Bulletins and News Discussion from October 28th to November 3rd, 2024 - LDP Falls Flat / Yet Neoliberalism / Rampages Onward - COTW: Japan
Bulletins and News Discussion from October 28th to November 3rd, 2024 - LDP Falls Flat / Yet Neoliberalism / Rampages Onward - COTW: Japan
Image is from this SCMP article.
Much of the analysis below is sourced from Michael Roberts' great website.
Japan's ruling parliamentary coalition, consisting of the LDP (purple) and it's junior coalition partner Komeito (in light pink) have lost their ruling majority. They have ruled post-war Japan for almost its entire history. The LDP is currently led by Shigeru Ishiba after Kishida stood down due to a corruption scandal, and ties to the Unification Church.
While geopolitical factors (over the cold war between the US and China, etc) may have played a role, by far the biggest reason for this result in the poor economic conditions over the past few years. Inflation has risen and real wages have fallen, with little relief for the working class via things like tax reductions. While inequality in Japan is not as extreme as in America, it is still profound, with the top 10% possessing 60% of the wealth, while the bottom 50% possess just 5%.
Shinzo Abe previously tried to boost economic performance through monetary easing and fiscal deficits, while Kishida ran on a "new capitalism" which rejected Abe's neoliberalism and promised to reduce inequality. Nothing substantial has resulted from all this, however, other than increasing corporate wealth. Innovation continues to fall, and domestic profitability is low, resulting in decreasing investment at home by Japanese corporations. Labour productivity growth has only slightly picked up since the mid-2000s and is falling again. The rate of profit has fallen by half since the 1960s, and Japan has been in a manufacturing recession - or very close to it - since late 2022. In essence: there is no choice but between stagnation or decline.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news.
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
https://xcancel.com/RealPeltierHQ/status/1851348146955366410
LEONARD PELTIER HAS BEEN HOSPITALIZED
Monday October 28, 2024 Leonard Peltier was hospitalized. It is imperative that Leonard Peltier receive an emergency medical transfer to a facility such as FMC Rochester.
Leonard’s attorneys have submitted an urgent medical transfer request based upon the medical analysis of the independent medical physician who visits Leonard regularly at USP Coleman I. His attorneys have also repeatedly warned the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) of the very risks which caused Leonard’s hospitalization, but have been ignored. As USP Coleman I can not appropriately address Leonard’s medical needs, Leonard should be transferred to a medical facility equipped to meet his medical needs. A medical transfer to FMC Rochester not only ensures adequate medical care, but proximity to Leonard’s homelands and family, which is consistent with BOP policy.
Enough is enough. Mere apologies are insufficient. On World Political Prisoner Day, tomorrow, Wednesday, October 30th, the Committee encourage Leonard’s supporters and all justice loving people to contact Senators Jon Ossoff and Amy Klobuchar, who serve on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and demand that Leonard Peltier receive an urgent medical transfer. If your senator is on the Judiciary Committee please contact them. A full list can be found at freeleonardpeltiernow.org on the Donate/Act Now page. Act now.
Inter-imperialist rivalry time:
https://xcancel.com/african_stream/status/1851176429121142976However, the US Africa Command head, Michael Langley, sent a letter to US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stating Benin may be working to strengthen its military relationship with France, especially in the border zone near Burkina Faso and Niger. The French ambassador to Benin replied that the United States had no right to comment on French bases in Benin.
Interesting analysis of Iran's political (and soon to be military) response to the Zionist attack (CW: Looking through his Twitter, apparently he's some cringe patsoc. But the tweets are interesting enough.):
https://xcancel.com/FORTRESSMAXXING/status/1851226851529588739But then, Khamenei, being the intelligent strategist that he is, made a speech in front of family members of martyrs & using only 60 words on the topic of Israel & the attack, said that Iran must retaliate, but he leaves the nature of the retaliation up to state/military official
Even the editors of Ayatollah Khamenei's official website presented the speech in such a way as to make it seem like he was saying don't retaliate. But if you listen to the speech, it's very clear that he is giving orders for a retaliation.
The foreign-backed Opposition and channels like BBC Persian and Iran International are now shocked as well, saying that this must be a sign that Ayatollah Khamenei is suffering from “ill health” and has “lost his mind.”
