Since July 1st, students have protested the unpopular proposal in which 30% of government jobs would be reserved for veterans of the 1971 War of Independence and their relatives. In a country with a youth unemployment rate of around 20% and a population of 170 million, a large number of otherwise eligible and competent people would have been forced out due to favouritism for veterans. As with basically every country on the planet over the last couple years, Bangladesh is suffering from inflation and an increasing cost-of-living, further exacerbating tensions.
The student protests have been met with significant violence by the government - local newspapers report that over a hundred protestors have been killed, and thousands have been injured. Guns and tear gas have been used. Additionally, the government has completely cut internet access throughout Bangladesh to prevent organizing, which has had some success in dividing protestors, but has also only further angered various parts of the country due to the massive impact to Bangladesh's online industries and various startups. And a national curfew has been in place to limit movement, with the population told to remain home if they want to be safe.
Yesterday, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh relented, stating that now, only 5% of government jobs would be reserved for veterans and their families. 2% would be allocated to members of minorities, with the remaining 93% distributed on merit. A period of tentative calm has arrived, but Hasnat Abdullah, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has stated that unless the government restores the internet, removes the curfew, releases detainees, and forces certain ministers to resign within a few days, then the protests will resume.
The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.
The Country of the Week is Bangladesh! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language. https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one. https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts. https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel. https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator. https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps. https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language. https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language. https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses. https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Absolutely hilarious to me that Kamala's two most famous quotes, "You think you just fell out of a coconut tree? You exist in the context of all in which you live and what came before you," and "What can be, unburdened by what has been." Are just two completely mutually exclusive statements.
⚡️BON APPÉTIT! MAGGOTS RELEASED ON THE ISRAELI PM NETANYAHU’S TABLE
Protesters disrupted the Watergate Hotel last night, targeting Netanyahu, Israeli Mossad agents, and the Secret Service. Mealworms and maggots were placed on banquet tables, while crickets were released on multiple floors. Fire alarms were triggered for over 30 minutes, creating chaos to prevent rest before Netanyahu's appearance before Congress.
Genuinely insane that Netanyahu can just give a speech on the Palestinian people that is the 2024 version of a “White Man’s Burden” and people will still argue that Israel is not an apartheid state. This MF literally was talking about “Israel’s vision of Palestine” like ok well who said that you get to have a vision on Palestine? That’s like… supposed to not be your place to have a say if you aren’t an apartheid state.
The New Yorker got caught publishing quotes from two fake "Hezbollah field commander" whose comments read to me like they were coming from hasbara account.
In case you're wondering how cooked we are with climate change and deforestation, here's a recent satellite photograph of South America. Notice anything that's missing?
Oh that's right half the Amazon rainforest is gone... Just look at the Western half of Brazil, you can see the boundaries for protected areas as they are still forested. Just islands of forest.
President Biden had just finished trying to persuade a group of congressional Democrats to pass a $1 trillion infrastructure bill when Nancy Pelosi, then the House speaker, took the microphone.
In 30 minutes of remarks on Capitol Hill, Biden had spoken disjointedly and failed to make a concrete ask of lawmakers, according to Democrats in the room. After he left, a visibly frustrated Pelosi told the group she would articulate what Biden had been trying to say, one lawmaker said.
“It was the first time I remember people pretty jarred by what they had seen,” recalled Rep. Dean Phillips (D., Minn.), who would go on to mount an unsuccessful primary challenge against the president.
That was October 2021. That month was the last time Biden met with the House Democratic caucus on the Hill regarding legislation.
In case you're wondering if aggressively defending and educating about Islamic Resistance Movements in communist spaces is some sort of gag or trolling, I'll have you know that I spent a significant portion of today debunking anti-DPRK and anti-China propaganda in an international Muslim community I am a part of.
In doing some investigation for debunking, I learned about the Hui people who are an ethno-religious group of Muslims in China of about 10.5 million people. They are descendants of Persian/Arab/Afghan Muslim traders who traveled the silk road around 1000 years ago and intermarried with the locals while keeping their faith.
Interestingly, during the height of the East Turkistan Islamic Movement Uyghur seperatist terrorism in China, they takfired the Hui people (probably because the Hui are Sufis) and specifically targeted them. This reveals the true nature of the NATO-backed separatists in Xinjiang and undoes this narrative that "China is oppressing the Muslims."
There are at least six different Muslim ethnic groups in China but the only ones the "oppressed" by the CPC contained an extremist Salafi group of who wanted to kill other Muslims. Interesting 🤔. Even more interesting is the Uyghur separatists openly declared support to the zionist entity after Al Aqsa Flood. Almost makes you think....
Anyways
Here is an interesting youtube video of a travel blogger visiting a Hui city in Yunnan province where it seems everyone is Muslim, all the food is halal, alcohol and cigarettes are banned, and the Chinese Communist Party is just letting them live their lives.
I must say that I just opened TikTok for the first time in like 2 weeks and all I’m getting is Kamala Kamala Kamala coconut tree this coconut tree that
Feel like I’m losing it. This is the person who couldn’t win a single fucking delegate IN HER HOME STATE and now I’m expected to believe that everyone loves her all of a sudden? Holy shit this is a brand new level of consent manufacturing
Senate Dems are apparently scrambling to figure out who will preside over Netanyahu's speech and be forever in the back of the pictures of the genocidaire speaking in the Senate. There have been previous reports that Harris and her team do not approve of the blank check that Biden gave Bibi, but who knows what that actually means in practice.
They should fucking make Schumer do it. He signed the letter inviting Bibi.
Gotta say that we on the left have a lot to learn from the sheer impressive power that the DNC have when it comes to consolidation when the serious shit happens. Any issue on the left is debated and derailed by loser energy, while the DNC machine can just snap into overdrive mode where literally every single voice all fall in line when there is a serious lib matter. Remember how hard they consolidated for Biden pre-Super Tuesday in 2020, or how the discussion around Kamala went from "can she do it" to "I'll die for her" in literal hours in the last three days. Yeah of course we don't have the media tools for that, but it just pains me to see how hard the "ackshually" loser energy derails any leftist momentum these days, while libs all deeply know that their candidate is a loser but still delude themselves into actually fully believing.
Over the years, the Israeli leader has developed a reputation among the staff at the U.S. president’s guesthouse for bringing special cargo on his trips to Washington: bags and suitcases full of dirty laundry, according to U.S. officials familiar with the matter.
"There are 92 elections that we monitor, I would say that the electoral process in Venezuela is the best in the world" - Jimmy Carter, former president of the USA.
Can't wait for the US to refuse to believe in the Carter Center results again.
The Olympics are such a farce, the double standards are ridiculous. Russia gets banned for the invasion of Ukraine yet there is no question that Isn'trael be allowed to compete while actively committing genocide.
Though of course this isn't new, Amerikkka has been allowed to compete despite everything they have done all over the world. Just another case of these "international events" being a case of
Israel’s national anthem was loudly jeered before its soccer team kicked off play at the Paris Olympics against Mali on Wednesday night.
When it came to Israel’s anthem, boos and whistles immediately rang out. The stadium speaker system playing the anthems then got notably louder in what seemed like an effort to drown out the jeers.
This is just the appetizer… I’m hoping that Israel gets booed hard during the opening ceremonies. Though I strongly suspect the broadcasters are expecting this and there will be shenanigans to ensure the broadcast will barely register any booing at all, no matter how loud it actually gets.
At first I thought it was good news that the Nazis think JD Vance is a race traitor, so they're likely to not vote for Trump and stay home, but then I remembered, not voting is the same as voting for Trump, so they're still voting for Trump.
Several rival Palestinian groups, including Fatah and Hamas, signed a declaration to form a unity government, ending years of division. China brokered the negotiations. Fatah, which controls the West Bank’s Palestinian Authority, was thrown out of Gaza by Hamas in 2007. The agreement paves the way for creating a government for the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
So that unity deal some folks were posting about actually happened. Amazing that China could pull this off, kudos to them for hosting. Hamas and Fatah back together again, that's the power of the disastrous operation in Gaza. Israel has never been more cooked.
The following was agreed upon by 14 Palestinian factions at the end of the reconciliation meeting in Beijing, China today, including Hamas, PIJ, PFLP, DFLP, and Fatah:
—
The Palestinian factions welcome the opinion of the International Court of Justice, which confirmed the illegality of presence, occupation, and settlement.
Continuing to follow up on the implementation of the agreements to end the division that took place with the help of Egypt, Algeria, China, and Russia.
Commitment to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in Al-Quds in accordance with international resolutions, especially 181 and 242, and ensuring the right of return.
We affirm the right of the Palestinian people to resist occupation and end it in accordance with international laws, the UN Charter, and the right of peoples to self-determination.
To form a temporary national unity government with the consensus of Palestinian factions and by a decision of the president based on the Palestinian Basic Law.
The formed government exercises its powers and authorities over all Palestinian territories, confirming the unity of the West Bank, Al-Quds, and the Gaza Strip.
To resist and thwart attempts to displace our people from their homeland, especially from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Al-Quds.
Working to lift the barbaric siege on our people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank and deliver humanitarian and medical aid without restriction or condition.
It's plainly obvious what's going on in Gaza right now is a genocide because westerners aren't currently dying or shriveling up from Genocide Withdrawal stemming from their physiological dependence on committing a genocide at any given moment.
She starts by praising Biden. “Joe Biden’s legacy of accomplishments over the past three years is unmatched in modern history,” Harris says. “Yes, you may clap,” she tells the crowd.
seeing the entire legislature today applauding a genocidaire nazi shithead broke something in me (yeah it shouldn't have been there in the first place)
Palestinian Factions Sign Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity
2024-07-23 18:49
On July 23, 2024, Member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi attended in Beijing the closing ceremony of the reconciliation talks of Palestinian factions and witnessed the signing of the Beijing Declaration on Ending Division and Strengthening Palestinian National Unity by 14 Palestinian factions.
In his remarks, Wang Yi noted that since entering the new era, President Xi Jinping has put forward proposals and propositions on addressing the Palestinian question, contributing Chinese wisdom and solution for addressing the question. Now, 14 Palestinian factions are gathering in Beijing with the greater good of their nation in mind. This is an important historical moment in the Palestinian liberation cause. China commends the reconciliation efforts made by all the factions, and congratulates them on the success of the Beijing dialogue and the signing of the Beijing Declaration.
Wang Yi pointed out that only when Palestinian factions speak as one can the voice of justice be loud and clear, and only when they join hands and march forward shoulder to shoulder can they succeed in their national liberation cause. The most important consensus from the Beijing talks is to achieve the reconciliation and unity among the 14 factions; the core outcome is the affirmation of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representative of all Palestinian people; the biggest highlight is the agreement on establishing an interim government of national reconciliation focusing on the post-conflict reconstruction of Gaza; and the strongest call is for truly establishing an independent State of Palestine in accordance with relevant U.N. resolutions. The key to the Palestinian reconciliation process is to bolster confidence, keep to the right direction, and make incremental progress. Only by making continuous efforts to build consensus and put it into practice can the reconciliation process yield more and more substantive progress and greater unity. Reconciliation is the internal affair of Palestinian factions, and cannot happen without international support. On the path toward reconciliation, China shares the same direction and destination with Arab and Islamic countries.
