the president to leave the G7 a day early.

Twelve minutes after his post about evacuating Tehran, Trump reposted a Newsmax story saying that Trump “deserves an A+ for his job performance so far,” and less than an hour later, he posted an attack on right-wing personality Tucker Carlson and then posted: “AMERICA FIRST means many GREAT things, including that fact that IRAN CAN NOT HAVE A NUCLEAR WEAPON. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Just before midnight, he posted an attack on California governor Gavin Newsom.

It’s unclear what Trump’s abrupt departure from the G7 indicates for events in the Middle East and U.S. involvement in them. As Brian O’Neill of The Contrarian noted, Trump had said he hoped to negotiate a deal with Iran, and indeed, talks were scheduled for Sunday in Oman when Israel launched its attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities on Friday. O’Neill notes that when Israel struck Iran last Friday without U.S. coordination, the Trump administration was left “scrambling to respond.”

Being sidelined in foreign affairs at the same time as the American people turned out in huge numbers to protest his administration and as his military parade fizzled shows Trump has less power than he tries to project.

How decisions are being made in the administration is unclear. Notably, after Trump wrote last Thursday that “changes are coming” in deportation orders because it made no sense to deport workers who had been here for a long time and were vital to farms, hotels, and restaurants, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) today reversed that decision.

Carol D. Leonnig, Natalie Allison, Marianne LeVine, and Lauren Kaori Gurley of the Washington Post reported that after Trump’s post and comments to reporters, a DHS official told agents to pause raids on agriculture, including meatpacking plants, as well as restaurants and hotels. But on Sunday, DHS leadership suggested a reversal was coming because, as the journalists write, “the White House did not support” the new policy. In a call this morning, officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told agents to continue immigration raids at the businesses Trump had said he was going to protect.

This shift makes it seem as if White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, a white nationalist who insists that the U.S. must deport a million immigrants this year, is determining White House policies, just as he did on the Signal chat about the military strikes on the Houthis in Yemen when his statement that Trump wanted a strike appeared to shut down any further debate of the question.

If Trump is leaving the work of the presidency to others, his family is certainly using the prestige of the presidency to make money. In what it says is in honor of the tenth anniversary of Trump’s trip down the Trump Tower escalator into presidential politics, the Trump Organization has launched a mobile phone service. As Nikki McCann Ramirez of Rolling Stone explains, the plan is essentially another licensing deal, with the disclaimer specifying that the service simply uses the Trump name after contracting with another provider.

The announcement claims that new made-in-America gold phones will be available in September, but as David Pierce of The Verge notes, the photoshopped image of the phone and the wonky specs on it, as well as the impossible promise to make them in America within three months, mean the phone “looks both bad and impossible.” The phone, too, is simply branded with the Trump name; the family business will not design or manufacture it.

The family was evidently in a hurry to get this venture up and running. Kelcee Griffis of Bloomberg reported that the Trump Organization only applied for the trademarks for it last Thursday.

LETTERS FROM AN AMERICAN

HEATHER COX RICHARDSON

[rjzimmerman]

Excerpt from this story from RMI:

1. Batteries Become Everybody’s Best Friend

Battery prices continue to drop and their capacity continues to rise. The cost of electric vehicle (EV) batteries are now about 60 percent what they were just five years ago. And around the world, batteries have become key components in solar-plus-storage microgrids, giving people access to reliable power and saving the day for communities this past hurricane season.

2. Americans Get Cheaper (and Cleaner) Energy

State public utility commissions and rural electric co-operatives around the country are taking steps to deliver better service for their customers that also lowers their rates. At the same time, real momentum is building to prevent vertically integrated utilities from preferencing their coal assets when there are cleaner and cheaper alternatives available.

3. A Sustainable Shipping Future Gets Closer

More than 50 leaders across the marine shipping value chain — from e-fuel producers to vessel and cargo owners, to ports and equipment manufacturers — signed a Call to Action at the UN climate change conference (COP29) to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission fuels. The joint statement calls for faster and bolder action to increase the use of zero and near-zero emissions fuel, investment in zero-emissions vessels, and global development of green hydrogen infrastructure, leaving no country behind.

4. Corporations Fly Cleaner

In April, 20 corporations, including Netflix, JPMorgan Chase, Autodesk, and more, committed to purchase about 50 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), avoiding 500,000 tons of CO2 emissions — equivalent to the emissions of 3,000 fully loaded passenger flights from New York City to London. SAF is made with renewable or waste feedstocks and can be used in today’s aircraft without investments to upgrade existing fleets and infrastructure.

