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 including Damien Guerot of France, who has become known as "Bollard Man" 

Hats off to Mr. Guerot for choosing to get involved. Good citizens with bollards and nerve can be effective with little risk of harm to innocents nearby, as opposed to the putative good guy with some a gun. And hats off to the Police Officer who stopped the man with the knife, a trained police person having a weapon like that makes sense to be, more so than some random wannabe hero that might not have the ability to handle the stress of a situation like the one at this shopping mall.

says only the island's people can decide their future.

The above reinforces the notion that Taiwan is a sovereign democracy, Xi and the CCP must be frightened that freedom exists so close by where citizens can vote for the leaders of their choice. Hopefully the CCP won't ape its partner the warmongering Russia Federation and invade Taiwan. The CCP should focus on the many problems within its own border, and stop threatening sovereign states in the Indo-Pacific region or anywhere else.

father of the teenager that stabbed an Assyrian bishop during a church service in Sydney said he saw no signs of radicalism,

If it's true that most children take on the beliefs of their parents, then perhaps the father was not able to believe that that his son had radical beliefs, because the father might not be able to accept his own beliefs were radical.

@bassfish: finally, Emanuel is doing something right

Do you think Emanual's getting instructions from duly elected US President Biden.Or are the Republicans, in name only, still claiming it's some shapeshifting mass known to them as the 'president in exile' pulling strings from th swamps of Florida. LOL and ... that would be...

e male attacker traveled to the church, far from his home, with a knife. 

Anther insecure male, that for whatever reason felt compelled to carry a weapon with him. What is it with males who cannot leave home without carrying a weapon like a knife or gun? Because the law allows it does not seem like a very good reason. Of course the attacker could have been a sushi chef going to a new job, or he could have been, not just insecure, but mentally ill. But then I think people that can't leave home without carrying a weapon, probably are mentally ill.

@J101: P.S. I wonder, what Sleeping Donni was dreaming about. Any ideas?

Probably his next scam, or perhaps what he'll say in his next rant on his blog, knowing it's leaking money like everything he's involved in. And who to attack on his money losing blog, plus maybe beg his cult and billionaire backers to send him more of their money, promising the latter even bigger tax breaks.

A political motivated show trial. It makes a mockery of US justice system.

The above a parrot of the minority and their media that believe the cult leader can do nothing wrong, which stands in stark contrast with those, probably the majority, again polls don't count, that believe no one, not even a narcissistic psychopath should be above the law just because he had a rich daddy and was raised and has long lived as a privileged member of the elite establishment.

Mental illness has ben repeatedly mentioned, but I think anyone (perhaps other than someone in a trade that requires knives) carrying a knife in public probably has mental issues, those carrying guns, especially something like a semi-automatic hand gun, definitely have mental issues, regardless of what laws might allow in some countries. Carrying a lethal weapon in public is a sign of mental illness to me, and has little to do with 'freedom', except perhaps in the minds of the mentally ill.

 offered a political lifeline 

The Don, showing his gangster background, making an offer his sycophants cannot refuse, the Republican Party is a cult/ cabal that has forgotten about the country and is instead is looking out for what benefits their fraudster-in-chief and the rapidly declining fortunes daddy left him, he's so broke he's for sale to the highest bidder, whichever nationality. How long until Steve Bannon Roger Stone or another in the cabal comes up with one more crowdfunding scheme they can skim from, maybe selling presidential pardons in advance to all the other thugs and their followers that support the previous guy.

@JJE: Twill shoot this down - watch.

The previous Guy (TPG)will shoot down anything that doesn't personally benefit him or his closest Cabal lackeys.

Both unions have endorsed Biden for reelection.

I expect more unions to endorse Biden as working people see his Republican challenger once again boasting he will reduce taxes for billionaires, like he and his fellow 'conservative' corporatists did last time he was in the White House.

genuine friendship, pledged to continue to knit together their countries' interests in the face of global challenges.

The above is nice to read coming from leaders of two democracies, especially in an era when authoritarianism is challenging democracies and anti-democracy forces within the USA are trying to weaken US democratic systems and undermine longstanding relationships with democratic nations that have been allies.

lots of young folk living in outlying area had guns and/or access to them to be used for hunting and pest control, 

But I did not know anyone that had a semi-automatic handgun, in part because a weapon like that has limited use, except to poor shooters that want to increase their chances of killing or seriously harming another person.

The shooting was another horrible tragedy, a kid killing other kids with a gun is an additional demerit against the US and its gun culture, it will be interesting to see whether the extremists in the gun owning crowd plus guns and ammo industry will once try to claim this was a false flag incident done by some mystical force, imagined only in their warped minds, to try to restrict gun ownership. RIP to the young folks slaughtered, condolences to their families and friends. The parents need to be held responsible, maybe a message will be sent to some parents considering buying a gun for a child. My advice don't do it. Though when I grew up in a mountainous area of the Pacific coast, lots of young folk living in outlying area had guns and/or access to them to be used for hunting and pest control, but they also had responsible parents closely watching over them.

