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Bulletins and News Discussion from January 6th to January 12th, 2025 - The Fall of Trudeau - COTW: Canada

Image is of Trudeau and Trump together at Mar-a-Lago in November 2024. Source is here.

The Liberals, headed by Trudeau, have not been doing so hot lately. Polls have been rather poor, showing the party far behind the Conservatives, and the Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (an outspoken apologist for Ukrainian Nazis) resigned recently, with more MPs following her lead. Trump's return to power has shaken the Canadian establishment due to his threats to impose massive tariffs on Mexico and Canada, which will have substantial economic consequences given that Canada sends most of its exports to the US, compounding the economic malaise that has affected most of the world over the last few years.

With all this bad news, there are rumors and reports that Trudeau will soon resign, ending his nine years of rule. His fall would be yet another casualty in the wave of incumbent parties falling across the imperial core, only to be replaced by more conservative parties that have very similar policies but wish to cast all blame and hardship onto minorities.

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957 comments

  • Interviews with locals in Nuuk has revealed that many of the Greenlanders who had lunch with Trump Jr. were not in fact supporters of the idea of an American annexation. Instead many of them were homeless and socially disadvantaged locals who had been bribed with the fancy dinner at the best restaurant in town, some of them without knowing exactly what the point of the event was.

    Leading up to the First Son's bizarre visit, collaborators of his had approached locals on the parking lot in front of the Brugseni supermarket where socially disadvantaged people often meet.

    The Trump organisation has not replied to questions about the story but the local collaborator who organised the event has claimed that everyone at the event were there "voluntarily" and that "people from all walks off life" were present.

  • I never knew Jimmy Carter actually met with Hamas representatives back in 2008.

    Former President Jimmy Carter says the militant group would not undermine talks for an Israeli-Palestinian peace accord, as long as the Palestinian people approve the deal by referendum. Hamas also says it will offer Israel a 10-year truce if it withdraws from land seized in the 1967 war.

    Former President Jimmy Carter says that the Palestinian militant group Hamas is prepared to accept Israel's right to live in peace. Carter met with Hamas leaders over the weekend, a meeting opposed by Israel and the Bush administration. They both shun Hamas and view it as a terrorist organization. A senior Hamas official praised former President Jimmy Carter on Wednesday, a day after he met with the group, but said he failed to persuade the Islamic rulers of Gaza to accept international demands, including recognizing Israel.

    Carter, a strong advocate of the Palestinians after his presidency, claimed that Israel's policies amounted to an apartheid worse than South Africa's. Though as president Carter brokered the 1979 peace treaty between Israel and Egypt, the first between Israel and an Arab country, he is perceived by many Israelis as anti-Israel, siding with the Palestinians in their conflict.

    He "antagonized" many Israelis with his 2007 book, "Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid," in which he argued that Israel must choose between ceding the West Bank to the Palestinians or maintaining a system of ethnic inequality similar to that of the apartheid regime in South Africa. Most Israelis strongly reject the comparison.

  • The Los Angeles fire department has decided to give priority to strategically important locations, vital to American infrastructure. Los Angeles firefighters were seen putting out a fire at a McDonalds.

  • You learn something new everyday. I was reading a China doomerism article on Naked Capitalism today which I have some issues with and won’t be commenting on, but I came across this quote supposedly from Xi Jinping:

    To promote common prosperity, we cannot engage in ‘welfarism.’ In the past, high welfare in some populist Latin American countries fostered a group of ‘lazy people’ who got something for nothing. As a result, their national finances were overwhelmed, and these countries fell into the ‘middle income trap’ for a long time. Once welfare benefits go up, they cannot come down. It is unsustainable to engage in ‘welfarism’ that exceeds our capabilities. It will inevitably bring about serious economic and political problems.

    At first, I thought this must be some Western propaganda smear and maybe mistranslation. Then I looked it up, turns out it’s real… It was actually published in Qiushi (CPC’s theory website) back in 2022 on an article titled “To correctly identify and grasp the major theoretical and practical issues of our country’s development” based on Xi’s speech to the Central Economic Work Committee in December 2021:

    —-

    This actually explains why China has been so reluctant to just give people money directly to boost consumption. Turns out this neoliberal brainrot is deeper than I thought (I have been defending Xi all this while and now I am getting disappointed) - they really believe that giving people money is bad and you can only create the money after earning the revenues from selling stuff first.