Wang Yi noted that the Palestinian question is at the core of the Middle East issue. China never has any selfish interests on the Palestinian question. China was among the first countries to recognize the PLO and the State of Palestine. China all along firmly supports the Palestinian people in restoring their legitimate national rights. We value fairness and advocate for justice. At present, the Gaza conflict drags on, its spillovers continue to spread, and multiple regional conflicts are interconnected. To help get out of the current conflict and predicament, China proposes a three-step initiative:
The first step is to achieve comprehensive, lasting and sustainable ceasefire in the Gaza Strip as soon as possible, and ensure access to humanitarian aid and rescue on the ground. The international community should build more synergy for ending the hostilities and establishing a ceasefire.
The second step is to make joint efforts toward post-conflict governance of Gaza under the principle of “Palestinians governing Palestine.” Gaza is an inseparable, integral part of Palestine. Restarting post-conflict reconstruction as soon as possible is an urgent priority. The international community needs to support Palestinian factions in establishing an interim national consensus government and realizing effective management of Gaza and the West Bank.
The third step is to help Palestine become a full member state of the U.N. and get down to implementing the two-State solution. It is important to support the convening of a broad-based, more authoritative, and more effective international peace conference to work out a timetable and road map for the two-State solution.
Ceasefire and humanitarian rescue are pressing priorities. “Palestinians governing Palestine” is the basic principle for the post-conflict governance of Gaza. The two-State solution is the fundamental way forward. The international community should support the parties in taking the three steps in real earnest.
Wang Yi noted that intra-Palestinian reconciliation will bring hope and a future to the Palestinian people. It is an important step toward resolving the Palestinian question and achieving peace and stability in the Middle East. Unwavering efforts must be continually made in this direction. China sincerely hopes that Palestinian factions will achieve reconciliation and, on that basis, realize independent statehood at an early date. We will strengthen communication and coordination with the relevant parties and make joint efforts for the implementation of the Beijing Declaration.
Head of the Fatah delegation Mr. Mahmoud al-Aloul and head of the Hamas delegation Mr. Musa Abu Marzouk delivered remarks on behalf of the Palestinian factions. They noted that China holds an important place in the heart of Palestinian people, and expressed sincere appreciation for President Xi Jinping and China’s unchanging, firm support and selfless assistance to Palestine over a long period of time. They spoke highly of China’s acting as a responsible major country and upholding justice for Palestine in international fora. They expressed deep appreciation for China’s strong support for intra-Palestinian dialogue and reconciliation. They stated their readiness to implement the consensus, strengthen unity among factions, advance the reconciliation process, and work for an early solution to the question of Palestine.
Diplomatic envoys to China or their representatives from Egypt, Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, Russia and Türkiye as well as representatives from 14 main Palestinian factions attended the closing ceremony.
LONG LIVE THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF CHINA AND LONG LIVE XI JINPING
“What happened in China isn’t significant,” said Jehad Harb, an analyst of Palestinian affairs. “There aren’t any indications that Hamas and Fatah intend to end the split between them.”
“These statements aren’t worth the ink needed to write them,” said Abd Al-Rahman Basem al-Masri, 25, a resident of Deir al Balah in central Gaza. “We’ve seen these things before and we’ve lost hope in them.”
Great example of how media tries to control narratives.
For all the talk about "terror tunnels" in Gaza, nobody really considers how ordinary this is. There's a network of tunnels under Washington D.C. connecting key institutions, including military ones, but we don't call those terror tunnels.
My Paraguayan brothers just demolished "Israel" 4-2 in Olympic Games football. "Israel" has the right to defend it's goalposts (they just don't do it very well)
Death to "Israel". Even in something quite meaningless like olympic games football they deserve to lose. As long as they exist, they shouldn't be able to enjoy anything.
In congress the devil gave his speach but outside he was burned in effigy along with the flags from this pole which is pictured with the Palestinian flags which replaced that trash
In response to the flag burning the pigs fired tear gas, sorry I don't have any pictures of the burning
A Muslim-Canadian flew into occupied Palestine on a tourist visa then drove to a military checkpoint. According to zionist media he stabbed two settlers after screaming "You are killing civilians in Gaza." He was martyred after being shot by the checkpoint guards.
Maduro once again refers to Milei as a “goddamn miscreant fascist Nazi”. During a campaign event this Sunday in Nueva Esparta, the official candidate for the presidential elections asked his followers in this region if they want "what is happening in Argentina to happen in Venezuela."
I cannot believe that people think Biden stepped aside amicably just because he didn't call Harris a removed in his resignation letter. A week ago reporters said he was old-man raging against the people who had turned against him and "betrayed him," boo fucking hoo, and now in forty eight hours libs have completely whitewashed him into some selfless hero with an astounding political IQ.
As if he wasn't lying in bed with a fever mumbling about Gerald Ford when his advisors told him that the DNC was gonna cut off all funding and handed him that pre-written letter to sign.
Once the deep sea project is complete, the financial and industrial hub will receive about 100 billion kilowatt-hours of clean electricity every year, according to local newspaper Xinmin Evening News. That’s more than half of Shanghai’s annual power consumption. The city is also set to receive green power from Inner Mongolia via a state-backed, long-distance grid, the paper reported, without providing details for either project.
China is leading the global push for renewable energy, with its offshore wind capacity set to triple to 129 gigawatts by 2030, according to BloombergNEF. Fierce prices wars between domestic manufacturers have made equipment much cheaper than in the rest of the world, driving market demand for clean energy. The price of offshore wind power even dipped below that of coal-generated electricity last month in another project off Shanghai.
it's pretty funny when China, the "authoritarian communist no food no freedom" country, is doing the whole corporations-competing-driving-down-prices thing better than Western countries whose economies now consist of a grand total of about 6-7 monopoly corporations, which, if anything, do the opposite and conspire to increase prices among themselves
I just fucking can't with this shit, if the election takes place without her clarifying her position on Gaza and she doesn't catch some major mainstream criticism for it, I will have lost all hope
It's so weird how Putin used to be the "funny bald russian chuck norris" redditcore meme back in the day until around 2017 or so. Then he became satan lol
🚨 Amid concerns that Israel might invade Lebanon, President Biden is expected to issue a Deferred Enforced Departure order for Lebanon tomorrow, allowing non-citizens to remain in the US indefinitely due to unsafe conditions, source tells me.
JD Vance, Trump's running mate, is the least liked non-incumbent vice presidential nominee since 1980, and the first to have a net negative favorable rating - CNN
Seeing how the chattering classes' coronation of Genocide Joe's handpicked successor has led to her apparently being successful in the polls has made me wonder whether the predominant analysis of her viability has been lacking.
Before everybody with access to mass media decided that she was going to be the champion of the democrat faction of the state party, people here were dismissive on her chances of winning, pointing out how unrelatable and awkward she is and how embarrassingly unpopular her primary campaign was. All of this is still true but it doesn't seem to matter, she has lots of things going for her. She is not another racist old white man, despite being part of the inner circle for all of Genocide Joe's regime she has been assigned the "fresh face" role meaning that she gets none of the blame for the mismanagement and broken promises and she is neither Genocide Joe or Donald Trump. Even the anti-genocide voices seem to have been dampened by her saying some disingenuous and uncommitting niceties about Palestine and doing some political theatre around Zyklon Bibi's performance.
To me it seems like the individual merits of a bourgeois politician has less to do with their success than one would otherwise assume and that a weak candidate can be carried across the finishing line by media consensus. A similar thing happened with the appointment of Genocide Joe himself in 2020 who went from being a low-energy loser to bring handed the candidacy after the democrat elite formed a consensus around him.
Examples like these suggest the existence of a powerful political machine with the ability to manufacture consent very effectively on a large scale. If the powers that be decides that people should be enthusiastic for Kamala Harris, people will be that. If they decide that nobody should care about Genocide Joe being demented, nobody will care, if they flip and decide that people should start caring about it they will.
This raises the question of how the left is going to engage with that machine. Obviously liberal Electoralism is insufficient and nobody on the left has the means to do a protracted people's war but.
Israel’s assault on Gaza had killed at least 172 dependents of United Nations staff by the end of June, according to a confidential UN report obtained by Drop Site, in addition to 195 staff members.
The previously unreported data reflects the extraordinary toll not just for employees of the United Nations but for their families, and emerges as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares to address a joint session of Congress Wednesday.
. . .
In May, the U.N. reported that 188 staff members of UNRWA had been killed by then, but has not previously disclosed the extent of the familial casualties.
Direct quote from my dear old father, perfectly illustrating the brainworms of the west: "Entire villages from Albania or Turkey are moving to Sweden where they form a cartel or a gang"
After the fall of King Brandon the Feeble-minded, the nobles supporting Lady Kamala the Awkward hastened to secure her claim to the Throne of Skulls. Success followed swiftly, for when word spread that she would inherit the throne, no noble or sage in the realm dared support any other pretender. They feared being on the losing side and fall from the grace of the future queen. Soon, even the High Priest of Change, ever careful not to reveal his machinations prematurely, made movements to bless her ascension.
As the banners bearing the sigil of the House of Brandon were quietly pulled down from the Great White Hall and replaced with those bearing the chained child sigil of the House of Kamala, all was set for Lady Kamala the Awkward to ride to the City of Wind for her coronation. Nobles from all corners of the realm were travelling there to do obeisance and kiss her ring.
In these dire times, priests and sages, desperate for hope, uttered fervent prayers, convincing themselves and the people that Kamala the Awkward would be the champion to vanquish the hordes of the Orange Troll King. Many a priest, in their desperation, believed the heavens were answering their prayers and promising victory.
Yet, a pall of unease lingered and whispers of doubt and uncertainty still permeated the air, casting shadows over the pomp and ceremony. Only the passage of time would tell if these hopes were in vain or if the threads of fate had indeed been rewoven in favor of the realm.
We need to talk about a second Trump presidency and its effect on US imperialism, now that Biden is out of the way.
If you’ve seen my posts before you know that I am one of the few here that actually think Biden is a competent imperialist. Now that he’s irrelevant, we should contrast Trump’s and Biden’s policies (both have a one-term report card as president) and see how and why Trump will fumble the US imperialist ambitions.
First, Trump does not understand that the US is no longer an industrial power, but a financial power
MAGA is necessarily self-defeating, if it is being taken seriously. The main obstacle to the re-industrialization of the US is not China stealing jobs from America like Trump has been selling to his supporters, but finance capital aka Wall St that will do anything to prevent American from earning higher wages (an inevitable consequence of industrialization) which is detrimental to the banking sector. Not to mention the rise of labor movement - the re-proletarianization process - now that labor is re-tied to production, not debt anymore. Capitalists don’t want to deal with that - that’s the whole point of outsourcing American production base overseas - to crush the rising labor movement at home during the 1970s. Finance capitalists certainly don’t want that.
Even if Trump forces through a MAGA re-industrialization, how are you ever going to beat China in industrial terms? You don’t have the supply chain, you don’t have the low wage labor advantage, you will need many decades to re-acquiesce the technical proficiency required to compete at the global market, assuming you can find such skilled labor to begin with. Unless you have a central planning socialist economy, you will need to compete at the export market in order to keep the investment going. In doing so, the US is going to be destroyed by Chinese production, not to mention the dozens of Belt and Road countries coming online soon.
