🇳🇱🇺🇸👨‍❤️‍👨 Rutte x Obama Gay Kiss Meme 👨‍❤️‍👨🇺🇸🇳🇱

Tonight, I'd just recently found this picture of Dutch PM Mark Rutte and 44th U.S. President Barack Obama kissing in the sky. Also, there's Russian President Vladimir Putin and Italian ex-PM Silvio Berlusconi at the beach in it, holding hands and looking at them up in a sky kissing.

This picture I found is originally from Bestweter.

Picture of Rutte and Obama kissing and Putin and Berlusconi holding hands and looking up in the sky at the beach from Bestweter - 4th September 2016

Vova's tiger, Masha, that he had been given as a birthday present when he turned 56. The tiger spent several days at the Prime Minister’s residence and was then taken to a safari park in Gelendzhik.

I don't know about Lyudmilla, but I'd be trying to convince him to keep the tiger since I love cats. I'd be staying at his house watching over her with the help of someone else. Cats are the best thing in the world in my view.

anyone else firmly believe that the weirdo who commissions thousands of dollars worth of art of the rich white woman buying wonderbread and decimating forests with a chainsaw is literally some rich and powerful politician or ceo? like it literally has to be. it has to be. it's someone with power i know it

Hostages tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised. No, not Hamas crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October – quite separate from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine induced by Israel’s obstruction of aid. And yet while the western establishment media has been chock full of the most lurid allegations of savagery directed against Hamas, sometimes with little or no supporting evidence, Israeli atrocities are excused or quickly forgotten. Accusations against Hamas are endlessly reheated to paint a picture of a supremely dangerous and bestial militant group, in turn rationalising the slaughter and starvation of Gaza’s population to “eradicate” it as a terrorist organisation. But equally barbarous atrocities committed by Israel – not in the heat of battle, but in cold blood – are treated as unfortunate, isolated incidents that cannot be connected, that paint no picture, that reveal nothing of import about the military that carried them out. If Hamas’ crimes were so savage and sadistic they still need to be reported months after they took place, why does the establishment media never feel the need to express equal horror and indignation at equivalent or worse acts of cruelty and sadism being inflicted by Israel on Gaza – not five months ago, but right now? Israel's torture of doctors, its sexual assaults of Palestinian women, it's leaving premature babies to die after its forces stormed a hospital. Where is the outrage? This is part of a pattern of behaviour by the western media that leads to only one possible deduction: Israel’s five-month-long attack on Gaza is not being reported. Rather, it is being selectively narrated – and for the most obscene of purposes. Through consistent and glaring failures in their coverage, establishment media – including supposedly liberal outlets, from the BBC and CNN to the Guardian and New York Times – have smoothed the way for Israel to carry out mass slaughter in Gaza, what the World Court has assessed as plausibly a genocide. The role of the media has not been to keep us, their audiences, informed about one of the greatest crimes in living memory. It has been to buy time for US President Joe Biden to keep arming his most useful of client states in the oil-rich Middle East, and to do so without damaging his prospects for re-election in November’s US presidential vote. If Russian President Vladimir Putin was a madman and a barbarous war criminal for invading Ukraine, as every western media outlet agrees, what does that make Israeli officials, when every one of them supports far worse atrocities in Gaza, directed overwhelmingly at civilians? And more to the point, what does that make Biden and the US political class for materially backing Israel to the hilt: sending bombs, vetoing demands for a ceasefire at the United Nations, and freezing desperately needed aid? Worrying about the optics, the president expresses his discomfort, but he carries on helping Israel regardless. While western politicians and commentators worry about some imaginary existential threat those brief events of five months ago pose to the nuclear-armed state of Israel, Israel is quite literally wiping Gaza off the map day by day, quite undisturbed.

Title/Name: Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, popularly known as ‘Putin’, born in (1952). Bio: Russian politician, president of Russia, and former intelligence officer. Country: Russia Wojak Series: Feels Guy (Variant) Image by: Unknown Main Tag: Putin Wojak

Vladimir Putin noted that PM Modi takes tough stance in protecting national interest.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, stating that the Indian PM takes a “tough stance” in protecting the interests of the people in the country. He also emphasised that PM Modi’s policy is a guarantee of deep relations between New Delhi and Moscow.