    It makes total sense now why China has been struggling to boost domestic consumption since Covid and why the central bank doesn’t simply inject the money.

    Because handout is bad! People will turn lazy if they get free money without work! What the fuck, China! How is this different from your typical GOP rhetoric?

    Just give people the fucking money and at least half of the problems will be solved.

  • It's fucking funny to see the fascists over at r/Europe and /2westerneurope4u being completely surprised and annoyed that the EU isn't pushing back harder against Trump's threats, and asking themselves why the clown entourage of Don Jr. and co were even allowed to enter Greenland. They know very well that if it was Putin saying these things, it would've sparked a media frenzy, and politicians wouldn't shut up about it. Hell, if one of Europe's lap dogs made such threats against papa Amerikkka, they would've been made persona non grata by the state department within 0.4 of a femtosecond.

  • Jean-Marie Le Pen dies at the age of 96. A historic leader of the French far-right, Jean-Marie, as well as being defeated five times in the French presidential race, was the founder and president of the Réunion National party and the father of Marine Le Pen.

  • Trump was “sentenced to unconditional acquittal for his office as president”, according to Judge Juan Merchan. Trump will not pay fines, be imprisoned or remain on probation. He will be free and clear of any legal damages.

    Judge Juan Merchan cited Trump's return to the White House to acquit him, stating that despite the seriousness of the crimes, the court must respect the hierarchy of Powers. Juan also stated that it was US “citizenship” that gave Trump back these legal protections, which include, among others, supremacy and presidential immunity.

    Thus, Trump will avoid jail time and fines in the case of sexual extortion to silence porn actress Stormy Daniels, with whom he had an affair. The case involves accusations that Donald Trump paid $130,000 to actress Stormy Daniels to silence her about an alleged extramarital affair before the 2016 election. The payment was made via his lawyer Michael Cohen.

  • thinking about what we're seeing about America's disaster response capabilities and remembering that the Pacific Northwest is seventy years overdue on a two hundred and fifty year cycle for a 9.0 megathrust earthquake, where the expected damage is "everything west of highway 5 is gone"

  • As a non-American and self-proclaimed enemy of the United States of America, I'm pro-annexation of Canada and Greenland. I hold this position for one reason only, my map-brain is tired of the post-1991 borders and wants to see some new borders. South Sudan, East Timor and Montenegro are pretty much the only changes, and they're really not exciting. Give us massive swathes of land changing color on the map.

  • Change is in the air, and surely I’m not hallucinating?

    Three weeks ago, Trump put out a very short statement that the US and China should work together. Ever since, Chinese media have sprung into action.

    Immediately the week after, the People’s Daily (in conjunction with Global Times) put out a featured call for submission of “US-China cooperation and friendship stories” followed by an editorial “China and the US should extend the list of cooperation, and enlarge the cake of mutual cooperation” (Dec 26th, 2024, in Chinese).

    Last week, Qiushi, the CPC theory website, reposted the People’s Daily opinion piece on “The significance of friendship and cooperation for the people between China and the US” (Jan 4th, 2025, in Chinese) and a corresponding piece on their English outlet, “China, United States should inject more certainty, positive energy into world” (Jan 6th, 2025):

    China and the U.S. should work together to promote an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, let the light of peace reach all corners of the world, and ensure that more development gains will be shared more fairly by people across the world.

    "There are few certainties in world affairs. What we do know is that without much greater cooperation between the U.S. and China, the world will be in dire straits," said an American scholar when analyzing the future development of China-U.S. relations.

    China-U.S. cooperation may not solve all problems, but few problems can be solved without China-U.S. cooperation. The U.S. should fulfill its responsibilities as a major country, stand on the right side of history, and work together with China to strengthen dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, and expand mutually beneficial cooperation, so as to inject more certainty and positive energy into the world.

    Zhong Sheng is a pen name often used by People's Daily to express its views on foreign policy and international affairs. The views don't necessarily reflect those of Qiushi Journal.