5. More and More Places Go From Coal to Clean

Around the world, coal-fired power plants are closing down as communities switch to clean energy. From Chile to the Philippines to Minnesota coal-to-clean projects are creating new jobs, improving local economic development, and generating clean electricity. In September, Britain became the first G7 nation to stop generating electricity from coal — it’s turning its last coal-fired power plant into a low-carbon energy hub. And in Indonesia, the president vowed to retire all coal plants within 15 years and install 75 gigawatts of renewable energy.

6. Methane Becomes More Visible, and Easier to Mitigate

Methane — a super-potent greenhouse gas — got much easier to track thanks to the launch of new methane tracking satellites over the past year. In March, the Environmental Defense Fund launched MethaneSAT, the first for a non-governmental organization, and the Carbon Mapper Coalition soon followed with the launch of Tanager-1. By scanning the planet many times each day and identifying major methane leaks from orbit, these new satellites will put pressure on big emitters to clean up.

7. EVs Speed By Historic Milestones

This past year was the first time any country had more fully electric cars than gas-powered cars on the roads. It’s no surprise that this happened in Norway where electric cars now make up more than 90 percent of new vehicle sales. And in October, the United States hit a milestone, with over 200,000 electric vehicle charging ports installed nationwide.

8. Consumers Continue to Shift to Energy-Efficient Heat Pumps for Heating and Cooling

Heat pumps have outsold gas furnaces consistently since 2021. And while shipments of heating and cooling equipment fell worldwide in 2023, likely due to broad economic headwinds, heat pumps held on to their market share through. And over the past 12 months, heat pumps outsold conventional furnaces by 27 percent. Shipments are expected to continue increasing as states roll out home efficiency and appliance rebate programs already funded by the Inflation Reduction Act – worth up to $10,000 per household in new incentives for heat pump installations. Link: Tracking the Heat Pump & Water Heater Market in the United States – RMI

9. China Reaches Its Renewable Energy Goal, Six Years Early

China added so much renewable energy capacity this year, that by July it had surpassed its goal of having 1,200 gigawatts (GW) of clean energy installed by 2030. Through September 2024, China installed some 161 GW of new solar capacity and 39 GW of new wind power, according to China’s National Energy Administration (NEA). China is deploying more solar, wind, and EVs than any other country, including the United States, which is — by comparison — projected to deploy a record 50 GW of solar modules by the end of 2024.

10. De-carbonizing Heavy Industry

For steel, cement, chemicals and other heavy industries, low-carbon technologies and climate-friendly solutions are not only increasingly available but growing more affordable. To speed this process, Third Derivative, RMI’s climate tech accelerator, launched the Industrial Innovation Cohorts to accelerate the decarbonization of steel, cement, and chemicals. Also on the rise: clean hydrogen hubs — powered by renewable energy — designed to supply green hydrogen to chemical, steel, and other heavy industries to help them shift to low-carbon production processes.

[mariacallous]

MUNICH—In the whirlwind month since US President Donald Trump reassumed office, no week has featured more intensive activity to negotiate an end to Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine than this past one. 

In recent days, US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth made his first visit to Europe and Trump spoke by phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. US Vice President JD Vance subsequently met with Zelenskyy at the Munich Security Conference, which also featured appearances by presidential envoys Ric Grenell, Keith Kellogg, and Steve Witkoff. Then came the news of Witkoff, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz heading to Saudi Arabia this week to start negotiations with the Russians on ending the war.

Controversial statements by Trump in Washington and Hegseth in Europe have prompted many observers to conclude that Trump will move these talks in a direction more sympathetic to the Kremlin’s preferences. 

These include Trump’s remarks that: 

he might meet with Putin three times (in Saudi Arabia, Washington, and Moscow), along with his unclear response to a question about whether he considers Zelenskyy a full negotiating partner;

the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO was the principal reason for the outbreak of the war; 

it is possible that Ukraine might at some point become part of Russia; and 

it might be time for Russia to rejoin the Group of Seven (G7).

Added to this were Hegseth’s statements that it was unrealistic to talk about Ukraine joining NATO or regaining its territory from Russia as part of a peace deal, and ruling out the use of US troops in vouchsafing Ukrainian security. 

