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Bulletins and News Discussion from January 13th to January 19th, 2025 - From Mar-A-Lago to Nuuk - COTW: Denmark (including Greenland)

Image is of Donald Trump Jr. in Greenland, proudly demonstrating what he's learned in his standing lessons.

The imperial core is continuing the process of self-cannibalization as the interimperial wars between Europe and the US over resource and territorial control continue. Greenland, populated with less than a hundred thousand heavily exploited people, is the newest territory to fall under Trump's gaze. The main draw is the mineral resources present there, of which it boasts nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum, and much more than remains unexplored under the ice. But the ice is melting, and profit must be made. There is an additional element of wanting Arctic territory to counter Chinese and especially Russian interests and aims; Russia is increasingly eyeing the northern Arctic route as an alternative to more vulnerable routes through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and is investing heavily in icebreakers for that purpose.

However, even if Europe possessed the desire to resist American annexations - and they absolutely do not, at the end of the day - they do not even have the ability. Denmark may, to a lesser or greater extent, make angry sounds and talk about national honour or some such, but their military would be trampled underfoot by even the New York Police Department, let alone a concerted military effort by the US. If Trump wants Greenland, he will have it. This will naturally increase the grumbling in Europe about reconsidering the Transatlantic alliance, and that grumbling may, in the medium-term future, as the American Empire continues its decline, lead to meaningful results. But in the short term, Europe shall have to bear whatever Trump throws at them, for they obviously cannot now ally with Russia, who was the natural counterweight to American interests for decades before 2022.

Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.

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  • FEATURING!

    The News Megathread Imperialism Reading Group: Week 1 - January 13th to January 19th, 2025

    IF YOU WANT TO BE HUGE THEORY NERD THAT DUNKS ON HOGS WITH YOUR BEAUTIFUL COMMUNIST PROBAGANDA DRENCHED BRAINS WITH THE EASE AND FEAST UPON THE CORPSES OF YOUR ENEMIES WITH THE ELEGANCE OF A BEAUTIFUL PURPLE EMPEROR BUTTERFLY NOW'S YOU CHANCE TO GET THE NOGGIN MARINATION GOING!

    CLICK THE LINK BELOW TO 72T'S POST WHERE IT SAYS

    Welcome to the first week of the Imperialism Reading Group!

    This will be a weekly thread in which we read through books on and related to imperialism and geopolitics. How many chapters or pages we will cover per week will vary based on the density and difficulty of the book, but I'm generally aiming at 30 to 40 pages per week, which should take you about an hour or two.

    The first book we will be covering is the foundation, the one and only, Lenin's Imperialism: The Highest Stage of Capitalism. We will read two chapters per week starting from this week, meaning that we will finish reading in mid-to-late February. Unless a better suggestion is made, we will then cover Michael Hudson's Super Imperialism, and continue with various books from there.

    Every week, I will write a summary of the chapter(s) read, for those who have already read the book and don't wish to reread, can't follow along for various reasons, or for those joining later who want to dive right in to the next book without needing to pick this one up too.

    This week, we will be reading Chapter 1: Concentration of Production and Monopolies, and Chapter 2: Banks and their New Role.

    Please comment or message me directly if you wish to be pinged for this group. (Meaning you poke 72T not me. don't make me play telephone!)

    https://hexbear.net/post/4272887

  • New — Asked Speaker Johnson about placing conditions on aid to California, and he tells us: “I think there should be conditions on that aid.” Said that’s his personal view before talking with the conference.

    Also says “there’s some discussion” within the House GOP about tying the debt limit increase to the aid “but we will see how it goes.”

    Aid to rebuild after natural disasters often is approved without any conditions and with significant bipartisan support. But there could be a big fight over the California aid in the coming weeks.

    seeing the USA self-balkanizing itself over petty duopoly party conflicts is really funny

  • I'm skeptical of the durability of this cease-fire, and this will certainly be temporary for as long as the Entity exists it will never be able to cease the settler-colonial genocide, however I truly hope this is a moment of happiness and reprieve for the indomitable people of Palestine. Glory to the resistance.

  • Russia rejects Germany and Japan as permanent UN security council members because they’re US puppets.