    I also checked the English outlets. Global Times editorial puts out several opinion pieces including “1+1>2 is the right path for US-China technological interaction” (Jan 3rd, 2025) urging for increased technological cooperation of both countries especially quantum computing.

    Concurrently, on January 6th, “Chinese foreign ministry slams US ‘small yard, high fence’ strategy, vows to safeguard WTO-centered multilateral trading system” blasting the Biden administration for not respecting the (neoliberal) WTO free trade order and criticizing protectionism:

    "Free trade is an inevitable requirement for global economic development, with the fundamental goal of achieving mutual benefit and promoting common development. Engaging in protectionism and building 'small yard, high fence' significantly disrupts global supply chains and damages the common and long-term interests of all countries," the spokesperson said.

    lol

    And on the same day an editorial piece titled “What do Tesla’s ‘record high’ sales in China reveal?” that praised Tesla as an exemplary model of foreign investor’s success in China and why more foreign companies should come invest in China:

    China has become an important part of Tesla's global landscape, and this is not an isolated case. Currently, over 70,000 American companies are investing and operating in China, with annual sales exceeding $600 billion. Qualcomm and Intel derive two-thirds and one-quarter of their global revenues, respectively, from the Chinese market. Among Apple's 200 major suppliers, 80 percent are based in China. In 2023, about 60 percent of McDonald's new stores globally were opened in China. Shanghai became the first city in the world to have 1,000 Starbucks stores. These facts demonstrate that Washington's trade sanctions and technological restrictions against China are unpopular and cannot hinder American companies' enthusiasm for expanding in the Chinese market. This situation is determined by the essence of mutually beneficial cooperation in economic and trade relations between China and US, as well as the objective laws of economic development at play.

    Tesla's "report card" serves as a mirror, reflecting China's status as "an important engine of global economic growth" from both production and market perspectives, while showcasing the solid fundamentals and positive development prospects of the Chinese economy. Tesla's thriving presence in China can particularly be attributed to the country's open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial cooperative attitude.

    Meanwhile, still on January 6th, China's two major stock exchanges hold meetings with foreign institutions:

    The two exchanges reiterated their commitment to further opening up China's capital markets, expressing hopes that foreign institutions will jointly drive comprehensive reforms and achieve high-quality development.

    SCMP (not affiliated with CPC) also put out articles from international relations “experts” like “China-US ties may improve if Trump goodwill signals ‘manifest in tangible actions’” (Jan 4th, 2025) and an opinion piece “Why Trump’s return opens door for China to reform capital markets” (Jan 5th, 2025) about why China should open up its capital markets for foreign investors to come in to save its economy lol. Pretty concise read if you want to understand how the libs think.

    These are just a sample of the articles and opinion pieces. Overall, I haven’t seen so many articles that signal the thawing of US and China relationships in such a short period. I think we are likely heading towards a rapprochement between the two countries, and a return to a (renewed) status quo. Both countries have realized that they cannot live without one another, and that it is in their self-interests to return to the existing world order after Covid and the Ukraine war.

    Wall Street will be happy to enter the Chinese financial markets (and the Belt and Road), the consumption driven by large scale foreign investments will save both China’s economy and allowing further growth and poverty alleviation, while reigniting the US oil and gas boom under Trump. The dollar hegemony is retained and Trump will be happy to declare victory on trade deficit reduction and some token “bring back American jobs” on a limited scale.

    Unfortunately, it looks like China’s gonna save the US empire from its crisis once again, and the medium term outcome also means certain victory for Israel.

    The questions to follow up on are: are there any forces within the US that will actively undermine this effort? Will the neocons accept it? Maybe Trump give them the war with Iran that they’ve always wanted? Which also brings us to the question of who else benefit from such (re-)arrangement? Will Europe (poised to be the biggest loser) be forced to import Chinese goods under US order to further destroy their industrial capacity? What happens to Palestine, Lebanon, Russia, Iran and the other major players?

    • I doubt Trump reaching power will make a significant difference, the US and China are inextricably locked in conflict regardless of what the people at the top of each party think about it. The US simply cannot tolerate a world power that is competitive with their (decreasingly) monopoly position, and that lack of toleration will force China to oppose them to fulfill the survival instinct of their own businesses.