Immediately after the speech, New York Times published an article saying Khamenei is “about to die”, giving his enemies (both implicit & explicit) in Iran an excuse to kill him and get away with it. Aka Westophiles implement a similar action as to what likely happened to Raisi.
Opposition channels are even analysing his speech saying “you can hear impending death in Khamenei's voice”. They're essentially calling for his assassination now.
This is also why Israel called for a second series of strikes, in retribution for the attempt on Netanyahu's life. They basically want to kill Khamenei. And these strikes that they want to conduct would be pre-emptive strikes for the strikes that Khamenei has ordered.
Once again, it has become clear as day that the only man truly defending Iran's sovereignty and the achievements of the Islamic Revolution in the post-Khomeini era is Ayatollah Khamenei. His enemies have finally had enough and now it seems like they're going to try to kill him.
By the way, important but unreported news: the “Society of Teachers and Scholars of the Qom Seminary”, an organisation close to the Reformist movement, published a statement the other day saying that the only way to achieve peace in Palestine is to implement a two-state solution.
They also state that Iran must recognize the State of Israel. This is the first time in the history of the Islamic Republic that this has happened with an official organization. Previously only a few house arrested politicians (like former reformist president Khatami) said this.
Wow. Amber is even more a piece of shit than I thought: Amber A’Lee Frost: Vulgarity and the Dirtbag Left | Doomscroll
Transphobic, ageist, ableist (already knew this one), liberal/reactionary/climate-denial (thinks the Black Panthers were stupid/ineffective, shits on mutual aid, thinks anarchists are just propertarians, mostly shits on anti-imperialism, and her stance on revolution is that you should shut up and accept another New Deal (laughs)), etc. Like, people have memed about her a lot, but I'm not sure how much folks realize how actually bad she is when she gets the full spotlight.
There's a twitter account that organizes and posts photos and screenshots of Israeli soldiers and their social media posts admitting to war crimes. I'm surprised it hasn't been banned yet.
Some news from Gaza, Lebanon, and the Donbass.
Palestinian resistance forces eliminated four members of the ‘elite’ Zionist “Refaim” sniper unit in northern Gaza: https://thecradle.co/articles/gaza-resistance-kills-four-israeli-soldiers-from-elite-sniper-unit
Lebanese resistance forces destroyed a Zionist Merkava tank near El Hamames along the border: https://tass.com/world/1863801
Recent video footage of Russian forces having fully liberated the small DPR city of Selidovo: https://odysee.com/@RT:fd/Selidovo:2
Lithuania Holds 2nd Round of Parliamentary Elections - Telesur English
Article
A total of 126 candidates from 11 parties are competing in this round, with two candidates contesting in each constituency. On Sunday, the second round of Lithuania’s parliamentary elections started to elect 63 members of the Seimas, Lithuania’s parliament, for a four-year term, according to the Central Electoral Commission (VRK).
In the first round, 78 out of 141 Seimas members were elected, with the second round now focusing on filling the remaining 63 seats. In 8 out of 71 single-member constituencies, winners were determined in the first round.
During the first round, 70 of the Seimas seats were won by six parties. The opposition Lithuanian Social Democratic Party secured 18 seats, followed closely by the ruling Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats with 17 seats. The Dawn of the Nemunas party placed third with 14 seats.
Three additional parties, the Union of Democrats “For Lithuania,” the Liberal Movement of the Republic of Lithuania, and the Lithuanian Peasant Popular Union, also gained representation in the Seimas.
A total of 126 candidates from 11 parties are competing in the second round, with two candidates contesting in each constituency.
The candidate with the highest number of votes in a single-mandate constituency, regardless of voter turnout, is declared elected in the run-off. If both candidates receive the same number of votes, the one who garnered more votes in the first round will win the seat.
In this country bordering the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Belarus, around two million people are expected to vote. The Social Democrats of Vilija Blinkevičiūtė are also expected to win the election.
Donald Trump’s Supporters Gather in Downtown New York - Telesur English
Article
He is expected to appear alongside other high-profile figures such as Elon Musk, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Dana White.