    “Americans name Germany and Japan as contenders for permanent membership in the security council, who do not have any independent voice in world politics. They blindly and submissively follow the path of USA and when the US oppresses them directly, they do not even dare to squeal. Like chancellor Scholz did not dare to squeal when NordStream was blown up!”

    Lavrov, Russian foreign minister

  • So, did Biden just tried to take all the credit for the peace deal? He didn't do shit to help the peace deal, he could have literally done nothing, but he kept sending ammo, weapons, supporting everything tha POS Bibi motherfucker wanted, and no one inside that demonic government said anything about it, Kamala could have told Biden to fuck off, she wouldn't stand for it, but no, she was too busy trying to win votes from the far right people who want to kill her and hanging out with mass murderers and war criminals.

  • Hey news nerds, I'm disappearing for a longer period now due to travel and certain life things that need to be addressed. I'll of course pop in here if something funny or cool happens, but expect a very light posting schedule until spring at least. Before I go, I need help on a few things from you nerds:

    1. My kid is starting to be fascinated by screens and I feel that we're quickly approaching the cartoon age. I don't want him to watch any brainrot-inducing fascist Cocomelon or make the same mistake that my dad did by accidentally making young kid me watch the American bombing of Iraq on Al Jazeera, so please recommend any communist cartoons for kids.
    2. Is there any good books on the Arabs of Latin America and West Africa? I've been quite fascinated recently about random Arabs in Latin America and all those Lebanese families in West Africa.
    3. Another book-question. Any good books about connections between sports and politics? I recently read Angels with Dirty Faces about Argentinian football and politics which was pretty good. I would love some recommendations of similar books.

  • Argentinian media be like: DO NOT MENTION THIS IS A PRISONER SWAP DO NOT MENTION THIS IS A PRISONER SWAP DO NOT MENTION THIS IS A PRISONER SWAP DO NOT MENTION THIS IS A PRISONER SWAP DO NOT MENTION THIS IS A PRISONER SWAP

    Because once they do the whole "Hamas is super evil" narrative falls apart. It's insane because palestinian prisoners held FOR YEARS in "israeli" prisons under terrible conditions are not important and the only thing that matters here are the "israeli" people held by Hamas.

  • Greenland's Stolen Children

    In 1951 a group of 22 Greenlandic children were ripped from their families and communities and shipped to Denmark as part of a social experiment. The children were made to speak Danish and sent to Danish schools. The children were meant to become role models for a new bilingual school system and to get ahead in life by forming the nucleus of a colonial comprador elite in Greenland.

    Very little came of the grand designs and the children suffered the consequences for the rest of their lives.

    Amid UN demands for decolonisation after WWII the Danish colonial regime had big plans for modernisering Greenland. They saw the Danish language as an important part of the effort and believed Inuit language and culture to be backwards and primitive, an albatross around the neck of a modern Greenland. Together with the Red Cross and Save The Children the Danish regime hatched the plan to make the children become "civilised" by assimilating into Danish culture and learning the Danish language.

    Local Danish priests in Greenland were tasked with selecting the children, who were all supposed to be orphans, six to seven years old, healthy and intelligent. When they failed to find enough eligible children requirenents were relaxed. Out of 22 trafficked children only six were actual orphans and the oldest child in the scheme was nine years old. Families were misled to give up their children, being made to believe that the separation would only be temporary.

    The children were supposed to stay at Save The Children's summer camps in Denmark and later on with Danish foster parents for 15 months. But the stay was prolonged as the construction of the orphanage in Nuuk they were supposed to return to got delayed. Eventually six children were adopted by their Danish foster parents with the remaining 16 returning to Greenland. The children's families had not been told that the children would stay in an orphanage instead of going home to their communities.

    The returning children had forgotten the Greenlandic language so when they got back to Nuuk they were sent to school with Danish-speaking children, defying the programme's stated goal of "bridging" Danish and Greenlandic society. They were seen as foreign by both Greenlanders and Danes and struggled with loss of identity. The geographical distance as well as the linguistic barrier alienated them from their families for life.

    The children stayed at the orphanage until they turned 15. Most of them eventually moved to Denmark, a few moved to other countries and only six stayed in Greenland. Of the 16 children in the orphanage three completed higher education, seven of them did not complete any secondary education. Half of the children would grow up to struggle with substance abuse, mental illness and homelessness. Many were affected by unemployment. Half of the 22 children in the scheme died before turning 70.