      It's been the path of interimperial/anti-imperial conflict for the last 300-odd years. Capitalism vs socialism has rather little to do with it, in the same way that the Cold War wasn't communism vs capitalism, it was imperialism vs anti-imperialism (and anti-imperialism largely won, but was then defeated by neo-imperialist strategies). Most of Europe was ruled by the same family of inbred monarchs with relatively similar economies (albeit with stronger and weaker powers, especially pre-WW1) and despite their generally similar capitalist economies, conflict over resource and colony control still prompted them to, twice, start apocalyptically destructive wars. China and the US are in a comparable situation, with even greater ideological differences.

      • See my write-up here on another thread the other day.

        I have said before that the September 2024 lowering of interest rate marked the start of the second phase of US financial warfare against China and the rest of the world. I think the Wall Street finance capital will be quite happy with entering China’s financial sector and eventually owning parts of BRI and the global supply chain that China has been building (it will probably at some point reach an equilibrium where both sides are fine with). Remember the US no longer has the industrial power - its only play is to rely on China to build the supply chain for itself, at least in the short-medium term.

        And I can see why China will also be happy to accept this arrangement. Key regulators and the central bank personnel have come out and said that they are committed to saving the property prices. Together with the local government debt crisis which have driven many local governments to the brink of default, they probably see this as a welcoming boost to the local economy. After all, China is committed to further development and poverty alleviation (see the SCMP opinion piece - they need to sustain a certain level of growth in order to payout the pension funds down the road, among others, because China has not reclaimed its monetary sovereignty yet and continued to adopt the neoclassical model).

        I also don’t see China as Socialism in the traditional sense. It is Socialism with Chinese characteristics that employs market socialism to achieve its socialist goals. Market socialism means an adherence to the market principles, and the (lib) economists at least see it superior to the central planning model under Mao.

    • Chinese liberals are either fully delusional or they're actively trying to surrender to the US empire Gorby-style

      Ironically America's racism and inability to tolerate any competition to their hegemony may save Chinese socialism in the long term, since even if Chinese liberals embrace a surrenderist mindset, that doesn't mean American liberals will, they mean business when they rail against Chinese "violations of the world order"

    • So basically, the US realizes that reindustrialization is impossible and China realizes that there is need for investments.

      So both realize their complementaries to one and the other.

      China gets to build up the third world to become better producer and consumer and the states gets to have a cut in the pie as financial returns

      • Basically yes, but it’s not so much complementary but the fact that the US threatens to blow up its own economy through tariffs. If the US does that, the US economy will be damaged, but all the export economies in the Global South get wiped out just like during the 2009 GFC if not worse, and their ultimate fate is still IMF bail out and privatization. That is the stick.

        It is a sane calculation to give in to the US threat because at least we’re not going through a mutually assured destruction in this scenario. It is still a win-win (carrot) for both the US and China and other developing countries if they can keep the US from going into an economic depression, while the US gets a good portion of financial control over their assets in return. This will become the renewed status quo until something in the global capitalist machine breaks again.

        I’ve always said that the only way for China to gain leverage over this is to make the painful transition into a domestic consumption led economy, and doing that requires China to reclaim its monetary sovereignty instead of accumulating foreign reserves through export and investment. Without that, we will simply see a return to the status quo but with Europe out of the picture as a major player. None of the Global South debt situation gets resolved, the global financial institutions will remain in place, dollar hegemony will persist and capital continues to flow through the established neoliberal free trade system. An alternative is needed.

    • I can see china-us relations warming under trump. I remember Branko Milanovic made a point a while ago that basically said that if trump wants a transactional relationship with china, where china agrees to import more from the US in exchange for this or that, and doesn't meddle too blatantly in china's internal affairs, aside from the obligatory "Human rights" talk, then that gives space for tensions to ease.