America’s strength lies in its currency and the deep well of finance capital it has amassed over the decades and has penetrated every corner of the global market. It is propped up by the virtual sector (finance, insurance, real estate, rent and lease) that boosts the strength of the US currency and thus its ability to wreck other economies and extort “free ride” from the rest of the world.
Biden understood this and played the correct move: let China build the supply chain for America. Because much of the intrastructure loan (~70%) for the Belt and Road countries were denominated in dollars, that means these countries will need to sell their products to the US to earn dollars to repay their Chinese creditors. With China unwilling to cancel their debt, that is the only way these countries can grow their economy. What the US needs to do then, is simply to build the IMEC supply chain logistics through India, flood India with dollars and obtain the goods through there, because these BRI countries will certainly be looking for ways to earn those dollars.
Why would China do that, you ask? Because the Chinese strategy is fundamentally anti-Trump. I have read from some commentators that China wants to use those BRI countries to flood America with cheap goods to destroy the US domestic industries - which is exactly what will happen if Trump proceeds with the MAGA “bring back the jobs” strategy. On the other hand, Biden’s strategy was practically immune to Belt and Road because they never wanted to re-industrialize in the first place! With so much loans given out in dollars, the US can easily own the entire supply chain once they have been built with the help of China/BRICS.
Trump came from the New York landlord class but it really shows, as evident from his failed business ventures in the past, that he never understood how the landlords wield their power.
Second, Trump wants to curb “illegal immigration” but does not have a solution to the labor problem
America has 11 MILLION “illegal immigrants”, good luck trying to play the whack-a-mole game while depleting all your resources doing so. It is never going to be done. And even if it somehow managed, how are you going to replace the source of labor that these immigrant workers have toiled?
Biden’s strategy was much simpler and effective: impoverish Europe, then transplant the European immigrant workers fleeing war and fascism into America to help build the Fourth Reich.
What Biden understood here correctly, and Trump did not, is that America is fundamentally a country of immigrants. It derives its strength from being able to poach immigrants from the rest of the world to come work in America - for the simple reason that the dollar is the most attractive currency in the world.
Think about this: developing countries spends tens of thousands of dollars if not more to feed, educate and cultivate their youth, give them scholarships to study overseas. Guess what, they all ended up wanting to stay in Western countries because the standards of living and the economic opportunities are simply magnitudes greater in the Western imperialist core. America gets free labor without needing to waste a single cent. America just need to wreck other countries’ economies and people will want to leave their home to come to America. It is doing the same to Europe right now.
Third, Trump wants to reduce deficit, which will be disastrous for the US economy
Trump is already talking about bringing interest rates down if he becomes president, which is a good thing from an economic perspective until you realize that a) high interest rate is squeezing the Global South and crunching their dollar reserves, making them more dependent on the dollar to function; and b) America’s deficit from the past year has been disproportionately driven by interest income payment due to the high interest payout from short-term treasury bills.
The first one - squeezing the Global South - is a risky gambit. Push them a bit too far and those countries will abandon the dollar and look for an alternative. In fact, we were seeing some movement along this front in the summer of 2022, when the interest rate hikes first began. However, Biden correctly gambled that China and BRICS would not dare to do anything to challenge the dollar, and it paid off. As of right now, 2 years after the fact, BRICS still hasn’t come up with a viable alternative. At the same time, a trillion dollar of interest payout in one year alone, starting to trickle down to the foreign sector even if you consider that most of the interest income went to rich people’s pockets. With two dozen African countries on the verge of default, and many more under severe dollar crunch, the newly liquified dollar is coming to provide temporary relief. Everyone now works harder to earn dollars just to survive another day. As such, the dollar remains king, and the gambit worked.
Additionally, lowering the interest rate is risky for US domestic economy - with nearly half of the 8% GDP deficit coming from interest payout, that means cutting the interest rate will inevitably cut the deficit spending if no new money creation comes from the Federal Reserve.
Trump brags about reducing America’s public debt, raised concerns about the $34 trillion debt. If Trump starts to lower interest rates, stop issuing new debt, then the deficit spending will hit a wall, and the US economy will enter a recession.
Fourth, Trump doesn’t understand the role of foreign wars in maintaining dollar hegemony
Trump is campaigning on ending wars under Biden (or at the very least, reducing foreign aid spending in Ukraine), bragged about not starting a single war during his term (maybe too incompetent to start a war with Iran after the Soleimani assassination lol), but he doesn’t understand that wars are what made the GDP goes up, and by extension, the strength of US dollar.
America doesn’t care about their equipments getting blown up in Ukraine, or in Israel. Under finance capitalism, every piece of military equipment blown up means GDP goes up, it means the US dollar becomes stronger. America then uses the strength of its dollar to wreck other economies. Without this, the military industrial complex grift cannot continue. How is Trump ever going to keep the military industrial complex happy?
Trump and Republicans alike criticize Biden’s foreign aid - $175 billion to Ukraine in the last 2 years. “Whoa so much of our taxpayers money goes to arm Ukraine!” Yes, but it serves the primary function of providing dollar liquidity to a world that is under dollar crunch.
Take Europe for example. After Nord Stream and sanctions against Russia, they now need to import American energy to sustain their manufacturing sector, and everything else. Without providing a channel for them to obtain dollars, they will be forced to abandon the dollar. Remember, you want to control the countries with your currency.
Biden understood this, but Trump doesn’t. Trump may be a Zionist, but without the strength of the dollar, the US empire cannot support the genocidal regime in Israel. That will be Israel’s downfall.
By giving billions of foreign aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, these countries are going to use those free dollars to buy shit from Europe, which can in turn use those dollars to import energy from America. Who benefits? The US finance capital and the oil and gas sector.
Remember the little submarine that went looking for the Titanic? That was the shit. You gotta appreciate those moments, you just gotta point and laugh at the bourgeoisie during its decadent phase.
Today (26) is the 71st anniversary of the invasion of the Moncada Barracks. The date is considered the beginning of the Cuban Revolution, which would happen 6 years later with the fall of the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, on January 1, 1959.
The story of the assault on the Moncada Barracks is considered one of the most important historical events in the social and revolutionary struggles of the 20th century: it was a rebellion against the dictatorship that Cuba was subjected to at the time, but, above all, it was a rebellion against the dogmas of the possible.
“Moncada’s actions were, in practice, a military failure. However, this failure was transformed into a political success based on a whole series of significant elements in Cuba's history", says history professor at the University of Havana Fernández Batista.
From that moment on, Fidel Castro became one of the main opposition figures to the Cuban regime. The message began to spread across the country, with the landmark speech "History will absolve me", when the revolutionary went on trial on October 16 in the same year, in 1953, due to the robbery.
It seems like the US film and tv industry is in big crisis which will get even worse soon. Saw another article I can't find that says that currently there aren't enough scheduled movies for fall and winter. It would be somewhat fitting that the last 'great blockbuster' of the USA would be a marvel movie as the cultural hegemon loses power.
Kamala Harris calls for an end to "the war in Gaza" after meeting with Netanyahu. Messaging wise, this was important for her, but talk is cheap when trotting out this ceasefire framework when it was created as a fig leaf for Biden's monstrous inaction.
Roger Waters asks for a vote for President Nicolás Maduro. “Go out and vote for Nicolás Maduro! Because Venezuela belongs to you, to the people, not to the Chevron Corporation.”
LMAO. I made this comment in a blue-no-matter-who meme post in /r/DemocraticSocialism (which I once moderated, but it got taken over by liberals during the Reddit API blackout):
JFC this is literally just another liberal sub now. Yikes.
and a moderator removed it with the reply:
No sectionalism.
What a farce. The posers don't even know how to spell "sectarianism". Not to mention, of course, the giganto-brained idea that it actually applies between leftists and liberals.
I don't get why people are so shocked about the Satanyahu congress speech circlejerk. This is the face of the West that everyone that pays attention fully knows. The imperialists in the US, Israel, UK, Germany, France, whatever are all one team and have the same donors and come from the same evil ass institutions. Expecting a drop of justice or conscience from these freaks is delusional. Stop paying attention to what Senator David Deportlatinowitz has to say or which congress seat Lisa Loveisraelson is stealing with AIPAC money, this is all worthless. The internal politics of the blob isn't important, the most evil and depraved scenario will happen and expecting anything different will just lead to constant disappointment.
How can I find out who voted for/against UN GA resolution 37/43 on the rights of peoples to self determination, the one that explicitly states occupied peoples including Palestinians have the right to armed resistance to occupation? I've got the text of the resolution but I don't know where to find the associated voting record.
Israel started by adopting an old and unsuitable plan, continued by ignoring professional advice and the possible danger to the abductees – and ended quietly a few months later, anyone saying whether it achieved anything at all. Haaretz surveys profiles the Atlantis project – a predictable military failure which no one stopped until it was too late
And, from the Resistance News Network:
“With much fanfare, the zionist entity boasted about its "game changing" plan to "flood" the resistance's tunnels in Gaza at the beginning of the war. A shoddy plan for doing so was created by the IOF in Shati' camp, but to no avail.
Today in Haaretz, it was revealed that the so-called "Atlantis" project turned out to be a miserable and useless failure. As quoted, no one in the IOF can say what benefit, if any, that this expensive project had.
The investigation revealed that the system began operating even before soliciting opinions from specialists. It was used exactly one time in one tunnel, without any knowledge of its effectiveness, even after it was used, nor whether it affected resistance fighters or zionist captives.
Haaretz also claimed that Hamas was prepared for such a possibility and created water absorption drains in the tunnels that would render them impossible to flooding.
Nearly 300 days later, the overwhelming majority of the resistance's tunnel network remains intact, spanning an area almost twice the size of the Gaza Strip itself. What has been uncovered or allegedly dismantled by zionist forces up to this point have been mostly dispensable attack tunnels. With the revelation a few weeks ago of a three-story underground in Rafah, its clear that the secrets the tunnels hold are greater than they appear, and that the ingenuity and adaptability of the resistance continues to pose a challenge to the zionist enemy.”
If you've see anything regarding the "American Communist Party" online lately, it appears to be a crypto scam
They're claiming to be endorsed by Xi which is just, lmao
A source close to the investigation told AFP the attacks were coordinated acts of "sabotage".
"This is a massive attack on a large scale to paralyse the TGV network," SNCF told AFP, adding that many routes would be cancelled.
"SNCF was the victim of several simultaneous malicious acts overnight," the national train operator said, adding that the attacks affected its Atlantic, northern and eastern lines.
"Arson attacks were started to damage our facilities," it said, adding that traffic on the affected lines was "heavily disrupted" and the situation would last through the weekend as repairs are conducted.
SNCF chief executive Jean-Pierre Farandou said 800,000 passengers were affected.
Transport Minister Patrice Vergriete called the attacks an "outrageous criminal act" that would have "very serious consequences" for rail traffic throughout the weekend.
He said connections towards northern, eastern and northwestern France would be halved.
SNCF said trains were being diverted to different tracks "but we will have to cancel a large number of them".