Another factor was an apparent change in job description for Kellogg, a retired US Army lieutenant general. Months ago, he was announced as the special presidential envoy for Russia and Ukraine. But this past week it became clear that his responsibilities will cover just the Ukrainian and European angles of the peace talks, while Witkoff, the special presidential envoy for the Middle East, will also handle the Russian side of the talks. It may not be a coincidence that Moscow was not enthusiastic about Kellogg’s role in the negotiations. 

Taken together, these developments appear to constitute a 180-degree turn from the approach Trump took less than a month ago, when he suggested that Putin was the principal obstacle to peace and threatened sanctions and tariffs to force him to negotiate a durable settlement to the war. 

But that is not the end of the story.

In the same press conference where Trump failed to mention Zelenskyy as a full negotiating partner, he said the United States will continue providing aid to Ukraine, because otherwise “Putin would say he won. … And, frankly, we will go as long as we have to go, because we are not gonna let the other happen.”

In addition, the day after Hegseth’s remarks, Vance stated in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that Ukraine must enjoy “sovereign independence” and broached the use of sanctions and military action, if necessary, to pressure Putin to make peace.

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Trump dispatched US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to Kyiv to begin negotiating a deal that would send US arms to Ukraine in exchange for access to its large deposits of rare-earth and critical minerals. The Bessent mission did not yield an agreement, reportedly because the United States was asking for too much control over Ukraine’s resources without providing security guarantees in return, which is not surprising in the opening round of negotiations. But these talks will continue because the United States needs reliable sources of critical minerals. It is significant that the transactional Trump sees a concrete business and security prize for engaging Ukraine and ensuring its long-term survival and sovereignty.

So where will Trump policy on Moscow’s aggression in Ukraine go next? The Trump team has yet to officially put forward a peace plan, but for more than two months it has talked publicly about four elements to achieve a quick and sustainable peace. Two of those elements require compromise by Ukraine: territorial concessions (at least de facto) and at least a twenty-year moratorium on joining NATO. And two require compromise by Russia: a major arming of Ukraine and the establishment of a demilitarized zone between Russian and Ukrainian forces occupied by European forces. Both measures would help deter future Russian aggression.

Despite the Trump team’s twists and turns regarding the war in recent weeks, this four-part proposal still seems to be the best way to understand its policy. And if this policy is rigorously implemented, it could produce a durable peace. 

Encouragingly, the conference did feature a serious conversation, on stage and in the corridors, about what a European force in Ukraine might look like. This is notable because such a force is essential to achieve a durable peace within the framework Trump has adumbrated. The US need for the Europeans to play that role might also prompt the Trump team to reconsider its current position that Europe should not be represented in peace negotiations—a position that was not well-received in Munich.

It is safe to say, however, that the Trump team’s appearances at the Munich Security Conference did not persuade most participants that the administration has a clear, consistent approach to the war—or that its approach can succeed.  

[olympeline]

Now my Hetalia passion has flared up again to early 2010s levels I’m feeling the itch to get back into writing fanfiction…which I really shouldn’t because I’m so bad at finishing things unless they’re one-shots 😂

EITHER WAY I’ve got an idea for a FrUK fic where Arthur’s magic gets so fed up with his centuries of endless tsundere posturing that it rebels against him and starts showering Francis with embarrassing affection. Because magically powerful but inept wizard Arthur is always fun and “character A is in denial about their love for character B, but it comes out through their magic anyway” is a trope I LOVE

It starts small. Arthur tries to hand Francis a pen and it poofs into a red rose when it touches Francis’s fingers. Arthur is flustered but manages to brush it off (Arthur’s Death By Mortification level: 5%)

After a brief scuffle over who gets the last chair with padding (“HAHA SUCK IT, ASSTOWN FRENCHY!!” - the former nation of Prussia) Francis tears his favorite silk shirt. He bemoans it to Arthur…only to find it’s suddenly fixed itself. Arthur denies all responsibility and says France just made a mistake as usual. France is adamant he didn’t (Arthur’s DBM level: 15%)

Francis, already one of the world’s prime gourmets, invites the G7 to dinner and his cooking jumps up another notch to stratosphere levels after Arthur takes his first bite. Everyone notices (Arthur’s DBM level: 30%)

Whenever Arthur visits France the country is blessed by mild winters, springs that would stun a poet, glorious summers, and radiant autumns. Meteorologists are baffled but no one is complaining! Except Arthur. The UK meanwhile suffers constant dark, glowering skies and sulky storms (Arthur’s DBM level: 50%)