On Sunday, thousands of supporters of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump gathered around Madison Square Garden in Manhattan. They arrived at the site hours before the former U.S. president was set to appear at this venue to hold a rally, marking the beginning of his campaign’s final week.
The arrival of Trump supporters led to road closures and traffic disruptions several hours before the start of the rally, which is set to begin at 5 p.m. and is expected to attract some 19,500 people. The crowd was decked out in red “Make America Great Again” hats and shirts with slogans like “No more bullshit!”
Trump is expected to appear alongside other high-profile figures such as Elon Musk, former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White.
The Republican candidate has dared to appear in a predominantly Democratic city and a state that all polls indicate favors his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris. This will be his second rally in New York since his appearance in the Bronx on May 23.
The police presence around Madison Square Garden has been especially heavy because the concert venue is located near the major transportation hub of Penn Station, and there were concerns about potential anti-Trump protests.
“He best represents family values. That’s why we’ll vote for him,” said one supporter. Orthodox Jews who managed to secure coveted tickets to the rally stated, “With Trump, the alliance with Israel is solid, much better than with Harris, whose stance we’re not sure about.”
According to Trump campaign spokesperson Danielle Alvarez, the choice of Madison Square Garden for this major rally reflects his intention to “speak to all voters from the media capital of the world, New York.”
Backstabbing in BRICS? President Maduro has just revealed that Brazil told him that they would not veto Venezuela’s membership, but at the last minute Lula’s government blocked them off.
yea, it was 100% about the venezuelan elections drama about them not doing what Lula told them
The Mythology Behind the Grameen Bank
We look at the history of Bangladesh's New Leader Mohammed Yunus
The day after the color revolution in Bangladesh, Mohammed Yunus, founder of the Grameen bank, a darling of the west, and a favorite of the Clinton foundation was coronated as “Chief advisor” to the new interim government. To understand the man, and how he will govern in Bangladesh, it is important to understand his history.
Before occupying his newest role as Bangladeshi Juan Guaido, Mohammed Yunus rose to fame in the 1990s, for his Grameen bank, a bank whose purpose was to give micro-loans to poor people. It eventually expanded to create a cottage industry with his Grameen Telecom, Grameen Fisheries, Grameen Danone Food and more!
In his effort to promote the Grameen Bank, Mohammed Yunus has made outrageous claims about his micro-loan program. He once said, “Poverty will be eradicated in a generation. Our children will have to go to a `poverty museum’ to see what all the fuss was about."
Even after 40 years of founding his ‘revolutionary’ institution, Bangladesh remains as poor as ever with 71.4% of the population living on less than $5.50 a day, while 1.3 million children are engaged in child labor. Sadly, people in Bangladesh experience poverty first-hand, and life, itself, is the poverty museum.
However, if we look at articles and literature on the Grameen Bank in the West, it mostly consists of hagiographies and repetition of outlandish claims made by Mohammed Yunus. A cursory examination proves that it is anything but a poverty relief program and the only thing these micro-loans guarantee is that their borrowers will take on more predatory loans.
The theory of micro-lending goes something like this: Give an impoverished, destitute villager 10,000 Takas as a loan. They will use that money to open up a Bhel Puri stand (or something similar), and then, with the income they generate from the Bhel Puri stand, they would not only repay the loan, but they will lift themselves out of poverty using their Bhel Puri straps.
By the fucking way, has any other big entity supporter country has a party with explicit goals of sanctioning pisrael (die linke doing struggle sessions as far as i know, bsw is kinda soft for weapon embargo, greens in uk are for embargo but not sanctions i don't think).
Is this some kinda universal point of being shit?
Here's a song for that lib nerd who showed up earlier to troll
The SAJBD has issued baseless accusations of supporting terrorism against Gift of the Givers, one of several South African aid organizations still active in Palestine. While the MJC-SA has steadfastly refuted these allegations, this will no doubt create a precursor for more targeted killings of South Africans in particular.
Sources: PoliticsWeb, The Citizen
While not explicitly mentioned, other major aid groups include Africa Muslims Agency, Penny Appeal South Africa, Islamic Relief South African branch, Ashraful Aid, etc. all of whom will become likely targets.
