Petty gripes and some more interesting events
Just below the radar
Here’s a first in a series of “random stuff on the internet” which I found interesting but does not rise to the level of a piece on geopolitics.
Unlike regular articles, the “Quirks in Media” ones will not have a Sources list at the end. However, here you’ll get to note some of the wider sources which inform my regular pieces. Mileage will vary.
Alexander Mercouris discusses [vid] a little spat between the UK and France over Brexit and EU/UK border controls between Ireland and Northern Ireland.
“Natylie's Place: Understanding Russia” comments that the US’s Council on Foreign Relations publicity arm, Foreign Policy, has published a piece by an undergraduate in Mathematics from a university in Tennessee as a commentary on the Russian President which lacks a little credulity
A collaboration between Matt Taibbi’s “TK News” and Ford Fisher’s roving cameras have published a excellent video showing the latest conflict between Indigenous Peoples and allies in the US and the fossil fuel industry over an expansion of the Line 3 pipeline from the Canadian Tar (Pits) Sands
Spats between bought out “The Young Turks” and actual journalists continue [vid] following the hilarious brain fade by TYT attacking Aaron Mate over his excellent reporting on the Douma Deception. They haven’t reported on it because US political control of a UN organisation is unimportant.
Richard Medhurst does an interesting dive [vid] into the economic/political collapse in Lebanon
Meanwhile the narrative, counter-narrative and counter-counter-narrative jungle is in full flight over the small amount of substance contained in the 70 paragraph G7 press release.
To inspire your confidence in the G7 leadership I quote their first 4 sentences. I have italicised the odd phrase to suggest the reader think about what they actually mean. This is a fruitful waste of time:
We, the leaders of the Group of Seven, met in Cornwall on 11-13 June 2021 determined to beat COVID-19 and build back better. We remembered everyone who has been lost to the pandemic and paid tribute to those still striving to overcome it. Inspired by their example of collaboration and determination, we gathered united by the principle that brought us together originally, that shared beliefs and shared responsibilities are the bedrock of leadership and prosperity. Guided by this, our enduring ideals as free open societies and democracies, and by our commitment to multilateralism, we have agreed a shared G7 agenda for global action to:
(do stuff)
PS: who struck out “rules based international order” from the intro?