The southeastern line was not affected as "a malicious act was foiled".
SNCF urged passengers to postpone their trips and stay away from train stations.
Olympics under heavy security
The attacks were launched as Paris was under heavy security ahead of the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, with 300,000 spectators and an audience of VIPs expected at the event.
The parade on Friday evening will see up to 7,500 competitors travel down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river Seine on a flotilla of 85 boats.
It will be the first time a Summer Olympics has opened outside the main athletics stadium, a decision fraught with danger at a time when France is on its highest alert for terror attacks.
At Paris's Montparnasse train station, passengers were waiting for more information about their trips, with display boards showing delays of more than two hours.
"Normal traffic is expected to resume on Monday, July 29," read one of the signs in the departure hall.
The station's loudspeakers told passengers that conditions to exchange and refund tickets would be more flexible.
Graphic designer Katherine Abby, 30, clung to hope that her trip would only be delay and not cancelled. She booked her tickets for Biarritz, a popular southwest beach resort, weeks ago.
"It's my only vacation of the year, said Abby, who was travelling with her husband.
"I've been waiting for this moment for a year, I would be pretty demoralised to have to cancel this trip, especially when you see what Paris looks like with the Olympic Games," she said.
At that point, according to Emily Goodin, a Daily Mail reporter who was in the traveling press pool, the president was “deathly pale” and Air Force One flew at maximum speed to Delaware, where the president has a weekend retreat at Rehoboth Beach. The press pool was told that Biden had COVID. Nothing more was said on Air Force One. After Biden’s return to Delaware, the White House told the public that Biden had contracted a COVID infection and would be in isolation. He was said to have upper respiratory symptoms, a runny nose, a cough, and was fatigued.
That was the last straw for a core group of Congressional leaders, government officials and some senior Biden funders who were withholding huge amounts of committed contributions. “There was pressure on donors to come across on their pending commitments,” the official told me. “It was understood that Biden had a physical problem in Las Vegas and the family was saying no” to continued pressure from donors and senior Democrats in Congress to withdraw from the presidential campaign. Initially, the president could not be reached.
By Saturday, July 20, former President Barack Obama was deeply involved, and there was talk that he would place a call to Biden. It was not clear whether Biden had been examined or just what happened to him in Las Vegas. “The Big Three,” the official said, referring to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, continued to be directly involved. “On Sunday morning,” the official told me, with the approval of Pelosi and Schumer, “Obama called Biden after breakfast and said, ‘Here’s the deal. We have Kamala’s approval to invoke the 25th Amendment.” The amendment provides that when the president is determined by the vice president and others to be unfit to carry out the powers and duties of his office, the vice president shall assume those duties.
Stupid coworker, usually pretty conservative, said he's voting for Kamala because of "hawk tua", was unclear if this idiot thought a bj was like a campaign promise or just he liked the idea... the state of our politics...
Biden will forever be an inspiration to others about keeping a heart even in a life of high-stakes politics. We will miss Joe being president, but we should all carry his legacy of devotion to a better tomorrow. 🥺🥺🥺🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡🫡
I absolutely love Joe Biden. Easily the greatest president of my lifetime (Obama very close second.)
Idk if it was live but just watched Cuba beat USA in Men's Beach Volleyball. The Cuban's were pumped and really trying to get the crowd into it all match despite the rain.
Theory: Trump wins, names Larry Fink as treasury secretary. Gets mad at him, fires him, expropriates Blackrock as revenge. 30% of the US market is now publicly owned. Checkmate.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown has said he is “fully confident” that the US could beat China in a war that breaks out over Taiwan.
Brown acknowledged the war would be a major conflict and said the US was working to build up military logistics in the Asia Pacific by stockpiling weapons, ammunition, and other types of supplies.
Logistics? Lmao
Brown’s comments reflect a growing trend of US military officials openly discussing that they’re preparing for a direct war with China even though Beijing is a nuclear-armed power. The risk of nuclear escalation doesn’t appear to be factored into the plans since it’s rarely mentioned by US officials.
BREAKING: Actionists smash inside Dean Group in Manchester, a key supplier of components for Israel’s Elbit Systems
Stacks of the company’s products were found inside Elbit’s Instro Precision factory in Kent, who’ve held over 80 licenses to export weapons to Israel since 2016.
Depending on whether these things do actually happen; Israel invading Lebanon and the Russians pulling off an October Surprise Big-Arrow offensive pretty much seals the deal for Trump
I like how Hasan puts it; 'Americans don't care about foreign policy, until it's the one thing they care about', and the media entering into reflexive panic mode over foreign policy can induce a "World War III y'all" myopic psychosis in self-centered Americans
Illegal mining on Yanomami indigenous land fell by 75% in the first half of the year
The number of illegal mining alerts on Yanomami indigenous land, in Brazil, fell from 219.6 hectares to 53.6 hectares, comparing the periods from January to June 2024 and last year.
the Park Fire in norcal is really something. it started on wednesday and it's already burned 350,000+ acres. i have never seen or heard of a fire covering that much ground that quickly, usually they take weeks or at least a week to really get going. 7th biggest fire in state history and third biggest non-complex fire; will almost certainly take the #2 spot before long
Venezuelan military refuses to shake hands with President Maduro’s opponent María Corina, who called on the U.S. to invade Venezuela and ask Benjamin Netanyahu for help to overthrow the government a couple of years ago.
In the speech today, Biden promised to cure cancer before the end of his presidency again. "Over the next 6 months I'll be focused on doing my job as president. .... I will keep fighting for my cancer moonshot so we can end cancer as we know it because we can do it. ...."
Conservative Twitter starting to corroborate leaks that Biden was originally going to a hospital but was suddenly switched to Air Force 1
Obviously take with a huge grain of salt but it's looking increasingly likely that Biden is severely ill or worse
EDIT: No-fly zone over Delaware also
It's so funny that if the GOP had just waited until after the conventions to have the first debate, instead of being so eager to expose Biden, the DNC would have been "Locked In With Biden" and Trump would have probably coasted to victory. These dorks love to talk like they are Sun Tzu Machiavelli experts and they just completely whiffed on what should have been a layup.
Seeking leverage with allies, the US is mulling whether to impose a measure called the foreign direct product rule, or FDPR, said people familiar with recent discussions. The rule lets the country impose controls on foreign-made products that use even the tiniest amount of American technology.
Such a step — seen by allies as draconian — would be used to clamp down on business in China by Japan’s Tokyo Electron and the Netherlands’ ASML, which make chipmaking machinery that’s vital to the industry. The US is presenting the idea to officials in Tokyo and the Hague as an increasingly likely outcome if the countries don’t tighten their own China measures, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the deliberations are private.
As expected, boomer lib expats are playing up the idpol aspect of Kamala and making her sound like some kind of girl boss. It would be funnier if it wasn’t so predictable.
I’m not as concerned with Kamala because I feel her lack of foreign policy experience will benefit Guatemala and the rest of Central America. She’s already viewed as a clown over here and the more she talks the more it will be confirmed. Not that Joe was much better but him being Obama’s VP gave him a lot of credibility.
If anything it’ll be business as usual for us with maybe a little more incompetence on her part as a treat. Unless she keeps Biden’s foreign policy team. They’re the real mvp’s for his foreign policy accomplishments and a pain in the ass.
Max Blumenthal’s “Goliath: Life and Loathing in Greater Israel” should be required reading for those learning about Israel. While Palestinian authors will always have the best accounts of life under occupation, max does a great job providing an American anti-Zionist perspective on life as a Jew in Israel from 2008-2012. For those wary of his recent turn into crankery, this book is actual pretty liberal, from his pre-grayzone years
Folks am I crazy to believe that Kamala has got this one in the bag?
If libs have voted for Biden's walking corpse, surely they will show up to vote for Kamala. She is a much better candidate than him in terms of vibes and optics, which is the only thing libs care about.
Besides, Roe v. Wade got overturned in the meantime, which means that libs actually have a reason to vote this time. I'm not saying that Dems will do anything about abortion when they win, but it's enough to mobilize their base to pokemon go to the polls.
I just heard my son crying. Whats wrong? I asked. I dont want an election,I want Biden to remain president forever he said. I calmed him down and explained that the election is for the venezuelan president and he smiled. He just turned 34.
María Corina Machado, speaks after the first bulletin announced by the CNE. "Venezuela has a new elected president and it is Edmundo González, and everyone knows it, we have won in all the states of the country."
The right is claiming to have won with 70% of the vote. No evidence presented at all, just pure delusion
I remember for whichever Star Wars the actress that originally played Princess Leia Disney (very controversially) used a deepfake of her after she passed. And they also did it to some other deceased actor that was in the original trilogy.
I’m not kidding when I say that I do not trust what I see on the tv anymore because the internet is becoming an epistemological wasteland
For the Burgerreich electoral theatre watchers/speculators, a phone call between and Harris campaign just dropped. His first "appearance" since something like the 17 July. Starts just after the 2 min mark. Another brief exchange with Harris is around 11:20. It's a minimal voice sample, but you can judge for yourself if this is the same Joe Biden we've been hearing from.
Harris: I knew you were still there. You're not going anywhere, Joe!
In a post on social media announcing that his address would be at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Mr. Biden said he would discuss “what lies ahead, and how I will finish the job for the American people.”
Vote For Six-Headed Zombie Hitler To Stop Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler
spoiler
Jack: So have you given any thought to who you’re going to vote for in November?
Jill: Yeah, I’ve been thinking about it a lot actually. I think I’m gonna sit this one out, or maybe vote third party.
Jack: What?? Don’t you know democracy is on the line this election?? Jill, this is the most important election of our lifetimes!
Jill: Jack they say that every election.
Jack: But this time it’s true, Jill! Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler wants to commit genocide and take over the world!
Jill: So does his opponent, Six-Headed Zombie Hitler.
Jack: Look, I’m not saying Six-Headed Zombie Hitler is perfect, but come on! He’s obviously WAY better than Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler! Sometimes you just have to vote for the lesser evil.
Jill: It’s not even clear to me that Six-Headed Zombie Hitler is meaningfully more evil than Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler, Jack! I mean, Six-Headed Zombie Hitler is really, really evil! What about all that genocide and imperialism he’s been supporting?
Jack: Okay but do you want all that genocide and imperialism to be perpetrated by a Zombie Hitler with even more heads? Just imagine how much worse it could get with that extra Zombie Hitler head added into the mix!
Jill: But Jack, doesn’t it feel kind of silly to even be debating this stuff anymore? At some point don’t we have to stop acting like the election results are the problem, when the real problem is clearly a system that’s so corrupt and undemocratic that it now forces us to choose between being ruled by undead Nazi hydra monsters with six heads or seven heads?
Jack: Jill, now’s not the time. Let’s just focus on getting Six-Headed Zombie Hitler into office, and then we can pressure him from the left to enact the policies we want! We can have our little revolution after we’ve stopped Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler.
Jill: That’s what you say now, but next election cycle they’ll roll out another Zombie Hitler with even more heads and you’ll be saying the same thing.
Jack: There’s a Zombie Hitler with even more than seven heads?? Gosh, Seven-Headed Zombie Hitler doesn’t look so bad anymore!