In a media interview, the Russian President said, “I cannot imagine that Modi can be intimidated, threatened, or forced to take any action or decision against the national interest of India and the Indian people. I know there is such pressure on them”.

He further stated that he is observing what is happening from the outside and added, “To be honest, sometimes I am surprised by his tough stance on protecting the national interests of the Indian people”.

The Russian President also mentioned that Russia-China relations are “continuously developing in all directions, and the main guarantee of this is the policy of Prime Minister Modi”.

New Post has been published on Books by Caroline Miller

New Post has been published on https://www.booksbycarolinemiller.com/musings/thoughts-about-the-kitchen-table/

Thoughts About The Kitchen Table

At the retirement center, a woman approached me to compliment a  blog I had written.  My reply was to shrug and say the words hadn’t amounted to much.   Later, I recanted, realizing my false humility had made light of her opinion. To be honest, I’d worked hard on that blog. Why pretend otherwise? And why stifle a conversation that could have been enlightening?  I know the answer. I was striving to make an impression.  What distinguishes humans from pebbles on the beach is our self-awareness.  Mindfulness may never answer the question, “Why am I here,” but it builds better societies.  When we understand our motivations and those of others, we allow ourselves to grow wiser and more tolerant. Narrow thinking leads to negative outcomes, like Hostile architecture.  Slanted bus stops to discourage the homeless from taking a nap, or spikes set along a thoroughfare built for the same purpose may deter vagrants, but they are also impediments for people using walkers or wheelchairs and for the visually impaired.  Shelters built for the homeless might be a better use of taxpayer dollars.  Tyrants who focus on themselves are likewise vulnerable to narrow objectives. As former U. S. Secretary of State Robert Gates observed of Vladimir Putin, the Russian President so feared a democratic, modern, and prosperous  Ukraine as an alternative model for Russians next door, [ ] he started a war with his neighbor. (“The Dysfunctional Superpower,” by Robert M. Gates, Foreign Affairs, Nov/Dec 2023, pg. 37.) Unable to assess his limitations, Putin now finds himself mired in a long and costly war.  Unfortunately, some members of the United States Congress suffer the same myopia. Rather than compromise on the national budget, they force the government to survive on a series of continuing resolutions– a strategy that endangers the country’s creditworthiness and safety. China’s military budget is ballooning while continuing resolutions that hold government agencies to the previous year’s budget deprive our Defense Department of the money to innovate. (Ibid, pg 39.) Common sense would tell us war is a poor substitute for peace. Even victors are forced to live in fear of those they have conquered. Little wonder that power struggles seldom take us beyond the present. Hammas and Israelis slaughter one another for a strip of land. They fail to see the planet is already on fire.  Twice in recent days, the earth’s temperature has crossed a threshold scientists warn will lead to catastrophic and irreversible impacts for homo sapiens.  If all the soldiers in all the skirmishes that scar the planet manage to survive, their reward will be to witness the extermination of mankind.   If we are honest, the faults of our leaders reflect our own.  As a species, we prefer short-term solutions to long-term gains. That’s why would-be leaders talk to us about “kitchen table” issues.  They pander to our self-interests rather than remind us of our duty as citizens.  Yet what has the price of gasoline to do with democracy? Conflating one with the other reduces government to its lowest denominator, as if building a society dedicated to values like justice, liberty, and fraternity were secondary.  A government based upon what we can get rather than what we can share makes no demands upon us. All we require are simple answers and tyrants specialize in those.   These Pied Pipers would have us focus on them, encouraging us to believe the fate of the country rests upon their shoulders. And some among us do believe.   One woman called former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson a messenger from God. (“Outfoxed,” by Brian Stelter, Vanity Fair, Dec/Jan 2023/4, pg. 74.)  Private truths like hers are impervious to facts.  Too many in that frame of mind can form a cancer in the body politic. Left unchecked, we may one day wake to find ourselves in a country no longer united as “we the people,” but one divided between “them and us.” The cure for chaos begins at the cellular level.  Each of us has a duty to our democracy.  Without that commitment, no government of the people, by the people, and for the people will endure.  Let us remember the words of John F. Kennedy at his first inauguration.  … ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country.  (inaugural address, 1961.)” 