    At no point does the surviving archival material suggest any concerns for the wellbeing of the children among those responsible. Nobody was asking about consequences due the children. It was seen as a given that assimilation to Danish culture was beneficial.

    It was not until 2020 that the Danish state would give the children an official apology. In 2021 six surviving children sued the Danish state, the case was settled in 2022 with each victim receiving a DKK 250.000 compensation. In 2024 four of the Greenlandic children who had been adopted by Danish families sued the state for a similar compensation.

    To this day the trafficking of the 22 children is a national trauma for Greenland and is seen as an example of the colonial mentality and disregard for Inuit culture that still festers as a dark undercurrent in Danish-Greenlandic relations.

  • It appears that the latest round of negotiations for a ceasefire deal between Gaza and Israel, which started in earnest late in December last year, are closer than ever before to a ceasefire.

    One of the final stumbling blocks, the release of female Israeli soldiers and their classification in a hostage release/exchange deal (should female Israeli soldiers be released at the same time/in the same group as male soldiers and military aged males (18-50 years old), or at the same time as civilian women, children and elderly men over 50) has been worked out in the latest draft proposal.

    Latest reporting states that a decision has been made, female Israeli soldiers will be released alongside civilians and the elderly in the first phase of a hostage exchange deal, with male Israeli soldiers and military aged Israeli males being released at a later date, in a second phase of a potential hostage exchange and ceasefire agreement. The hostage "exchange rate" for the first stage involving female Israeli soldiers and civilians/the elderly is said to be 50 Palestinian prisoners for every female Israeli soldier, and 30 Palestinian prisoners for every Israeli civilian or elderly male.

    So a compromise was reached: female Israeli soldiers now enjoy the same classification as civilian women, children and elderly men in a hostage exchange, but at the cost of more Palestinian prisoners being released. I won't comment on the ethics of that... Anthony Blinken is set to release his proposal for the third stage of the ceasefire agreement, the rebuilding and governance of Gaza, later today. Let's hope that he doesn't screw everything up. Can't believe that the whole deal now hinges on Blinken
    not messing it up.

    Al Jazeera, 14 January 2025: Gaza ceasefire deal between Israel, Hamas at ‘closest point’ – Qatar

    Axios News, 14 January 2024: Blinken to present post-war plan for Gaza on Tuesday

  • Checking in from my new Little Red Book "#wuhluhwuh" addiction to post this quote I just saw on there (the app is such good agitprop) of the Chinese rep apparently popping off at the UNSC today. I checked their UN mission site transcript and IT'S TRUE lol. Here's some choice excerpts.

    For some time now, and in fact today, the US has been peddling false narrative to discredit and smear China at the Council's meetings on the Ukraine issue. [...] At earlier meetings, I responded to the US fallacies many times. Today, I might go a little further. 

    First, if China had really provided military supplies to Russia, the situation on the battleground would not have been where it is now. [...]

    [...] The fact is, since the beginning, the US has used the Ukraine war to advance its geopolitical strategy and serve its own agenda. To sum up, first, the US wants nothing more than a weakened and defeated Russia through the war, so as to dominate European security and further increase its influence in Europe. Second, through the war, the US intends to stoke up bloc confrontation, create divisions, and contain and isolate China, a strategic rival in their eyes. Third, the US wishes to project a positive image to offset the international community's criticism of its policies in the Middle East. Unfortunately, the US has failed on all three attempts.

  • China announces the largest trade surplus the world has ever seen: almost US$ 1 trillion. The highest Chinese surplus so far had been US$ 838 billion - in 2022.

    China exported almost US$ 1 trillion more goods than it imported in 2024. A spokesman for the General Administration of Customs said that the country exported US$3.58 trillion in goods and services, and imported US$2.59 trillion - creating a surplus of US$990 billion, a world record. The highest Chinese surplus so far had been US$838 billion - in 2022.

    Chinese factories produce a third of all manufactured goods in the world. More than the United States, Japan, Germany, South Korea and the United Kingdom combined, according to 2022 data from the United Nations. In the last decade, China has gone from importing cars to becoming the world's largest exporter. Chinese companies produce almost all the solar panels sold on the planet. At the same time, the Chinese have been importing less. The Chinese government spokesman said that if other countries hadn't politicized trade, China would have imported more.

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