Jill: See that’s exactly what I’m talking about! This keeps happening! We keep finding ourselves in situations where we have to keep voting for a “lesser evil” who’s more and more evil each election cycle. When I was younger they told us we had to choose the least bad of two corrupt warmongering oligarch puppets who want America to rule the world, then at some point they started telling us we have to choose between two candidates who both literally support genocide, and now we’re seeing presidential races where it’s just a bunch of mad scientists creating Zombie Hitler monsters with more and more heads!
Jack: But Jill—
Jill: Where is the line, Jack?? Where is the line of evil you won’t cross beyond? At what point do you stop supporting evil monsters to defeat other slightly more evil-looking monsters? At what point do you say “Nope, that’s too much evil for me, it’s the system itself that needs to be defeated”?
Jack: I’d definitely never go higher than twelve heads.
on a more accurate investigation it looks like the patsocs have been trying to gain a presence in world for a while with the account of @jimmydoreisalefty as the lead mod for a bunch of small comms, they made comms for a bunch of twitter patsocs like hinkle, for other left accounts like brianna joy grey, galloway, Wolff , Jill stein, Kshama sawant, man the grift is longterm
its funny they pick one of the instances we arent federated with
Nigerian guy on Mastodon mentions a looming large-scale strike planned for August 1st. I know very little about the situation, but I guess that's something to look out for.
Dutch media is defending child rapist volleyball player by saying that it’s not known whether the sex between a 19 yr old and a 12 yr old was consensual. Instead of rape they write that van de Velde penetrated a 12 year old. That’s such a dehumanising way to describe the act. Can’t believe that there isn’t more outrage about this by Dutch people.
Seeing idiots bring up Jewish space lasers again with the wildfires in Canada. So idiotic. If there was actually Jewish space lasers, they'd be used on Gaza! But when has conspiracy brain ever had to have logic.
“I’m confident that the work is going on, the way that the choices are being rigorously examined and slowly downselected against the timeline that we need to meet will ensure that SSN AUKUS, will arrive on time, delivering just the capabilities that we require and crewed by either a UK crew or [an] Australian crew or, very probably, a mixture of both because we will be so integrated by then that it will almost be a natural [extension] of what we’re doing,” said the First Sea Lord, Admiral Ben Key.
Apparently Australia is going to have to borrow UK submariners to crew their imaginary future nuke subs? But the real story is the UK calls their lead Admiral the First Sea Lord. Tolkein ass, Game of Thrones sounding joke country.
I'd say I'm excited to watch the American Communist Party crash and burn, but unfortunately I don't think they're ever going to get off the ground in the first place.
Months after declining a United States request to deploy a warship to the Middle East, the Royal Australian Navy is preparing to assume command of an international maritime task force dedicated to protecting shipping lanes around the Red Sea.
Military sources have told the ABC that authorisation has been given for Australia to take over from Italy in leading Combined Task Force (CTF) 153, which is operated under the broader US-led Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), headquartered in Bahrain.
A small number of personnel are expected to be sent for the mission, which is likely to be headed by a naval captain, but again there are no plans to deploy an Australian warship or other defence assets.
Personnel and warships from 44 nations take part in CMF operations aimed at countering piracy and terrorism threats in crucial international shipping lanes across the Middle East region, with each country electing which missions it wants to complete.
CTF 153 was established in 2022 and is one of five task forces operated by the CMF, with its stated mission to "focus on international maritime security and capacity-building efforts in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden".
Currently, the task force staff includes as many as 15 Italian and international military personnel from CMF member nations, who are due to end their rotation in October this year when Australia's Navy is anticipated to take command for the first time.
Last year, the Albanese government faced criticism for not responding to Washington's international request for naval support against Houthi rebel attacks, but Australia later announced up to seven ADF personnel to support "Operation Prosperity Guardian" counterstrikes.
Australia is yet to publicly confirm its pending takeover of CTF 153, with the government instead pointing to existing personnel contributions to the CMF under Operation Manitou and support of US and UK strikes on Houthi rebels under Operation Hydranth.
Can't wait for the Venezuelan elections, and the shitshow is going to be after the results come out. Western Media saying the opposition have absurd numbers like 75% on the polls.
I can't fuckin stand OSINT guys. I follow a few on Twitter for Ukraine war stuff and like 9/10 posts will be interesting but the other one is always like "and that's why Dems stole the election!"
12 Spanish (idiot) policitians and 1 Portuguese one were deported after arriving with no invitation to spout bs about the elections. As if being an imperialist puppet was some sort of universal credential
Maybe the portuguese dude was a member of CHEGA! Maybe it was the Brazilian dude who was elected and promised to deport all brazilians
Fascists of the world, unite! Venezuelan far-right leader María Corina Machado thanked Argentine president Javier Milei for his support and highlighted the Venezuelan people's "libertarian spirit"
Build-up to Sunday's election continues with more observation missions arriving. The Turkish delegation landed in Caracas this morning
A good sign that cooler minds prevail. Lula's foreign policy point person Celso Amorim has arrived in Venezuela to witness Sunday’s presidential vote
RFK declares: Day 1 executive order will establish a national Bitcoin reserve, buy 550 BTC a day, all transactions using BTC and USD will be unrecordable and untaxable, and BTC will be a eligible 1031 asset.
Hey, I’m looking for the video of China negotiating drug prices where the representative gets them to take an additional 444 yuan off (something like that). Searched and can’t find. I think it was a CCTV report, 2023.
MUSEVENI’S ANTI-PROTEST WARNING: DON’T PLAY WITH FIRE!
Looks like someone’s nervous about people power. Uganda’s president addressed the nation to warn citizens - especially Gen Z - against taking part in anti-corruption protests on Tuesday (23rd July). Yoweri Museveni clearly doesn’t want to see the kind of mass-rallies that have swept Kenya and forced its president, William Ruto, to make concessions - though in this video, he claims what he’s really worried about is protesters stepping on the wares of street sellers! He said people should just come and see him for a friendly chat if they want to see any changes… as if!
Museveni also presented himself as a defender of the ‘revolution.’ He came to power in a military coup in 1986, when he wrested control from Milton Obote. Since then, he’s ruled with an iron fist, cracking down on opposition figures such as Bobi Wine and Kizza Besigye with house arrests and violence.
Tuesday’s planned protests are largely driven by growing public discontent with the government. In his address, Museveni said he and his team were ‘wealth creators’ - and warned protesters that they’d be ‘playing with fire’ if they dared to gather en masse in the capital Kampala. That’s created concerns that there will be violent scenes, as were seen in Nairobi a few weeks back, when peaceful protesters were met with deadly police brutality.
Obama plans to soon announce support for the candidacy of Kamala Harris, NBC reported. Advisers to Obama and Harris have also discussed the possibility of them appearing together on the campaign trail, sources said. Obama's wife Michelle also supports Harris.
Socialist states should be unitary one-party states. Entertaining bourgeois elections is just a stupid way of appeasing uncle Sam who is already going to try to fuck you no matter what you do. Go the full distance and consolidate power as China did.
Syrski, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces quotes some numbers that contradict the UA's official stats. Anybody paying attention is gonna be scratching their heads at all their lies.
"They have more of everything: tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, soldiers. Their original 100,000-strong invasion force has grown to 520,000 with a goal by the end of 2024 of 690,000 men."
“When it comes to equipment, there is a ratio of 1:2 or 1:3 in their favour,” he said. Since 2022 the number of Russian tanks has “doubled” – from 1,700 to 3,500. Artillery systems have tripled, and armoured personnel carriers gone up from 4,500 to 8,900. “The enemy has a significant advantage in force and resources,” Syrskyi said. “Therefore, for us, the issue of supply, the issue of quality, is really at the forefront.”
Just as a refresher, Ukrainian Armed Forces officially claim they have killed 571,350 Russian soldiers. They claim they have destroyed 8,313 tanks. They claim they have destroyed 15,804 artillery systems. They claim they have destroyed 16,039 APCs.
Do these number make sense to anybody at all? Russia's production would have to be absolutely INSANE to double their tanks despite losing 8,313. How could they hope to compete against such industrial output?
Just a general reminder that Harris was an unpopular candidate by the time she bowed out of the 2020 primary where her only moment in the sun coming from the media trying to push her for a hot minute as a popular alternative to Bernie for a hot minute. Granted that she has the benefit of mostly staying out of the media spotlight and would enjoy the full support of the Democratic Party in an uncontested primary, she still has to contend with the fact that she fucking sucks so bad her own state bailed on her in a race against the Maga messiah and a Kennedy spoiler candidate.
Though at this point I'm thinking Kennedys more of a spoiler for Trump if he keeps going but by the sounds of it he wants to fuck with the democrats before bowing out and possibly endorsing trump over a red diaper baby
That said the Kamala cope is so big even my one of my nato-loving anarcho-bidenists came into work yesterday uncharacteristically chipper than the usually doom and gloom. (For the record everyone else, who tend to be apolitical didn't give a shit Biden dropped out)
From the 1942 ‘American century’ to Trump’s ‘American carnage’, the US has shifted from a post-WW2 boom to decline, facing political divides, economic crisis, poverty, and social decay.
This dossier explores the possibilities that the current crisis of global capitalism creates for sovereign regional development projects in Latin America and the Caribbean and the importance of South-South alliances in this struggle.
Disdado warns former presidents and right-wing leaders who intend to enter Venezuela for the 28th election, without an invitation from the State: “If they arrive at the airport, we will expel them. “They are not going to come here to fuck with us again.”
This week, Disdado warned the Latin American right-wing mafia that if they attempt to arrive in Venezuela, uninvited, to interfere in the election, they'll be expelled. The same right-wing personalities now claim to be grounded at Panama airport, by no one's fault by their own.
The continental right, somehow with Bolivian fascist Tuto Quiroga leading the rat pack, are trying to get to Venezuela to disrupt the country's democratic elections. They were not invited to participate as observers.
Argentine deputy from Maurício Macri's PRO party is deported upon arriving in Venezuela to follow the elections taking place in the country this weekend.
Venezuela deports 12 deputies from the Popular Party of Spain invited by the opposition to act as international observers in the presidential elections.
The Venezuelan far right knows that another defeat is coming, on Sunday, 7/28. It bets on delegitimizing the electoral process, as it has done on other occasions, sowing a coup atmosphere. Get ready to scream fraud and attempt to attack the polls from outside.
Closing land borders is absolutely common in electoral processes. Venezuela had already done so in 2013 and 2018, Colombia in 2022 and several other countries are proceeding in the same way. It is part of the security protocols in countries experiencing conflict.
Meanwhile, Brazilian special advisor to Lula, Celso Amorim, entered the country without problems.
I guess the Venezuelan Gusanos who lived in Brazil and Colombia won't be able to vote this time. Same thing that happened in previous elections, the opposition voters went out of the country and don't vote any more.
Trump is currently 40 min late to his BTC speech. Just announced it'll be 20 more minutes atleast. Expectation is Musk will appear with him according to increasingly strong rumors.
20 minutes ago someone was paged to leave the building and 5 minutes after that SS and local PD was sweeping the Audience
Several people were reported injured in Majdal Shams, after a rocket hit.
Some say Druze were killed in the rocket hit, not much is confirmed yet, 11 dead and a few injured.