Members of Gift of the Givers have been already killed in direct strikes since last year. The perpetrators may well even be other South African IDF servicemen seeking retribution.
Activists sentenced for Palestinian banner drop
Yesterday a Copenhagen court convicted five activists for having dropped a Palestinian flag in the Danish parliament on November 3rd last year. The flag had the text "your silence kills" on it and was a reaction to the Danish regime's cowardly decision to abstain from a UN vote demanding an immediate ceasefire.
The trial was short and undramatic with the most emotional outburst being the prosecutor weaving about how "parliament is the beating heart of the state" and how it was a "very rude alternative that they make, that the politicians should be responsible for the killings of civilians".
Each activist was sentenced to fines in the USD 200-300 range in accordance with the prosecutor's demands.
- Source: Arbejderen, October 29th 2024
Russia has taken this one Ukrainian town and the other 2 towns in a little offensive in the South and Selydovne is confirmed. now there are reports of Kostyantynopil' beeing attack , which would kinda fuck ukraine if treu as it woul create a Kurakove Cauldron, and behind Kurakove thers basiclly just cottages no big towns anymore
Updates on floods in West and Central Africa this year, and a discussion of climatic trends in these regions (not good):
[Phys.org] Climate change-worsened floods wreak havoc in Africa
Kadyrov declares open season on the NATOids
in today's hopium news: The US Military Is In A Death Spiral by comrade Indrajit
Teaser:
The US army is the worst army in the world. They're the only army that aspires to worldwide dominance, and they suck at it. It's the only Empire based on losing every war and looting its own treasury. Losing the last war is always covered up by the starting the next war, but if you look at it historically, America has been losing it for decades now. Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Ukraine, Palestine, these are all losses or draws.
Traffic accidents where their track vehicles collide with Yassin rockets:
https://xcancel.com/ME_Observer_/status/1850990729922826739⚡️⭕️ #Israeli Radio: 418 people were killed in traffic accidents in "Israel" during the year 2024, which is the highest number in 20 years.
France's Macron wins Moroccan cheers on Western Sahara
For France, this territory's present and future fall under Morocco's sovereignty," Macron said to a standing ovation from Moroccan lawmakers. "This position is what France will advocate to help Morocco in international organisations. "This position is hostile to no one," he added, referring to Algeria, which considers Morocco's presence in Western Sahara an occupation.
France, Morocco sign deals worth over €10 billion during Macron visit
this article is from before Oct 7 but is nevertheless a powerful article about antisemitism vs antizionism by a Palestinian writer. I'm sure this has been posted before
https://mondoweiss.net/2023/09/jewish-settlers-stole-my-house-its-not-my-fault-theyre-jewish/
Here is where I stand. There is a Jew who lives–by force—in half of my home in Jerusalem, and he does so by “divine decree.” Many others reside—by force—in Palestinian houses, while their owners linger in refugee camps. It isn’t my fault that they are Jewish. I have zero interest in memorizing or apologizing for centuries-old tropes created by Europeans, or in giving semantics more heft than they warrant, chiefly when millions of us confront real, tangible oppression, living behind cement walls, or under siege, or in exile, and living with woes too expansive to summarize. I’m tired of the impulse to preemptively distance myself from something of which I am not guilty, and particularly tired of the assumption that I’m inherently bigoted. I’m tired of the pearl-clutching pretense that should such animosity exist, its existence would be inexplicable and rootless. Most of all, I’m tired of the false equivalence between semantic violence and systemic violence.
An Israeli F-16 almost collided with another Israeli fighter jet in the Ramot David Airbase prior to taking off to bomb Lebanon:
https://xcancel.com/MiddleEastIndex/status/1850832244564181476"Reporters" from The Federalist caught the Harris campaign organizing astroturfing on
.They ended up getting into a discord server run by a campaign staffer that was organizing volunteers and maybe some other staffers to post/boost/brigade content on Reddit. They found that 126 of the top 1000 posts over the past month on r/politics were from users involved in the astroturfing campaign. The campaign also made a public Google doc that the writer took some screenshots of but, unsurprsingly, forgot to make a copy of lol.