A 15 year-old with a semi-automatic handgun? a weapon that has little purpose for most people, but can be effective at killing humans and is easily concealed when carried into schools, churches, clubs and movie theaters. Owned by gangbangers and others that are insecure. Parents that give a 15 year-old a semi-automatic handgun should be held accountable.

But it is likely to draw criticism, particularly from hardline Republican lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives who

Republicans will probably continue to oppose public transportation projects because some from the lower wealth castes might ride the trains, which would benefit those not able to afford having private planes and limo services. The far right think anything that might benefit those in lower wealth castes is something the rightists call 'socialism', the only socialism they support is socialism for the rich, a variant of national socialism. Plus Texas is ruled by wealthy Republicans beholden to big oil and gas, who also oppose public transportation because if enough people use public transportation it could result in people driving fewer miles and not burning as much gasoline.

@Qurispu:  people are becoming impoverished

Dis-infrom and dash again? Sources to back that up, or leave the disinfomation floating hoping a poorly educated follower will parrot, maybe on *chan? Same old soviet tactic.

@shadow: People get weird and unrealistic with their comparisons.

I agree, what continues to surprise though are those saying 'bathroom' is the wrong word to use when describing what they say is a 'toilet' What's surprising is that that global English has many dialects, none necessarily more 'correct' than some of the others, but jingoists gonna be jingoists, and will continue their search for reasons to look down on those that don't use their dialect. The 'king's English' is also a dialect.

Russia under Putin is continuing with the propaganda tactics used by the USSR, which include pushing a wide variety of different messages hoping that one will stick in the minds of the more poorly educated, and that the volume of messages published, many being conspiracy theories, will confuse some others. Too bad some in western media and their politicians use similar tactics, a current example is. a western pol spreading more lies about one of his political opponents doing a dirty deed on a desk. In Internet days it's easier for the propagandists to push lies.

China is the world's biggest HFC producer

The China/Russia new world order is looking like it'll be one with little regard for environmental concerns, nor concern for other nation's peoples and policies, especially if those policies don't directly benefit the Russian/Chinese ruling caste. I am aware China is a leader in 'green' technologies, while still burning huge amounts of fossil fuels.

https://earth.org/environmental-issues-in-china/

https://www.lehman.edu/faculty/rwhittaker/Day02-Research/Russia_%20Environmental%20Issues.pdf

I'm not sure which countries those wanting to immigrate to New Zealand and Australia are coming from, but it's interesting that in the US that a large number of people from India, Russia and China are trying to shift out of those countries into the US. Could it be that life in BRICS nations is not that good, and if those countries are losing population, would Russia, China and India want to take in refugees from those countries supporting China, Russia and India? With climate change problems increasing, and the global south predicted to be hit harder by it, will China, Russia and India be willing to take in more refugees from the global south? Or will China Russia and India start doing more to try to reduce the effects of climate change?

China has called the AUKUS pact dangerous and warned it could spur a regional arms race.

I thought the CCP had already been planning to increase military spending; given reports of China's economy facing a rough patch it could be that Xi and theCCP want to boost China's economy by spending more on the military. Scary times, made scarier by having a belligerent China partnering with warmongering Russia in a quest to expand their control over the planet, requiring nations that do not want to be under the boots of China and Russia to spend more to be able to defend themselves from Chinese/Russian aggression, and defend their sovereignty.

@herve: The EU becoming a soviet state.

If that were true then the pro-Russia/China, anti-democracy bots should be pleased. I think it's Russia that wants to return to its Soviet days and drag Europe and other parts of the world backward to Russia's inglorious past.

 reduced payments to 36 subcontractors after contracts were signed,

The above is another example of a global corporate giant showing its disregard and disdain for those under its boots, especially those limited in ways to protect and defend themselves.

Small is beautiful.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_Is_Beautiful

Yellen is expected to speak with reporters later on Saturday.

I'm interested in hearing if Yellen will ask the Chinese whether the Chinese citizens trying to enter the US illegally and legally are CCP sponsored, or if they're just individuals fleeing an oppressive regime and looking for a better quality of life.

Tragic, condolences to the little one's family and friends.

@zibala: s needs to be eliminated 

I agree with Emerson that a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds, but am often surprised at the flipflopping of anti-democracy folks that support Russia's ongoing carnage, but not that of Iran, Russia's bloody partner in carnage.

In January, Taiwan provided support after a strong earthquake jolted the Noto Peninsula and surrounding areas in central Japan on New Year's Day.

The above is another example of friendly nations supporting and reciprocating, further strengthening the relationships between Japan and Taiwan. Keep the relationship strong!

"Cherry blossoms are so symbolic and make everything around you feel joyful and beautiful,"

I agree, it's a wonderful time to be in Japan, also many other places around the world where Japan has gifted cherry trees, and anywhere else cherry tress blossom.

The Kishida, Abe, and Nikai groups have decided to disband

Over/under on how long until they 're-band', Or odds that they actually do 'disband?