Hizbullah made a statement
the statement
بيان صادر عن المقاومة الإسلامية:
بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرحمن الرَّحِيمِ
﴿أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ على نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ﴾
صدق الله العلي العظيم
دعماً لشعبنا الفلسطيني الصامد في قطاع غزة وإسناداً لمقاومته الباسلة والشريفة، ورداً على اعتداءات العدو على القرى الجنوبية الصامدة والمنازل الآمنة واخرها في بلدة كفركلا، استهدف مجاهدو المقاومة الإسلامية يوم السبت 27-07-2024، مقر قيادة لواء حرمون في ثكنة معاليه غولاني بصاروخ فلق واحد.
﴿وَمَا النَّصْرُ إِلاَّ مِنْ عِندِ اللّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيم﴾
السبت 27-07-2024
21 محرّم 1446 هـ
Basically it says they did attacks on north occupied areas and Golan
Zionist Minister of Foreign Affairs can't even get their false flag narrative correctly. They went from predicting Hamas will commit an attack on the Olympics to saying Iran was behind the Olympics sabotage lmao: https://xcancel.com/Israel_katz/status/1816778495311093885
In an effort to combat the zionist propaganda, Syrian social media accounts posted footage showing that the zionist occupation’s iron dome interceptors had previously struck their village in March of this year and caused significant damage.
Sama TV journalist Mohamad Douba quoted Ghaleb Saif, the head of the Druze Initiative in occupied Golan, “The missiles that fall on Druze villages in the Golan and Galilee are Israeli interceptor missiles, and they always cause severe damage to places and lives. Every day, we see Iron Dome missiles miss their target and fall on us.”
Military expert Omar Marbouni provided his analysis:
Israeli websites are circulating information that the resistance bombed the town of Majdal Shams in the occupied Syrian Golan, and on this subject it is necessary to clarify the following :
"First: The Resistance has no targets in Majdal Shams, and if there are any, there has not been any decision by the resistance to target civilian targets until the moment, so why would they now target our Syrian Arab people?
Secondly, the nearest Israeli military target is seven kilometers away from Majdal Shams, and there is no way for professional resistance rocket operatives to make a mistake by missing by this much distance.
Thirdly, it is very likely that the explosion was caused by an interceptor missile from the Israeli Iron Dome, or that the enemy itself deliberately bombed the place, and in the history of this enemy there are many similar practices to exploit the issue for escalation.
Fourth, regardless of what happened, the enemy will exploit what happened, which means that in the coming days we may see an escalation of the conflict."
Corroborating this analysis, a journalist from Al-Arabi in Majdal Shams reported, “One of the Israeli ambulance personnel heard from eyewitnesses in Majdal Shams that the missile that fell was an Iron Dome missile, and he does not dare to register to authenticate the testimony, and he will be imprisoned if he makes any statement.”
It is unlikely that official reports from Majdal Shams will confirm this information as the chief of staff of the occupation army was deployed to meet with local leaders of the village to make sure they comply with the official occupation narrative.
RT Arabic cited Lebanese journalist Salem Zahran who pointed out, “Hezbollah’s shooters are skilled, and since the beginning of the battles they have been careful not to target civilians. How is it the case that the civilians targeted are the people of Syrian Majdal Shams who are disobedient to ‘Judaization’!… Yes, what happened was either a Zionist mistake with Israeli missiles from the Iron Dome, or a deliberate act carried out simultaneously with Netanyahu’s presence in Washington.”
This would not be the first time that a US-backed proxy military used this lie to cover for failing air defenses. Earlier this month, a US Patriot Missile struck a hospital in Kiev while attempting to intercept Russian cruise missiles. Video evidence and analysis proved that the missile that struck the hospital was indeed an interceptor, however that did not stop imperialist media from blaming Russia for “attacking hospitals.” This event was even cited at the recent NATO conference as a reason for the EU increasing its “aid” to Ukraine.
Despite the "good intentions" and "positive messages", the relations between milei's Argentina and the Imperialist Monetary Fund are not good. Even they, an institution that pillaged the country over and over again, take a step back while looking at milei's policies.
The Fund’s managing director said it supports the government’s efforts to ‘turn the economy around’
Economy Minister Luis Caputo met with International Monetary Fund managing director Kristalina Georgieva, who called the encounter “constructive” in an X post. Georgieva, who met with Caputo during the G20 summit of finance ministers and central bank governors in Río de Janeiro, congratulated Argentina’s “strong performance in the fight against inflation, fiscal consolidation and support for vulnerable people.”
(This is exactly what they're not doing lmao)
“We are committed to support the [government’s] efforts to turn around the economy for the benefit of Argentina’s people,” she added. Caputo shared Georgieva’s message and called her the “best IMF [managing director] ever!”
The photograph that accompanied the post led to speculation in social media, as Georgieva’s right arm seems to be missing. However, an IMF spokesperson said that the picture was not digitally altered.
Yes, her arm is missing in the picture, but it is not digitally altered. Damn, I hate when my arm simply disappears.
Despite consistent praise of the administration’s austerity measures, the Fund and the Argentine government have not always seen eye to eye over the past few months.
President Javier Milei accused the lender’s Director for the Western Hemisphere, Rodrigo Valdés, of being too kind to the previous administration. Milei said he turned a blind eye to certain aspects of Argentina’s economic management because he belonged to the left-wing conference São Paulo Forum — a group Valdés is not affiliated with.
Caputo also said on June 11 that, that week, the administration would seek a new loan from the IMF the government would use to lift the country’s foreign exchange restrictions. However, In a press conference on July 11, the Fund’s spokesperson Julie Kozack backed Valdés and said there was “no specific timetable” for a new deal with Argentina.
This government is trapped in a huge problem. First, they're facing infighting between milei and his VP (congressmen close to her made official visits to imprisoned military officers that took part in disappearances, tortures and killings during the 70s), milei is kinda mad because maybe he thinks this isn't the time to reinstate former criminals or something I dunno. They're not seen together too much and it is said she hates milei's sister, Karina, who's more or less like Hitler's Martin Bormann at this point -- his personal secretary and main advisor. Those who like to throw theories around say that his VP will stage a soft coup by securing support from former president Mauricio Macri and some military officers.
Second, everything is falling apart on the economic front. This is the number 1 issue for them and for pretty much everyone else. Milei was voted into power because "he knows about economy" (he doesn't, his view is fully distorted and toxic) and therefore he should be able to fix it, but after 6 months of government it ain't looking good. Not only it's looking bad, but problems have worsened: Inflation slowed down to a single digit but at the expense of everything else, the Reserves are starved of US Dollars and so far they have secured no reliable source of foreign currency, the IMF being reluctant to give new loans is worrying to them. The economy is shrinking, productive activity is being reduced, consumption is slowing down, the buying power of the average argentinian has been demolished and poverty is well above 50%, just the other day I saw an statistic which indicates that about 300 people are pushed into homelesness each month in Buenos Aires alone. The honeymoon is over, and it's time to start showing positive results.. but they're unable to.
Ding ding! Well look at that! It turns out the economy isn't a pure mathematical thing after all. Actually, the economy is deeply embedded with society and it's material reality. Sure, you can talk about complicated issues like "fiscal deficit" all day long, but when bread skyrockets, fuel skyrockets and taxes become unpayable due to your policies, these discussions go through the window.
People will get impatient. You can't resist like this for too long. People really can't really take it anymore, with pulverized salaries, unrelenting inflation, the rent going insanely high due to deregulation and the government publicly announcing that people will have to sell their personal reserves of US Dollars just to pay taxes, for how long this madness can be sustained? It'll implode, sooner or later. Now they even announced that 12h hours work days are being discussed, they wont be able to introduce such thing but holy shit they're fucking terrible and give no hope to anyone at all lmao.
Unless they pull an absolute miracle, or the IMF gives in and begins to rescue Argentina's economy by sheer force of gigantic loans, there's no way out. They have showed positive attitudes towards the deregulation policies, but they have also warned about the boiling social panorama. They want to pillage the country for sure, but they don't want their people to get beheaded one after the other because they went a little too overdrive.
So Trudeau's been getting absolutely terrible poll numbers, but the Conservatives have basically no platform except "Trudeau bad pt. 7"...
But anyway, now that the Conservatives are gaining support federally against the Liberals, they're also gaining support provincially against the BC NDP (which by all accounts is doing a pretty great job at actually getting stuff done).
But of course, the provincial Conservatives used to be called the Liberals, but now they're the Conservatives because the provincial Liberal party imploded.
So anyway, now there's not terrible odds we'll get put under a Conservative provincial government because the federal government can't get their shit together.
The Algerian government received, and with great sorrow and denial, of the unexpected decision that the French government took to give clear support to the autonomous Western Sahara plan under the reign of so called Moroccan sovereignty, and the Algerian authorities were informed by this decision by its French counter parts the last few days.
And how it looks, it's true that colonial powers, old or new, know how to blend each other and how to understand each other and how to lend a helping hand to each other.
And it's clear that the French decision is a result of questionable political calculations, and unethical presumptions and legal readings that aren't supported by any correct pilots that justify it.
This French decision doesn't assist in giving proper conditions to solve the Western Sahara question, but more than that it supports in a direct way the freeze caused by the Moroccan self autonomy planned for more than 17 years.
And above that, even though that the groups of nations are convinced that the Western Sahara cause represents and without any question a part of the decolonization efforts that must finished in the most perfect face, and that French decision aims to misrepresent forge and distort facts through assisting a colonialist reality and giving unjustified support to the so-called imaginary sovereignty over the Western Sahara region, and above the unacceptablity, is that it comes from a permanent member of the U.N.S.C. that requires it to act according to the decisions of this council especially and according to the rules of the U.N. generally.
And finally, in the time that the United Nations collects it's powers to give a new push to finding a solution in the Western Sahara conflict, the French decision contradicts these efforts and obstructs applying it and conflicts with the greater effort to maintain peace and stability in the region.
And the Algerian government notices that the French decision doesn't assist in any way the goals of peace in the Western Sahara, and it causes lengthening the freezing of this political operations, and contributes to sanctifying the colonial reality in the region.
And based on that, the Algerian government will extract all the results and penalties that come from this French decision and it puts all and the responsibility on the French government.
Who is Israel targeting in its attacks on the West Bank?
Israel plays up the threat of ‘terrorism’ in the occupied West Bank to justify collective punishment, Palestinians say.
The Israeli army killed three Palestinian military commanders – including one from Hamas’s Qassam Brigades and two from Fatah’s Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades – and a mother and her child during a raid in the occupied West Bank on Monday, according to Palestinian and Israeli officials.
Activists and experts believe that Israel is playing up the threat of what it calls “terrorism” to justify the increasing violence, which leads to mass displacement and the expansion of illegal settlements.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said the country has "serious concerns" that the results presented by the CNE do not reflect the popular will. He asked for international verification and data transparency.
Then when the Carter Center or the Un or whatever say the elections were free and fair, the US simply ignores.
Panama criticizes the results presented by the Venezuelan Electoral Council. Foreign Affairs Minister Javier Martinez said that "the will of the Venezuelan people must be respected." "More than announcing the winner, the numbers need to show this."