At the end of the article, they call out some funny moderating going on in the Texas sub, which was noticeable to me. I got banned there maybe two weeks ago for saying I wasn't going to vote for Kamala over her support for genocide.
Some screenshots:
Discord messages/ops being organized by Harris staffer:
Some of the subs being targeted and what was posted:
List of reddit usernames involved and local subs being targeted. For some reason the site would let me upload more photos, so here's a link to them instead:
article on the uyghur think tank-industrial complex and its relationship to zionism/lack of support for palestine
However, there is an Islamic organisation that stands in solidarity with Israel, overlooking the history of Palestinian suffering and openly supporting Israel, the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), based in Germany’s Munich city. The WUC stated on October 9, 2023, condemning Operation Al-Aqsa Typhoon as a “terrorist attack”, just a couple of days after Hamas’s surprise attack on Israel. Omer Kanat, Chairman of the Executive Committee of the WUC and Executive Director of the Uyghur Human Rights Project (UHRP), went one step ahead and publicly condemned Hamas’s actions and expressed solidarity with the victims of the attacks.
Similarly, the Uyghur Rights Advocacy Project (URAP), a Canada-based Uyghur rights group, issued a statement condemning “the barbaric attacks by Hamas terrorists on innocent Israelis.” Additionally, the “Campaign for Uyghurs”, affiliated with the WUC, while expressing solidarity with the victims of the attacks, stated that the organisation stands with the Jewish state.
However, in response to the humanitarian disaster caused by Israel’s military operations in Gaza, no Uyghur organisation has so far condemned the actions as genocide. The fact mentioned above contradicts the widespread assertion of Chinese action against Uyghurs in Xinjiang as genocide.
The KKKneSSet has just alao banned UNWRA from operating within Gaza and the West Bank. Humanitarian groups and international workers are also banned from further entry and in 90 days, any remaining UNWRA operations will be hijacked, bombed or killed. The delivery of any aid is also very likely to be halted in totality, officially making food illegal.
This while the South African judges are on their flights back to South Africa from the Netherlands.
Sources: CII Radio, Salaamedia
Pretty weird but apparently someone polled german journalists on which party they support and here is the breakdown by party
Nazi party of german nazis and fascists (Green Party): 41%
No party: 23%
SPD: 16%
CDU: 8%
Linke: 6%
FDP: 3%
Other parties (I guess this includes the AfD): 2%
BSW: 1%
@Dolores@hexbear.net I decided to also check and it seems like Brazil mostly buys weapons from Israel since the 2000's, they don't export arms to Israel.
The two nations enjoy a degree of arms cooperation, with Brazil recently announcing that it was going to produce the Israeli-made TAR-21 Assault Rifle under license. Brazil is a key buyer of Israeli weapons and military technology. In addition to the hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts signed with Israeli manufacturer Elbit since 2000, the Brazilian Air Force signed a $90 million, five-year lease for 12 Kfir aircraft, and Rafael-manufactured Derby missiles were purchased in 2006. Most recently, Israel Aircraft Industries signed a $350 million contract in November 2009 to supply drones to the Brazilian police - the largest such deal ever between Israel and Brazil.
Article (Translated)
Defense Minister José Mucio Monteiro Filho's criticism of the “ideological issues” that held up the purchase of 36 armored artillery vehicles from Israel once again sheds light on the ambiguous stance of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's (PT) government. On the one hand, the Israeli purchase was barred on the grounds of not sponsoring war in the Middle East, but on the other hand, Brazil increased its imports of Russian origin by 75%. These revenues help Moscow finance its war machine against Ukraine. The Lula government's trade retaliation against Israel was the subject of protests and harsh criticism from the opposition in the Senate on Wednesday (9).
A survey by Gazeta do Povo, based on data from the Ministry of Development, Industry, Trade and Services, shows a jump in Brazilian imports from Russia. In 2021, R$5.6 billion in Russian products were imported, while in 2023, a year after the war, this figure exceeded R$10 billion, an increase of around 75%.