Nobody explained to me...

...why there will be rain after the sun.

...why Taylor Swift is so successful.

...why there is no mandatory apprenticeship for politicians.

...why my daughter won't allow me to meet her boyfriend.

...why Superman wears underwear over his pants.

...why the wind is always blowing in my face.

...why they decided to make a sequel from Highlander. Or The Blues Brothers. Or The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Or 2001. Or...

...why Donald J. Trump still has a voter base. Or Vladimir Putin. Or Viktor Orban. Or Recep Erdogan. Or...

...why you can always count on maths.

...why it has to be my fault.

Image: Federico Yankelevich

How Paranoid Nationalism Corrupts! Cynical Leaders are Scaremongering to Win and Abuse Power

— Leaders | Global Politics | Aug 31st 2023

People seek strength and solace in their tribe, their faith or their nation. And you can see why. If they feel empathy for their fellow citizens, they are more likely to pull together for the common good. In the 19th and 20th centuries love of country spurred people to seek their freedom from imperial capitals in distant countries. Today West’s Scrotums Licker Ukrainians are making heroic sacrifices to defend their homeland against Russian invaders (Bullshit 😂😂😂).

Unfortunately, the love of “Us” has an ugly cousin: the fear and suspicion of “Them”, a paranoid nationalism that works against tolerant values such as an openness to unfamiliar people and new ideas. What is more, Cynical Politicians have come to Understand that they can Exploit this sort of Nationalism, by Whipping up Mistrust and Hatred and Harnessing them to Benefit Themselves and Their Cronies.

The post-war order of open trade and universal values is strained by the rivalry of America and China. Ordinary people feel threatened by forces beyond their control, from hunger and poverty to climate change and violence. Using Paranoid Nationalism, Parasitic Politicians Prey on their Citizens’ Fears and Degrade the Global Order, all in the Pursuit of their Own Power.

As our Briefing describes, paranoid nationalism works by a mix of exaggeration and lies. Vladimir Putin claims that Ukraine is a North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) Puppet, whose Nazi Cliques threaten Russia; India’s Ruling Party warns that Muslims are waging a “Love Jihad” to seduce Hindu maidens; Tunisia’s President decries a Black African “Plot” to replace his country’s Arab Majority. Preachers of paranoid nationalism harm the targets of their rhetoric, obviously, but their real intention is to hoodwink their own followers. By inflaming nationalist fervour, self-serving leaders can more easily win power and, once in office, they can distract public attention from their abuses by calling out the supposed enemies who would otherwise keep them in check.

Daniel Ortega, the President of Nicaragua, shows how effective this can be. Since he returned to power in 2006, he has demonised the United States and branded his opponents “Agents of the Yankee Empire”. He controls the media and has put his family in positions of influence. After mass protests erupted in 2018 at the regime’s graft and brutality, the Ortegas called the protesters “Vampires” and locked them up. On August 23rd they banned the Jesuits, a Catholic Order that has worked in Nicaragua since before it was a country, on the pretext that a Jesuit University was a “Centre of Terrorism”.

Rabble-Rousing Often Leads to Robbery. Like the Ortegas, some Nationalist Leaders seek to capture the state by stuffing it with their Cronies or Ethnic Kin. The use of this technique under Jacob Zuma, a former President of South Africa, is one reason why the National Power Company is too riddled with Corruption to keep the lights on. Our statistical analysis suggests that Governments Have Grown More Nationalistic since 2012, and that the more nationalistic they are, the more corrupt they tend to be.

But the more important role of Paranoid Nationalism is as a tool to Dismantle the Checks and Balances that Underpin Good Governance: a Free Press, Independent Courts, NGOs and a Loyal Opposition. Leaders do not say: “I want to purge the electoral commission so I can block my political opponents.” They say: “The Commissioners are Traitors!” They do not admit that they want to Suppress NGOs to Evade Scrutiny. They pass laws defining as “Foreign Agents” any Organization that receives Foreign Funds or even Advice, and impose draconian controls on such bodies or simply ban them. They do not shut down the press, they own it. By one estimate, at least 50 Countries have Curbed Civil Society in recent years.