PANAMA LITERALLY ELECTED A GUY WHO WAS HIDDING INSIDE AN EMBASSY.
Would it be prudent for the Russians to sharply escalate pressure in the SMO right now? Ukraine seems to be buckling under pressure and perhaps they could end this atrocious war quicker by acting in a decisive manner.
The major risk I foresee is NATO freak out and reaction, possibly causing them to escalate more directly and draw us into even wider war. However, won’t they still do this anyway as they cling to their imperial ambitions? Does increasing the rate of victory actually change the political calculations of the Western leaders in any way?
The inevitable outcome is of course a white peace where any de facto Russian controlled territory becomes de jure. The longer Ukraine waits to surrender, the more they will lose. First the entirety of the Donbas, then Zaporizhzhya oblast, then Odessa, then Kharkiv, etc. etc. Ukraine’s remaining rump will never be allowed to join NATO, it will have to put that into its constitution to remain neutral. Those are just hard realities the West will have to accept, but the thing is, it shouldn’t be that hard to accept for Western leaders - none of that stuff is really that important for their material interests. What’s harder for the imperialists to accept is that they spent trillions of dollars to destroy Russia to cannibalize and party again like it’s ‘92 but get nothing back. 0% return on investment, the big tempting feast was snatched away and they are in denial about it
The content of the "leaked" Beijing agreement was denied by PIJ as they have said they would never agree to something that recognizes the legitimacy of "israel" which is what resolution 181 is.
Paul Cockshott's latest video is pretty good. Basically covers what's the same and different between now and pre-WW1 world politics. Covers how the US is trying to divide the world into NATO vs. BRICS, etc. etc. Food dependency is less of a factory nowadays, but oil dependency is a big driver of scrambles for resources; US obviously bombed Nordstream 2.
This is the first time that Tzuriel moshav, with a population of just 400 illegal settlers, has been hit. The community is not among those at the northern side of the occupied lands that have been evacuated by an official order from the Israeli regime.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. faces difficulties gaining momentum. Instead of campaigning, the independent candidate canceled several events and discussed the possibility of dropping out of the race and supporting Trump.
Instead of raising significant donations, he continues to rely on his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, and has created a joint fundraising committee with the Libertarian Party. Instead of rising in the polls, where he has been stagnant for months, Kennedy asked to be chosen as the Democratic candidate to replace Biden.
Nicolás Maduro, president of Venezuela, praises Joe Biden's decision to leave the electoral race and wishes the president of the United States “health and a long life”.
Maduro also spoke about how Biden's goverment have been much more diplomatic towards Venezuela than the previous goverments.
"The United States stands with the people of Venezuela who expressed their voice in today’s historic presidential election. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected. Despite the many challenges, we will continue to work toward a more democratic, prosperous, and secure future for the people of Venezuela." - Kamala Harris
FACT CHECK: Bisan is NOT a member of the PFLP. In the article that the Z¡on¡st that shared, it explicitly says Bisan of "The Progressive Youth Union" hosted this event.
It was an open event & thousands were invite: even the hosts weren't exclusively PFLP.
I missed it earlier this week, but apparently BRICS announced they are going to launch their own version of SWIFT? Doesn't seem to be a lot of good coverage of it. Anybody seen any details (short of these two links below)?
I'm not familiar with the second source, so don't know how reputable it is. Globovision says Reuters is their source, but I can't find any Reuters coverage of a new announcement (at least not in English).
The media should not feed fantasies aimed at denying the results of the elections, the National Assembly president said.
On Sunday, Jorge Rodriguez, the campaign manager for President Nicolas Maduro, asked the international media outlets accredited in Venezuela to respect the nation’s electoral process and “tell the truth” during the presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
Article
“The media should not feed fantasies aimed at denying the results of the elections,” said Rodriguez, who is also president of the Venezuelan National Assembly.
Reiterating earlier complaints that “the Venezuelan far-right is prepared to not recognize the truth and the electoral result,” Rodriguez said the government will always denounce such tactics and urged the press to tell and respect the truth.
Rodriguez’s remarks were in response to a statement released Saturday by the Venezuelan Foreign Press Association (Apex), which demanded “respect for the work of international media and agencies” accredited in the country, and called for “not involving the international press in the political debate.”
On Sunday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro reaffirmed that the members of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (FANB) support him as a presidential candidate.
“I have the experience and I am prepared. I have the support of a beautiful and brave people. I have the support of the FANB and the civic-military-police union,” he said in Barinas state.
So far, the Venezuelan leader has visited over 100 cities as part of the election campaign, which began on July 4 and will end on Thursday, when chavismo will carry out a 12-hour “takeover” of Caracas. On July 28, over 20 million citizens are expected to cast their ballots to elect a president from among 10 candidates.
Amnesty Commission approves request for pardon for Japanese immigrants for persecution during World War II. The Japanese community was persecuted and tortured during the governments of the dictator Getúlio Vargas and the democratically elected Eurico Gaspar Dutra.
The request was made by Mario Jun Okuhara and Associação Okinawa Kenjin do Brasil on behalf of the collective of Japanese immigrants and their descendants. In 2021, during the Bolsonaro government, the Amnesty Commission rejected the Japanese community's request, which appealed.
The rapporteur of the process was Vanda Davi Fernandes de Oliveira. According to the current commission, "there is abundant documentation proving the political persecution suffered by the Japanese immigrant community and their descendants perpetrated by the State."
Former president Jair Bolsonaro (PL) said, in a message distributed on WhatsApp this Saturday, that there is no secret ballot in Venezuela and claimed, without proof, that voters in the country governed by Nicolás Maduro (United Socialist Party of Venezuela, left) are coerced into leaving home to vote, otherwise they won't receive a basic food basket.
hey what's that thing that zionist shoulders wear on their shoulder in their uniforms? they always have a little thingy tucked into a strap on their shoulder.
stupid looking uniform, fuckin war crime against fashion.
If Maduro wins, what will the US do? Probably try to coup Maduro again or just accept defeat and negociate more deportation of Venezuelans back to Venezuela?
Do people not get tired of posting the same memes about voting every election cycle? It's so performative and narcissistic. Discussing politicians in terms of their personal virtue and voting in terms of individual moral choices you're effectively talking about nothing.
President of Uruguay says that “you cannot recognize” Nicolás Maduro’s victory in Venezuela. "Not that way! It was an open secret. They were going to “win” regardless of the actual results. The process up to election day and counting was clearly flawed. You cannot recognize a triumph if you do not trust the form and mechanisms used to achieve it."
No one cares, you're literally not even be president next year lol
(cw: meat) BREAKING: some kids in Gaza recently ate smash burgers, check it out:
Whenever kids see me around, they keep asking me for Shawarma or burger! Today is a good day, I was able to prepare Smash Cheeseburger .. to say they were excited, it would be an understatement!
Before the aggression on Gaza, I used to visit burger restaurants and rate them as a food blogger.. we did have some incredible burger places btw! But here I am, making my own burgers in not ideal circumstances! Waiting for my rating. from the kids 💚
watch this video, the look on these kids' faces when they get a burger in the midst of the destruction around them is heartwarming
Russian leader threatens to relaunch production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons if the United States deploys missiles to Germany.
“The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes,” Putin said.
“We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world.”
If Putin gives nukes to Iran and Hezbollah, I say we should make him honorable member of the movement...then shoot him after the revolution.
For the DSA drama of the week, the NPC voted down the pro-palestine amendment by gutting down anything good about it, so they basically wont do anything about zionism inside the dsa
“They couldn't do it with the sanctions, with the attacks, with the threats, they couldn't do it now and they will never be able to remove the dignity of the people of Venezuela”, says Maduro after the country's electoral body declared his re-election in this Sunday's elections.
Munir Al-Jaghoub, the Head of the Media Office of the Mobilization and Organization Commission of the Fatah Movement has announced the following:
🛑 المصالحة: الاتفاق في الصين على ضم كافة الفصائل للمنظمة وتشكيل حكومة
اتفقت الفصائل الوطنية خلال لقاءاتها في الصين على الوصول إلى وحدة وطنية فلسطينية شاملة تضم القوى والفصائل الفلسطينية كافة في إطار منظمة التحرير، والالتزام بقيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة وعاصمتها القدس، طبقاً لقرارات الأمم المتحدة، وضمان حق العودة طبقاً لقرار 194.
كما اتفق المجتمعون على حق الشعب الفلسطيني في مقاومة الاحتلال وانهائه وفق القوانين الدولية وميثاق الأمم المتحدة، وأن يتم تشكيل حكومة وفاق وطني مؤقتة بتوافق الفصائل الفلسطينية وبقرار من الرئيس بناء على القانون الأساسي الفلسطيني، على أن تبدأ بتوحيد المؤسسات الفلسطينية كافة في أراضي الدولة الفلسطينية والمباشرة في اعادة إعمار قطاع غزة والتمهيد لإجراء انتخابات عامة بإشراف لجنة الانتخابات المركزية بأسرع وقت وفقاً لقانون الانتخابات المعتمد.
وتم التأكيد في الاجتماع على تفعيل وانتظام الإطار القيادي المؤقت الموحد للشراكة في صنع القرار السياسي وفقا لما تم الاتفاق عليه في وثيقة الوفاق الوطني الفلسطيني الموقعة في 4 أيار 2011، حتى يتم تشكيل المجلس الوطني الجديد وفقاً لقانون الانتخابات المعتمد ومن أجل تعميق الشراكة السياسية في تحمل المسئولية الوطنية.
وفيما يلي إعلان بكين لإنهاء الانقسام وتعزيز الوحدة الوطنية الفلسطينية
بدعوة كريمة وجهتها جمهورية الصين الشعبية للفصائل الفلسطينية عقدت في العاصمة بكين جولة حوارات فلسطينية هامة بهدف توحيد الموقف الفلسطيني لمواجهة حرب الابادة الجماعية والعدوان الإسرائيلي وانهاء الانقسام بما يحقق طموحات الشعب الفلسطيني في الوحدة الوطنية والحرية والاستقلال الوطني.
ويعرب المجتمعون عن تقديرهم العالي للجهود المخلصة التي تبذلها جمهورية الصين الشعبية انطلاقا من دعمها لحقوق الشعب الفلسطيني وحرصها على انهاء الانقسام وتوحيد الموقف الفلسطيني. ويؤكدون على تمكين الاشقاء العرب واصدقائنا في جمهورية الصين الشعبية وروسيا الاتحادية لمواصلة الجهود الدولية لعقد مؤتمر دولي كامل الصلاحيات لإنهاء الاحتلال الاسرائيلي وتنفيذ القرارات الدولية ذات الصلة والمنصفة لحقوق الشعب الفلسطيني تحت مظلة الامم المتحدة ورعايتها وبمشاركة دولية واقليمية واسعة بديلا عن الرعاية الأمريكية المنفردة والمنحازة.
وتؤكد الفصائل الفلسطينية في ظل ما يتعرض له شعبنا من حرب ابادة وعدوان صهيوني اجرامي على الروح الإيجابية البناءة التي سادت الاجتماع، واتفقت على الوصول الى وحدة وطنية فلسطينية شاملة تضم القوى والفصائل الفلسطينية كافة في إطار منظمة التحرير الفلسطينية الممثل الشرعي والوحيد للشعب الفلسطيني.