Russia, like Israel, is also at war, but for different reasons. Moscow decided to invade a neighboring country and annex its territory and population. Israel has been defending itself against large-scale terrorist attacks by Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthi rebels, all trained and financed by Iran. “It's a double standard, all the more so because Russia invaded Ukraine. It violated a principle [of territorial integrity and political freedom of nations] that Itamaraty has historically always supposed to defend. [In the case of] Israel, we have to discuss whether it was committing a war crime or not, but Israel reacted to an attack it suffered: a terrorist attack by Hamas. So, yes, it's double standards [adopted by the Lula government],” says international relations professor Gunther Rudzit, from the Escola Superior de Propaganda e Marketing (ESPM).
Israel has been fighting a war against the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip for exactly one year. The conflict began after the extremist organization ordered a terrorist attack against Israel and claimed 1,200 victims. In Europe, on the other hand, the war was motivated by Russia. The country started a war in February 2022, when dictator Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to invade Ukraine. The Brazilian president, however, has adopted different tones to address the ongoing conflicts in the world. While he avoids criticizing Putin and has even made statements interpreted as support for the dictator, Lula has been critical of the Israeli counter-offensive and the damage caused to the Palestinian population living in Gaza.
On Tuesday (8), Múcio said that ideological tendencies on the part of the government had blocked Defense negotiations with Israel. “There has now been a competition, a tender, the people of Israel, have won. But, because of the war, Hamas, the political groups, we have this tender ready, but, for ideological reasons, we can't approve it,” he said.
Although he didn't give details of which tender he was referring to, the most recent case is linked to Elbit Systems, the Israeli company that won the tender to sell 36 howitzers - a type of armored artillery that fires at long range - to the Brazilian Army. Negotiations, however, have stalled.
This is not the first time, however, that Lula's administration has interfered in Defense Ministry negotiations. On Tuesday, while criticizing the Brazilian government's intervention in the purchase of Israeli howitzers, José Múcio Monteiro Filho also condemned the suspension of the sale of ammunition to Germany. “We have ammunition here in the Army that we don't use. Germany wanted to buy it. It's there, it's expensive to maintain this ammunition. We made a great deal. 'You're not going. Because if you don't, the Germans will send it to Ukraine, and Ukraine will use it against Russia and Russia will mess with our agreements,'” said the Defense Minister. The minister also didn't detail what the ammunition would be, but in January last year President Lula met with Múcio and commanders of the Armed Forces to study a request made by Germany: the country was asking for ammunition for the armored Gepard, of German origin.
Members of the Workers' Party (PT) and the government's top brass, including the president's special affairs advisor, Celso Amorim, have opposed the purchase of Israeli artillery. They believe that the deal could indirectly finance the war the country is facing against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “This [the Elbit process] is also a political issue. You're buying sensitive equipment from a country accused of genocide by the International Court,” Amorim told O Globo. Despite occupying an advisory post, Amorim was Lula's foreign minister and is seen as the figure responsible for foreign policy in Lula's third term.
The text also calls on governments to stop any commercial operation involving the supply of military equipment to the Israeli Armed Forces. Brazil's delegation voted in favor of the text, drafted by Pakistan with the help of Bolivia, Cuba and Palestine. The text also recommends that governments also stop any commercial operation with Israel involving military equipment. Brazil voted in favor of the measure.
According to the UN, five countries currently sell arms to Israel:
The United States, The United Kingdom, France, Germany and Australia. Six other countries -- Italy, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Japan and Canada -- also transferred arms or military equipment to Israel but suspended operations after the war in the Middle East began. The UN Human Rights Council is made up of representatives from 47 countries. In Friday's vote, 28 of them voted in favor of the resolution, including China, Luxembourg, Malaysia and South Africa, as well as Brazil.
Was the Kursk gamble worth it? Probably not.
"IDF says military goals in Lebanon achieved, gov't can reach diplomatic resolution" - Jerusalem Post
:yea:
ISW: Hezbollah’s Military Forces Are Failing in Lebanon
In case you weren't already convinced that ISW is a full-blown propaganda outlet.
The operation has so far successfully destroyed and disrupted many of the capabilities required for Hezbollah to threaten northern Israel
Aren't they still regularly launching rockets?
Hezbollah is attempting to present itself as a competent, confident military organization, but it has so far failed to effectively execute any major military campaign at scale
???