      This is opposed to sleepy joe's CRAZY ideological approach to china, which explicitly aimed to overthrow its government on ideological grounds and went around gathering allies internationally to support that, as well was blatantly intending to slow china's development

      He also said, ironically, russia-us relations could get WORSE under trump's transactional approach because from russia's position of strength in the ukraine war it will be hard for trump to get concessions out of them

    • I think we're seeing the process of the US slowly getting absorbed and turned into a kind of a capital mitochondria. A type of fuel tank for another bigger thing.

      Let's just hope the CPC is really interested in developing other nations as they say they are. This is probably the way out of colonialism on a global scale.

      I wonder how China's whole strategy will look like if humanity still exists 100 years from now and we look back at it starting from Deng until 2080 or something.

    • I think this will be a temporary reproachmont if it does happen. What's the problem with taking US money in the short term if you're expecting a rupture later they could simply leave the US high and dry and not repay the investment. A political or military conflict would reduce all this to monopoly money and the real economy (that is of course the cash, grass or gas economy, lol) would take over and the producers would have priority, right? US is the consumer market that seems like it can't be replaced (although the EU could have a reproachmont with Russia and reinstate their industry and consumer power, that's basically what much of the right wing populist want), likewise Chinese production can't be replaced. If the US tries to block the world from Chinese consumer and industrial goods it would be rejected globally and probably especially in the US itself. The belt and road in my estimation is an effort to industrialize the global south to compliment a future Chinese consumer economy. Even everything with Israel and Syria now... It's just that the victory is theirs to ruin.
      All in all it simply seems everyone is waiting to see what will happen and putting their best foot forward in anticipation of the Trump administration.

  • Georgia now has two presidents. One is legitimate, and the other is from the representative office of an American foundation. She has employees and a driver under her command.

    Zurabishvili claims that in this way she will continue to perform the functions of the President of Georgia.

    NO FUCKING WAY, JUAN GUAIDO 3.0 has dropped

  • Trump Threatens Denmark With Economic And Military Force As The First Son Goes To Greenland

    In a spectacle of colonial ambition reminiscent of a bygone era, the incoming American supreme leader, Donald Trump, dispatched his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., to eye up a prospective addition to the sprawling US empire. This most recent chapter in America’s ongoing saga of expansionist dreams saw Trump Jr., accompanied by his court jester, the far-right propagandist Charlie Kirk, making a fleeting yet politically charged visit to the icy expanse of Greenland.

    Their arrival, heralded by the distinctive roar of "Trump Force One," a private jet as ostentatious as the ambitions of its owner, was framed as a leisurely tour to "visit some of the most magnificent areas and sights." Yet, no one was fooled. The intent behind this carefully choreographed excursion was as transparent as the icebergs dotting Greenland's coastline: to manufacture consent for an American annexation of the island.

    Danish and Greenlandic media, alongside a chorus of wary politicians, watched the spectacle unfold with a mixture of bemusement and apprehension. There was a palpable tension in the air as the American overlord’s emissaries strutted through Nuuk, the heart of a land that has long suffered under the colonial yoke of Denmark. In 2019, the world had looked on in disbelief as then-president Trump floated the ludicrous idea of purchasing Greenland from Denmark—a proposal that left both Greenlanders and Danes aghast. The diplomatic fallout from Denmark’s refusal had seen Trump indulge in a tantrum, triggering a minor yet memorable crisis in transatlantic relations.

    Fast forward to 2024, and the stakes have only escalated. With Trump’s reelection—a process marred by a façade of democracy that effectively barred opposition candidates—his delusions of grandeur have expanded. The self-styled leader of the free world now eyes not just Greenland, but also Canada and the Panama Canal Zone, territories he deems ripe for the taking. What once seemed the realm of bad alt-history fiction has disturbingly morphed into official policy for the world's most aggressive empire.

    Greenland, a territory scarred by its colonial past, stands as one of Denmark’s last vestiges of imperial ambition, the other being the Faroe Islands. Danish colonial rule has left an indelible mark on Greenland’s indigenous Inuit population, whose culture, language, and very existence have been systematically eroded by genocidal acts by their colonial overlords. From mid-20th century abductions of Inuit children to be raised in Denmark to become "civilised" to "the spiral case", Denmark’s late 20th century eugenics program, which forcibly inserted contraceptive devices in Inuit women and teenage girls as young as 13 without consent, the litany of abuses is a stark reminder of the brutality of colonial rule. Even today, Greenlanders face discrimination within Denmark, where they are often dismissed as lazy, child-like, or alcoholic. Greenland remains the poorest part of the London of Denmark.