Francis and Arthur stroll through the French countryside, Francis points out a historical excavation sight, and oh look what do you know: they just happen to pull out some ancient treasure that will be a crown jewel of the Lourve. Francis ecstatic (perhaps it was even something he lost centuries ago). Arthur quickly excuses himself and runs home (Arthur’s DBM level: 70%)

Pre-meeting, Arthur overhears Francis sighing that the Italy brothers are a shoe-in to take the world prize for best cheese this year (because that’s a real contest that France and Italy have an annual slap fight over) since the French cheese makers have had a bad year. Only oh no they actually haven’t! Seems there was a late entry that blew the judges socks off and gets France another gold. Francis is ecstatic again…and getting a little suspicious by this point. Arthur hides in a closet and wishes nations could know the sweet release of death (Arthur’s DBM level: 85%)

Francis brings up the Olympics at a World Conference and Romano, still sore over the cheese, loudly remarks that of course France will top the medal board with England “helping” so much with his “fucking Harry Potter wizard BS.” Suddenly all eyes on Arthur, France included. Kill him. Kill him now (Arthur’s DBM level: about 5 million)

Arthur when he gets home: STOP FUCKING DOING THESE THINGS FUCK YOU

Arthur’s magic: Nah fuck you, man *Flips him off twice and gives Paris another tourism boost*

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

OPEDS

Is it time to go?

By Howard Sackstein

Today, the South African Jewish community numbers but one third of what it did at its peak. Though our numbers have shrunk, the vibrancy of our community has remained intact.

In the 1970s and 1980s they used to joke, “When the Jews go; it’s time to leave, when the Portuguese go; it’s too late.”

The clock ticked, and stopped on 7 October 2023.

The behaviour of the South African government was nothing short of betrayal. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s failure to condemn the 7 October massacre; his failure to reach out to the families of the two South Africans massacred in the Hamas genocide; his failure to act on the two South Africans kidnapped by Hamas; and his smirk blame of Israel for deserving the attack two weeks after the massacre, while wearing a Palestinian keffiyeh, will forever be a symbol of his Judas moment.

In American politics, they talk of a “tortoise on a lamppost”. Sometimes, the tortoise mistakenly believes that it got onto the lamppost by itself.

Ramaphosa’s spineless leadership has allowed his jihadist foreign minister, Dr Naledi Pandor, and her mujahidin director general, Zane Dangor, to direct foreign policy without intervention. Pandor mislead Parliament by claiming that there were no beheadings of babies and that Israel had attacked the Al-Ahli Arab Hospital. With no South African diplomats in Israel and Al Jazeera as her only source of information, Pandor meanders in the dark. Her ignorance, however, is self-inflicted. Her department was invited to view the 47-minute video of Hamas-captured atrocities, and declined to attend.

Hamas informs us that Pandor telephoned it to congratulate it on the success of its “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack on Israel. Pandor claimed that she was merely offering humanitarian assistance, but refused to release the “call-out” transcript of the conversation. As a convert to Islam, Pandor uses her own zealotry to pursue a pro-Hamas agenda to the detriment of South Africa.

In December, Hamas visited South Africa, was feted in our Parliament, and celebrated in the African National Congress’ (ANC’s) offices in Johannesburg. When Ramaphosa finally met the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, he sprinted to issue a statement and later, while meeting the Muslim community, stated that they had issued a statement as “we’re concerned there are distortions”. Given that the president’s statement was issued first, this both makes no logical sense and effectively paints the official representative body of Jews in South Africa as liars.

It’s a clash of civilizations. Jews have traditionally ascribed to the values of Western liberal democracy. In the ANC’s hard-left, revolutionary world view, Western interests must be opposed everywhere – in Ukraine, in Morocco, and in Israel. South Africa believes that it must be the vanguard liberation movement celebrating the imagined successes of Iran, Cuba, Venezuela, and Russia. Pandor is currently attending the 7th Africa-Cuba Solidarity Conference in White River.

But actions have consequences. The West is becoming increasingly disenchanted by South Africa’s antics. Last year, South Africa’s invitation to the G7 Summit didn’t materialise, and the currency has lost 50% of its value under Ramaphosa. The renewal of the African Growth and Opportunity Act looks increasingly precarious together with the approximately 250 000 jobs it created. South Africa is increasingly isolated from those countries which could help it the most.

Ramaphosa had a choice to turn South Africa into a Singapore or a Sudan. He chose Sudan.

[vague-humanoid]

As the Group of Seven summit wrapped up Friday in Italy, climate defenders condemned G7 leaders for their continued failure to take meaningful action to combat the worsening planetary emergency.