Criticisms directed at the IDF’s slow pace of operations ignore Israeli operational design and lessons learned in the Gaza Strip. Some Lebanese officials implied that the Israeli operation is failing because IDF forces have not penetrated deep into Lebanon.[18] The IDF’s slow movement is a deliberate choice designed to root out and destroy Hezbollah tunnel infrastructure methodically. This approach was presumably derived from a lesson learned in the Gaza Strip, where after a relatively rapid armored assault, the IDF slowed its pace of operations and began methodically reentering areas and ripping out subterranean and above-ground infrastructure.[19]
Iran plans to increase military budget by 200%
Good for them if its 'financed' through deficits than cutting other sectors or raising taxes on the poor. I know military is a 'waste' of resources in that it doesn't produce anything regular people need but the threat of Israel is real
. And Iran has a unemployment and underemployment problem. Its not comparable to the parasitic U.S. MIC. Though, I guess there is risk of inflation in certain sectors given the sanctions.bruh they got kathleen tyson on the show just to mercilessly body her over and over radhika plz stahp we want repeat guests not heads on pikes
Road blockade in Virú on the Panamericana Norte, connecting Trujillo to Lima. Peruvians are protesting a wave of crime and insecurity that the U.S. backed right wing coup regime does nothing to curb.
Peruvian National Police (PNP) firing live shots to disperse protesters in Valle de Dios, Chao in the North of Perú. Will the US backed coup regime once again commit another massacre at the hands of SOUTHCOM trained armed forces?
Illegally ousted and detained President of Perú Pedro Castillo sending his solidarity to one of his biggest supporters since the US backed coup, Evo Morales.
Sheikh Naim Qassem is the new SG of Hezbollah
Hezbollah's Shura Council announced that it had elected Sheikh Naim Qassem as the party's Secretary-General, succeeding Martyr Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. This decision, "grounded in the principles of true Islam and the steadfast ideals of Hezbollah, follows the party's established procedures for selecting the Secretary-General," according to Hezbollah's statement.
Emanuel Macron is in Morocco where he has met with Mohammed VI, with whom he has announced his support for Morocco's theses on the occupation of Western Sahara, the last non-self-governing territory on the African continent.
Macron has assured that he considers "the present and future of Western Sahara to be inscribed within the framework of Moroccan sovereignty".
I have no other way to respond than "البلاد تاع عمك باش تقسمها؟"
delegation in South Africa was acting like a petulant child because of the RussiaToday microphone on the SAFM Roland Lamola's table and demanded it be removed. When refused, they covered the microphone with a book titled Crimea is Ours, which was also then subsequently removed and got scolded like a child.Why exactly is
in South Africa? No idea, but whatever igDeath to AmeriKKKa
someone made a thread about china allegedly banning halloween
it's apparently a flg (CIA) initiative https://www.reddit.com/r/Sino/comments/1gdsmg9/psa_flg_and_us_gov_attempting_to_spread_the/Al Qassam Brigades blew up a tank with an IED:
https://xcancel.com/TVFreePalestine/status/1851036222195462454
context
Brazilian president @LulaOficial , who has been saying all year that the Israelis are committing genocide, is asked in part:
“Do you think maybe it's time to ask for a global weapons embargo to Israel?”
He gives a relatively long answer talking about strengthening the UN, the Oct 7 death toll, how Hamas should “free the hostages,” and even “greenhouse gas emissions.”
Nowhere to be found: a direct answer to the actual question about a weapons embargo.
From a press conference at the UN on Sept 25, 2024:
I saw yesterday that NATO has decided to make it official canon that Korean troops are part of the Russian coalition in Ukraine. They have also updated the official NATO number of Russian casualties to 600.000.
The official story is something along the line of Russia now needing Korean soldiers because they're running over of Russian.
No link (I'm a lib), just wanted to make an update about the reality our leaders inhabit.