وتحيي الفصائل الفلسطينية صمود شعبنا ومقاومته الباسلة وملحمته البطولية التي يخوضها في مواجهة الإبادة الجماعية في قطاع غزة، والتي عززت مكانة القضية الفلسطينية وأفشلت محاولة تصفيتها. كما تحيي كل القوى والدول وحركات التضامن الطلابية والشعبية والنقابية التي تساند نضال الشعب الفلسطيني ميدانيا، وسياسيا، وقانونيا، ودبلوماسيا.
وتؤكد الفصائل على رفضها الحازم لكل اشكال الوصاية ومحاولات سلب الشعب الفلسطيني حقه في تمثيل نفسه أو مصادرة قراره الوطني المستقل.
واتفق المجتمعون على النقاط التالية:
1- توحيد الجهود الوطنية لمواجهة العدوان الصهيوني ووقف حرب الابادة الجماعية التي تنفذها دولة الاحتلال وقطعان المستوطنين بدعم ومشاركة الولايات المتحدة الامريكية، ومقاومة محاولات تهجير شعبنا من أرض وطنه فلسطين، ولإجبار الكيان الصهيوني على انهاء احتلاله لقطاع غزة وسائر الاراضي المحتلة والتمسك بوحدة الأراضي الفلسطينية بما يشمل الضفة الغربية والقدس وقطاع غزة.
2- ترحب الفصائل الفلسطينية برأي محكمة العدل الدولية الذي أكد عدم شرعية الوجود والاحتلال والاستيطان الاسرائيلي على ارض دولة فلسطين وضرورة إزالته بأسرع وقت ممكن.
3- انطلاقا من اتفاقية الوفاق الوطني التي وقعت في القاهرة بتاريخ 4/5/2011 إعلان الجزائر الذي وقع في 12/10/2022 الاستمرار في متابعة تنفيذ اتفاقيات إنهاء الانقسام بمساعدة الشقيقتين مصر والجزائر والاصدقاء في جمهورية الصين الشعبية وروسيا الاتحادية وفق ما يلي:
أ) الالتزام بقيام الدولة الفلسطينية المستقلة وعاصمتها القدس، طبقاً لقرارات الأمم المتحدة ذات الصلة وخصوصا قرارات 181، 2334 وضمان حق العودة طبقا لقرار 194.
ب) حق الشعب الفلسطيني في مقاومة الاحتلال وانهائه وفق القوانين الدولية وميثاق الامم المتحدة وحق الشعوب في تقرير مصيرها بنفسها ونضالها من أجل تحقيق ذلك بكل الأشكال المتاحة.
Venezuela's opposition have forced themselves into taking the failed Guaido-Añez path of unilaterally declaring someone President again. If they claim to have won this election then they're going to have to do an absurd swearing in ceremony in the street again.
“The duty of the Armed Forces is to guarantee respect for the sovereignty of votes,” said opposition leader María Corina Machado.
NO WAY! The Interim President Arc has returned! It's very funny how Machado won't let Gonzalez speak, the guy looks like he's shit his pants.
And also already calling for a military coup. Machado, who was part of the 2002 military coup, and the 2004 legislative coup attempt. Really can't live without a coup.
So, looking at China's GDP/capital growth rate relative to representative Asian economies, it seems like the construction glut was actually a net drawdown on GDP growth? Growth rates fell in 2011 and have only recovered in the 2021 era (coinciding with the rise and fall of China's real estate market).
This intuitively should make sense given how China imputes rent, but it's still surprising.
To all the karens trying to manufacture outrage about the queer drag shows and making art of the Last Supper - grow the fuck up. This is why no one likes to hang out with you.
The last supper has been parodied and mimicked in art and film over and over hell the imagery is a piece of art - not a damned photograph.
The original Olympics were done in the nude. They appreciated the human body.
I can read Modern Hebrew somewhat (pls don't ask why, I assure you, I am an antizionist and attended rallies while most people were still handwringing about Oct 7), but I have no idea where to start looking at interesting stuff, I would appreciate any input on what Qs interest you on whatever topic
FPTV fully translated 8 min video of Hizbullah surveilling Ramat David Airbase, titled: "Hoopoe Bird - Special Episode." Drone/s surveil the only Zionist airbase in north occupied Palestine 46km from Lebanon's borders, on 23/07/2024, revealing much information including the photo, name and personal information of the base Commander. The video also includes night surveillance of the base, and what seems like a photo still from extreme heights on 9/7/2024.
Release date: 24/07/2024.
Algerian athlete Messaoud Redouane Dris will not compete in the -73 kg category on Monday against Tohar Butbul, having weighed in above the weight limit by 0.4kgs. source
spoiler
Redouane Dris the night he got told he's going against an mf from the zionist entity
Some right-wing newspapers are reporting Maduro won the elections by a 5/4% margin, others are saying that you shouldn't trust exit polls and changing focus to the police arresting some people who broke a gate in a school.
There are no official results, but we've now had both campaigns claiming victory. This is a recipe for tension, which is already palpable in the air. Still no idea when the CNE will issue its first results bulletin.
President of Cuba: "Today the dignity and courage of the Venezuelan people triumphed over pressures and manipulations. I convey to the brother president Nicolas Maduro our affectionate congratulations for this historic victory and the commitment of Cuba to be alongside the Bolivarian and Chavista Revolution."
"Brother Nicolas Maduro, your victory, which is that of the Bolivarian and Chavista people, cleanly defeated the pro-imperialist opposition in an unequivocal manner. Thus they also defeated the regional, interventionist and Monroist right. The people spoke and the Revolution won."
Relieved to see Maduro win. The far-right plan to completely privatize the Venezuelan state and take vengeance against the Chavistas would have been a disaster for the country and world. Glad to see the libs and gusanos cope and seethe because they deluded themselves with their obviously fake polls.
Left-wing candidates in all of Latin America have been accused of electoral fraud in the same way for the past what, decade? And people still fucking fall for it. Even fucking Biden got hit with that card. Give me a break, this shit is so obvious.
Is this finally the end point of liberal democracy? Capitalist-owned social media makes it so that a fascist international can promptly turn the tides on any more or less leftist candidate in any country, and claiming fraud is clearly their way forward. How the hell does anyone believe in liberal democracy when social media is a thing?
Honduras: "Congratulations to the fellow President-elect Nicolas Maduro and to all the heroic Venezuelan people for having exercised their democratic rights in an exemplary manner and winning the elections."
From 2018 to 2021, the Trong administration spurred rapid economic growth in Vietnam. On Sunday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva lamented the death of the secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong.
“My deepest condolences to his family, friends, party comrades, and the Vietnamese people,” wrote the leader of Brazil’s Workers’ Party (PT) on his social media.
Lula also assured that his administration would continue working to strengthen the bonds of friendship, cooperation, and solidarity between Brazil and Vietnam.
On July 19, Nguyen Phu Trong died in Hanoi at the age of 80 due to natural causes. He had served as general secretary of the CPV Central Committee and secretary of the Central Military Commission since January 2011.
The historic communist leader and protector of Marxist-Leninist ideals served as Vietnam’s president from October 2018 to April 2021. During that period, Trong spurred rapid economic growth through policies such as opening the country to foreign investment.
During his mandate, he also implemented a broad anti-corruption campaign that allowed him to remove several high officials from public administration who had committed illegal actions. In the field of international relations, Trong will be remembered for having implemented the so-called “bamboo diplomacy,” which sought to balance Vietnam’s relations with the United States and China.
On Friday, a state funeral will begin in his honor, and afterward, he will be buried in the Mai Dich cemetery in Hanoi, where the remains of the country’s political leaders and heroes rest.
Maduro campaign chief Jorge Rodríguez giving a press conference right now. Called today's elections "a victory for peace and for economic recovery." Rodríguez said he wasn't at liberty to disclose results, but that he could show the smiles of Chavista officials.
Rodríguez praised electoral authorities and security forces for their work in securing a peaceful election, and blasted minority groups for attempting to sow violence
BREAKING: The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela denounces and alerts the world about an intervention operation against the electoral process, our right to self-determination, and the sovereignty of our Homeland, orchestrated by a group of foreign governments and powers.
This group, a version of the infamous, defunct, and defeated Lima Group, includes government officials from Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and the Dominican Republic, along with a group of ultra-right-wing political hitmen specialized in destabilizing governments in Latin America, such as Iván Duque, Mauricio Macri, Andrés Pastrana, Oscar Arias, Marco Rubio, and Rick Scott. They aim to distort what has been expressed today peacefully and with civic spirit in our country, which is nothing more than the exercise of the people's right to vote.
The right to vote in Venezuela is exercised with absolute freedom and legality under the aegis of our laws and the control of one of the five Public Powers of the State, the National Electoral Council. It is done through a transparent, secure, and inviolable system, recognized as one of the best in the world, which fully guarantees the principle of one voter, one vote.
The same individuals who recognized a puppet in 2019 are attempting to impose it again in 2024.
This miserable and desperate operation is destined to fail because Venezuela is a free and sovereign country and will never accept impositions or blackmail, especially from foreign entities without morality and legality to attack our rights and our people.
Maduro's campaign chief gave some more insights, said that in pro-opposition areas there was a significant turnout in the early hours that got deflated in the late morning. In contrast, in popular areas participation was more sustained during the day
Peru recalls its ambassador to Venezuela to the country in light of “very serious official announcements from the electoral authorities”.
The Venezuelan opposition says it has more than 40% of the electoral records and that the difference between Edmundo González and Nicolás Maduro “is so big that they will not be able to prevent” the oppositionist's victory.
To the best of knowledge, and between the lines, the US vice president and presidential candidate of the Democratic Party, Kamala Harris, seems to be giving the Venezuelan opposition a game over. A few months before their own elections, there seems to be no will in the establishment to accompany another erratic adventure, when the political corpse of the self-proclaimed Juan Guaidó still remains unburied.
The Venezuelan government has issued a statement rejecting an "operation against the electoral process" promoted by foreign actors and governments. "This miserable and desperate operation is destined to fail because Venezuela is a free and sovereign country"
This is probably about the whole Milei, Bullrich and Macri shit.
Worrying signs from Buenos Aires as a pro-opposition crowd has surrounded the Venezuelan embassy. And worst of all, they are being egged on by the Milei government
Opponent María Corina Machado makes a statement to the press after the polls begin to close in the Venezuelan elections. Speech inflamed the electorate as opposed to asking for calm and waiting for official results.
6 pm in Venezuela. At this time, voting centers may begin closing polls where there are no voters in line. Those in line to vote will still have the right to vote.
Former Argentine president Mauricio Macri, with no official results whatsoever, wants to proclaim the results of the Venezuelan elections. Keep in mind Macri was on board the self-proclaimed "interim government" circus
Seems like the Argentine Right, having ruined their own country, now wants to destroy other South American countries.
The hardline opposition campaign issued a statement praising the civic nature of the electoral process and adding that the amount of "incidents" has been very small. Encouraged voters to go out and participate
The president of Chile, Gabriel Boric, announced that Chile will not recognize the results presented by the CNE, and that the country will not recognize results that are not transparent.