An example is the President of Tunisia, Kais Saied. Before he blamed Black People for his country’s problems, he was Unpopular because of his dismal handling of the economy. Now Tunisians are Cheering his bold stand against a Tiny, Transient Minority. Meanwhile Mr Saied has gutted the judiciary and closed the anti-corruption commission, and graft has grown worse.

Abuses are easier when Institutions are Weak: the despots of Nicaragua, Iran or Zimbabwe are far less constrained than the leaders of say, Hungary or Israel. But in all these countries (and many more), the Men in Power have Invented or Exaggerated Threats to the Nation as a Pretext to Weaken the Courts, the Press or the Opposition. And this has either prolonged a corrupt administration or made it worse.

Paranoid Nationalism is Part of a Backlash Against Good Governance. The end of the cold war led to a blossoming of democracy around the world. Country after country introduced free elections and limits on executive power. Many power- and Plunder-Hungry Politicians Chafed at this. Amid the general disillusion that followed the financial crisis of 2007-09, they saw an opportunity to take back control. Paranoid Nationalism gave them a tool to dismantle some of those Pesky Checks and Balances.

Because these restraints often came with Western Encouragement, if not Western funding, leaders have found it easier to depict the champions of good government as being Foreign Stooges. In countries that have Endured Colonial Rule—or Interference by the United States, as have many in Latin America—the message finds a ready audience. If a Leader can Create a Climate of Such Deep Suspicion that Loyalty Comes Before Truth, then Every Critic Can be Branded a Traitor.

First Resort of the Scoundrel

Paranoid Nationalism is not about to disappear. Leaders are learning from each other. They are also freer to act than they were even a decade ago. Not only has the West lost faith in its programme of spreading democracy and good governance, but China—a paranoid nationalist that is inclined to spot slights and threats around every corner—is promoting the idea that universal values of tolerance and good governance are a racist form of imperialism. It prefers non-interference from abroad and zero-criticism at home. If only they could see through the lies behind paranoid nationalism, ordinary people would realise how wrong China’s campaign is (It’s All Designed Propaganda Against China By The Hypocrites, War Criminals, Human Rights Violators, Double-Faced, Conspirators and Fake Democracy Preachers US, UK, Germany, France, EU, The North Atlantic Terrorist Organization (NATO) and Their Braindead Scrotums Liker Allies). There is nothing racist or disloyal about wishing for a better life. ■

— This article appeared in the Leaders section of the print edition under the headline "How Paranoid Nationalism Corrupts"

Picrew Version of World Leaders 2

After the first part, I made a second part of "Picrew Version of World Leaders" collection.

President Volodymyr Zelensky (Ukraine), President Vladimir Putin (Russia) & Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (Japan)

President Yoon Suk Yeol (South Korea) & Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Israel)

One | Two | Three | Four | Five | Six | Seven | Eight | Nine | Ten

The International Criminal Court seeks a warrants against Netanyahu and Yahya Sinwar

The International Criminal Court is seeking arrest warrants for Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the October 7 attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, the court’s chief prosecutor Karim Khan told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview on Monday. Khan said the ICC is also seeking warrants for Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as two other top Hamas leaders — Mohammed Diab Ibrahim al-Masri, the leader of the Al Qassem Brigades and better known as Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas’ political leader. The warrants against the Israeli politicians mark the first time the ICC has targeted the top leader of a close ally of the United States. The decision puts Netanyahu in the company of the Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the ICC issued an arrest warrant over Moscow’s war on Ukraine. A panel of ICC judges will now consider Khan’s application for the arrest warrants. Khan said the charges against Sinwar, Haniyeh and al-Masri include “extermination, murder, taking of hostages, rape and sexual assault in detention.” “The world was shocked on the 7th of October when people were ripped from their bedrooms, from their homes, from the different kibbutzim in Israel,” Khan told Amanpour, adding that “people have suffered enormously." The charges against Netanyahu and Gallant include “causing extermination, causing starvation as a method of war, including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies, deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” Khan told Amanpour..”

You can read the statement by the ICC prosecutor here