Taking aim at what critics called the G7 leaders' largely empty pledge to undertake "concrete steps to address the triple crisis of climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss," 350.org U.S. campaigns manager Candice Fortin lamented that "yet another meeting ends without real commitments to revert the situation rich countries like the U.S. put us in."

"As COP29 approaches and the world deals with worsening climate impacts, we can't afford to waste more time," Fortin said, referring to the United Nations Climate Change Conference scheduled to take place in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan—a major fossil fuel-producing nation—in November. COP29 is set to be chaired by a former oil executive.

"If the U.S. wants to pride itself on being a 'world leader,' it needs to show how it will pay its climate debt to climate-vulnerable countries that bear the most significant climate impacts without the necessary funds for adaptation," Fortin added.

Despite historic levels of forced displacement due to armed conflict, Group of Seven member countries have increased their military expenditures to record highs while they slash spending on humanitarian aid for people affected by wars that these powerful nations often started or stoked, an analysis published Friday revealed.

According to Birmingham, England-based Islamic Relief Worldwide, military spending by G7 members Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States—which wrapped up Friday in Puglia, Italy—rose to $1.2 trillion last year, the overwhelming bulk of that amount attributable to the U.S.' $886.3 billion Pentagon budget.

[gvan42]

Trump Humiliated Again... He was awkwardly interrupted by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney during a press conference at the G7 summit, hosted by Canada. https://gvan42.blogspot.com/2022/07/vote-4-democrats.html Mr Carney intervened, declaring the press briefing over. He said: "That's it, thank you. If you don't mind, I'm just exercising my role, if you will, as G7 chair."

[crescent-coral-base]

Well, it looks like Chancellor Shitzenpantz has cut short his participation in the G7 Conference and is returning to DC.

So, is it due to Iran, low stamina due to advanced age, sundowning at noon due to dementia, or a massive dose of butthurt on the world stage?

[bllsbailey]

EU May Shift from Russian to U.S. Gas Imports Following Trump's Victory, Says European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, told reporters on Friday that the European Union (EU) is now considering replacing Russian LNG imports for American LNG imports, following Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential win.

Von der Leyen “gives political guidance to the Commission, calls and chairs meetings of the college of the Commissioners, leads the Commission’s work in implementing EU policies, takes part in G7 meetings, [and] contributes to major debates both in the European Parliament and between EU governments in the Council of the European Union,” according to the EU’s official website.

“We still get a lot of LNG from Russia, and why not replace it [with] American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices,” said von der Leyen.

She also said that when 47th President-elect Donald Trump returns to office as president of the United States in January, the EU will approach trade policies by engaging, examining shared interests, and negotiating.

“Common interests are, for example—this is one topic that we touched upon, I would not say discuss—it’s the whole topic of LNG,” she told reporters in Budapest.

Since the Russian-Ukrainian war commenced in 2022, the European Union has already slightly increased its purchases of American LNG, but it hasn’t been able to fully cut its energy connection with Moscow.

Additionally, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized that there can be areas of agreement with Trump’s successor in the U.S. government.

“From this point of view, I think the foundations are there for developing a common policy,” Scholz told a press conference in Budapest after leaders’ talks.

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[protoslacker]

Statement by Antonio Tajani, Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Italy in his capacity as Chair of the G7 Foreign Ministers’ Meetingat the Munich Security Conference (17 February 2024) PDF via Japanese MInstry of Affairs.

Paul Woodward noting that no U.S. news outlet has reported this comnuniqué seems significant. There's the poverty of reporting and is the glaring contridiction between what the G7 says and what is done. But as well is the implication that informed publics are besides the point.

[rickchung]

Rumours (dirs. Guy Maddin, Evan & Galen Johnson) x VIFF 2024.

Set at a Group of Seven (G7) conference gathering the less-than-esteemed political leaders of the world's richest nations, Maddin and the Johnsons use the intergovernmental economic forum to mine plenty of goofy satirical material under the guise of writing a joint provisional statement after an unspecified global crisis. Starring an accented Cate Blanchett as the Chancellor of Germany, she and her international cohorts bumble through a surreal treatise of political collaboration after everyone else disappears and they get lost in a German forest. The Winnipeger directors present a glossily-lit soap opera satire more reminiscent of a summer camp slasher flick than a serious government summit, but that seems like precisely the point.

Screened at the 2024 Vancouver International Film Festival as part of the Special Presentations series.

Screening at the VIFF Centre from Nov. 18–21.