    Yet, in recent years, Greenlanders have begun to reclaim their narrative, demanding increased respect, autonomy, and a clear path toward independence. Greenland’s Prime Minister, Múte Egede, in his recent New Year’s address, reiterated his commitment to independence within a concise timeframe. The Danish response, however, has been tepid at best, with conflicts over the use of the Greenlandic language in Denmark’s rubber-stamp parliament and a sluggish investigation into past atrocities like the "spiral case."

    Despite the growing desire for independence, some Greenlanders harbor understandable concerns about the viability of a self-sufficient future. Questions linger over the island's capacity to manage healthcare, defense, and the economy independently. But one sentiment is clear: Greenlanders are in no hurry to trade one colonial overlord for another. In a pointed Facebook post, Prime Minister Egede declared, "Greenland belongs to the Greenlanders. Our future and struggle for independence is our business. Danes, Americans, and everyone else can have opinions, but we shouldn't get caught by hysteria and point fingers at others. Our future is ours and should be decided by us."

    Meanwhile, in the days leading up to the visit, MAGA hat-clad Americans were seen in the streets of Nuuk awkwardly polling locals about their stance on American annexation—a scene as bizarre as it was unwelcome.

    The propaganda machine behind the visit was as inept as I've would expect. Prior to the visit, Trump had shared a video of an unnamed Greenlandic man professing support for American annexation. The man was later identified as a career criminal and convicted drug trafficker, epitomizing the kind of dubious allies America tends to cultivate in its imperial ventures, from Afghanistan to Latin America—and now, apparently, Greenland.

    In characteristic bombastic style, Trump took to his platform, Truth Social, to declare: "Greenland is an incredible place, and the people will benefit tremendously if, and when, it becomes part of our Nation. We will protect it, and cherish it, from a very vicious outside World. MAKE GREENLAND GREAT AGAIN!" His ally, the far-right oligarch and conspiracy theorist Elon Musk, chimed in on X, the everything app (formerly Twitter) in support of the annexation, proving that the delusions of grandeur were shared among the American elite.

    As Trump Force One touched down in Nuuk, crowds gathered to witness the circus. Trump Jr.’s brief four-hour visit, devoid of any substantive engagements with local officials or community leaders, was a farcical exercise in photo ops and propaganda. Trump Jr. and Kirk’s attempts to distribute MAGA hats to curious onlookers only underscored the vacuity of the entire charade.

    After the visit a press conference held by Trump senior in his Mar-A-Lago compound, the MAGA Vatican, took a dark turn as the soon-to-be supreme leader of America refused to rule out the use of trade war and military violence to realise his colonial ambitions for Greenland and Panama.

    For hours Mette Frederiksen, Denmark’s Prime Minister, remained unavailable to the media and when she finally emerged from her hiding place to make a statement it was a lot less forceful than when she had dismissed the sale of Greenland as "absurd" back in 2019. She issued statements that teetered between appeasement of her imperial overlord and hollow declarations of support for Greenlandic self-determination. Her government’s groveling loyalty to the American empire, even in the face of such humiliating threats, drew scorn from Pelle Dragsted, leader of the moderate pro-democracy Red-Green opposition party. He derided Frederiksen’s response as "sad and weak," and expressed concern that the toe-curling display of subservience would only embolden Trump.

    Trump's threats should be seen not only as a hamfisted negotiation tactic but also as the act of a declining empire desperate to assert its waning dominance in a multipolar world.

    For Greenlanders, American expansionism means the opportunity to use the threat of Washington to get a better deal from Copenhagen. As Aki-Matilda Høegh-Dam, a Greenlandic MP, aptly put it, "Denmark has to decide if it wants to be part of a greater community." If Denmark wants to be part of Greenland's future they have to sit down at the negotiation table and treat Greenlanders as equals. The road to independence may be fraught with challenges, but the resolve of Greenland’s people to shape their destiny is unwavering.

  • Venezuela strongly and categorically condemns the statement issued by the White House, which represents a flagrant violation of international law and a crude attempt to perpetuate imperialist interference in Latin America. “It's grotesque that an outgoing government, such as that of Joe Biden, sunk in political disrepute and marked by a legacy of domestic and international failures, insists on backing a violent project that has already been defeated by the popular vote and the revolutionary democracy of the Venezuelan people."

    “The decrepit Biden administration, defeated and retreating, is once again resorting to worn-out intervention strategies, trying to artificially inflate insignificant political figures in Venezuela while ignoring the clear sovereign will of our people. These maneuvers, devoid of legitimacy and historical sense, only demonstrate the moral and institutional decadence of a government that is inexorably approaching a government that is inexorably approaching its end.”

    “Venezuela warns that any attempt to undermine our stability or incite violence will be met with firmness, dignity and the support of a people aware of its strength and its ability to defeat fascism and terrorism in any scenario.”

  • Am I being overly conspiratorial in wondering why Al-Sharaa’s Wikipedia is now automatically condensing any of his military history before 2017 aka when he was in Al-Qaeda? It’s not explicit censorship because the history is still there, but it seems to add one extra step to finding the truth

    For context, this is how it’s typically displayed

  • I know a lot of people are making fun of Trump for his claims about annexing Greenland and Canada, along with threats to Panama over the Panama canal and claiming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, but from a geo strategic point, it absolutely makes sense. I know that sounds crazy but hear me out.

    With global warming, more and more of the Arctic will be explorable, and more shipping routes will become viable. There are also huge amounts of natural resources available there, including an estimated over 400 billion barrels of oil, and lots of mining opportunities. Over 100 mines opened in Greenland since 2012. Currently, only five countries have a recognised claim to the Arctic: the USA (through Alaska), Canada, Denmark (through Greenland), Norway (through Svalbard), and Russia. Russia currently have by far the largest claim, and the USA gaining control of Greenland and Northern Canada would eliminate some of the biggest competition from within the USA's own alliance, getting the USA closer to parity with Russia. Only Norway would remain as a third party. As for shipping lanes, further control over the Panama canal, the Gulf of Mexico and the Northwest Passage in the Arctic would advance the USA's position.

    Do I think the US will actually annex Greenland and Canada? Probably not, but they definitely will get some access to their resource claims and shipping lanes, further vassalising Denmark and Canada. The talk of annexation is just to put the US in a better negotiating position and create public outrage. If Trump pulls this off, he's securing the USA's geo strategic future for the long term in the Arctic.

    Artic Competition - Foreign Policy dot com - 19 October 2024

  • https://archive.ph/CdR5I - TIMES OF ISRAEL

    Gazan ‘human shield’ for IDF shot dead in error by officer — report

    Palestinian was said to be assisting troops in Nahal Brigade’s 931st Battalion in Rafah area over summer; army has said the practice is forbidden, but does not deny it took place

    A Palestinian who was assisting Israeli forces in searching potentially booby-trapped buildings and tunnels in the Gaza Strip over the summer was shot dead erroneously by an officer, according to a report by the independent news site Hamakom Hachi Ham Bagehenom (The Hottest Place in Hell).

    An extensive New York Times report published in October detailed the practice of using Palestinians to carry out reconnaissance missions throughout operations in Gaza, seeking to minimize harm to troops. The newspaper said it spoke with seven IDF soldiers who said the practice was “routine, commonplace, and organized.”

    The New York Times also cited retired IDF Brig. Gen Tamir Hayman, a former head of the Military Intelligence Directorate, saying that some detainees had either been coerced into entering suspected booby-trapped tunnels or volunteered to guide troops in the field in order to seek favor with the military.

  • Holywood hills has caught fire now and it’s expanding rapidly and literally as I type this a small spot fire just popped up adjacent to it so… damn

  • On the Attempted Assassination of Comrade Booker Ngesa Omole, General Secretary of CPM Kenya:
    https://xcancel.com/BookerBiro/status/1877916575568724010

    This morning, at approximately 3:00 am, armed assailants equipped with night vision goggles and firearms violently stormed the residence of Comrade Booker Ngesa Omole.

    A fierce exchange of gunfire ensued, during which Comrade Booker and his comrades managed to neutralise one attacker, while seven others fled the scene. The police arrived an hour later, long after the attackers had escaped.

  • A news article about the US sanctioning the ICC gets posted on a local European subreddit, and the top comments are like: "the US is just as bad as Russia and China!"

    Even when the US (and the collective West) goes mask off and does things that Western libs can't find any excuses for, they still can't help themselves but make bullshit comparisons to bAd CoUnTrIeS.

  • New lancet paper

    than official number, Lancet study finds

    Analysis estimates death toll by end of June was 64,260, with 59% being women, children and people over 65 Guardian staff and agencies Fri 10 Jan 2025 18.47 GMT

    Research published in the Lancet medical journal estimates that the death toll in Gaza during the first nine months of the Israel-Hamas war was about 40% higher than numbers recorded by the Palestinian territory’s health ministry.

    The peer-reviewed statistical analysis was conducted by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Yale University and other institutions, using a statistical method called capture-recapture analysis.

    The researchers sought to assess the death toll from Israel’s air and ground campaign in Gaza between October 2023 and the end of June 2024, estimating 64,260 deaths due to traumatic injury during this period. The study said 59.1% were women, children and people over the age of 65. It did not provide an estimate of Palestinian combatants among the dead.

    Up to 30 June last year, the health ministry in Gaza reported a death toll of 37,877 in the war, which began on 7 October 2023 after the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 taken hostages.

    According to Palestinian health officials, a total of more than 46,000 people have been killed in the Gaza war, from a prewar population of about 2.3 million.

    It has not been possible for international media to independently verify the death toll in Gaza as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the territory.

    A senior Israeli official, commenting on the study published on Friday, said Israel’s armed forces went to great lengths to avoid civilian casualties. “No other army in the world has ever taken such wide-ranging measures,” the official said.

    “These include providing advance warning to civilians to evacuate, safe zones and taking any and all measures to prevent harm to civilians. The figures provided in this report do not reflect the situation on the ground.”

    The Lancet study said the Palestinian health ministry’s capacity for maintaining electronic death records had previously proven reliable, but deteriorated under Israel’s military campaign, which has included raids on hospitals and other healthcare facilities and disruptions to digital communications.

    Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals as cover for its operations, which the militant group denies.

    The study used death toll data from the health ministry, an online survey launched by the ministry for Palestinians to report relatives’ deaths, and social media obituaries to estimate that there were between 55,298 and 78,525 deaths from traumatic injuries in Gaza up to 30 June 2024.

    The study’s best estimate was 64,260 dead, which would mean the health ministry had under-reported the number of deaths to that point by 41%. The estimate represented 2.9% of Gaza’s prewar population, “or approximately one in 35 inhabitants”, the study said.

    The figure is only for deaths from traumatic injuries and does not include deaths from a lack of healthcare or food, or the thousands believed to be buried under rubble.

    The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS) estimates that, on top of the official death toll from the health ministry, another 11,000 Palestinians are missing and presumed dead.

    The researchers scoured the three lists, searching for duplicates. “We only kept in the analysis those who were confirmed dead by their relatives or confirmed dead by the morgues and the hospital,” said Zeina Jamaluddine, an epidemiologist at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the lead author of the study.

    “Then we looked at the overlaps between the three lists, and based on the overlaps, you can come up with a total estimation of the population that was killed,” Jamaluddine told Agence France-Presse.

    However, the researchers cautioned that the hospital lists did not always provide the cause of death, so it was possible that people with non-traumatic deaths could have been included, potentially leading to an overestimate.

    Patrick Ball, a statistician at the US-based Human Rights Data Analysis Group not involved in the research, has used capture-recapture methods to estimate death tolls for conflicts in Guatemala, Kosovo, Peru and Colombia.

    Ball told AFP the well-tested technique had been used for centuries and that the researchers had reached “a good estimate” for Gaza.

    Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Britain’s Open University, said there was “inevitably a lot of uncertainty” when making estimates from incomplete data, but it was “admirable” that the researchers had used three other approaches to check their estimates.

    Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

    Link to lancet https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)02678-3/fulltext

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