Holy shit, on some CNN discussion news thing some zionist arguing with Mehdi Hasan wished "his beeper doesn't go off" and that absolutely derailed the program to the point where it looks like over the break they continued without that guy.
this feels like a very skill-less tipping of the hand and seeing how funny it is that liberals are forced by their sham morals to actually intervene, if not just to clear the air of a really distasteful comment. But the comfort you have to feel to foolishly just openly say something like that and misjudge just how behind you everyone is....
if anyone here had any real morals, they'd choose to be more vocal about the genocide of Palestinians because they just got a full view of who they've been supporting all along
somebody had a bad day in Bryansk
As of March, 1,113 American mercenaries had taken up arms for Ukraine, according to a tally released by the Russian Defense Ministry. At least 491 of these had been killed, the ministry stated.
These guys are learning what the term 'peer warfare' means
Libs will come across an influential personality and completely separate them from important context.
They'll celebrate Yacouba Sawadogo, for instance, for being a pioneer of 20th-century agriculture by reinventing traditional methods for water retention amd soil fertility. And yet, there's something missing...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yacouba_Sawadogo
His methods started to find widespread success in the mid-80s, in his country, Burkina Faso. I wonder what was happening around that time? Oh well, that's not important.
And then 2 decades later the land value of the area he had labored on and improved had shot up and he was struggling to afford the same plot he'd been working for over 20 years. Isn't that just rotten luck? I guess life's just a roller coaster of fortune.
Wow, watch StateSpox laugh and make jokes when Matt Lee asks about a UN vote condemning the US embargo on Cuba
Lee: You aware of the vote tomorrow
Miller: I wasn’t tracking this on my bingo card
Lee: How is the US going to vote
Miller: I doubt we’ll be voting to condemn ourselves (laughs)
Lee: Last year of Obama’s presidency you guys abstained, as you probably know it’s basically the entire world votes to condemn it and you and Israel vote against, so do you have anything to say about this yearly display of international isolation
Miller: I don’t (smirks)
MUST NOT FEDPOST...
MUST NOT FEDPOST...
MUST NOT FEDPOST...
https://nitter.poast.org/AssalRad/status/1850980965503680900
Can someone please explain why this guy, who helped plan the NATO bombing of Belgrad and invasion of Baghdad and whose book was required reading for IOF officers, is somehow the darling analyst of multipolarity?
Image of Douglas Macgregor speaking to iof commanders at some kind of meeting.
Lula doesn't endorse an arms embargo on israel
Burger national election news is scary and depressing. Got anything fun happening in your local or state elections?
Portland Oregon is choosing a new mayor and oh boy. Our choices this round include the lady with 150 unpaid parking tickets, who really probably shouldn't be driving at this point, or we have the guy who falsely accused someone of assaulting him on the train, (there are cameras) who also used public funds to spiff up his wikipedia page and of course hates the homeless.
Or we got Keith, the guy who doesn't seem to hate homeless people, provided they stay at an overnight shelter (he's on the record as being against the 24-hour shelters with onsite case management). Or Liv, maybe better known as the stripper Viva Las Vegas, who seems to be running on a platform of...make Portland good and artsy again? Somehow? (The solution is lower rents).
There is also Mingus. Idk what Mingus has been up to. He's already in the city government, probably coasting on being mediocre and not attracting controversy idk. I think he might be our water guy? Idk the city government is split really weird here. Anyways, not spicy enough to win, or get any real juicy news articles. Has a cool name though. Mingus Ulysses Mapps. Yeah that shit is tight.
You guys got anything fun going on?
First it was Hamas that was going to destroy Israel, then that didn’t happen and you all stopped talking about it, then it was Hezbollah that was going to destroy Israel, now that that’s not happening you’re going to slowly stop talking about it. I guess it’s Yemen’s turn to destroy Israel now, but who’s it going to be after they fail too? Is Russia going to destroy Israel next? You should pick something funnier, like Serbia.
In 50 years you’ll all be in hospice care yelling at the nurses about how this time the end of Israel really is imminent! Sure Mr. Jewslayer Ilovehitler, the lawyer will be here in a few minutes to go over your will.
Not content with murdering millions upon millions, not content with creating death factories, not content with sending children, women and the elderly to gas chambers, not content with beheading people, not content with throwing people into pits while they were still alive, not content with throwing millions of people into a war as they launched their worldwide campaign for blood and murder, Germany doubles down and stands firm and proud next to their most precious student, "Israel", as they continue to genocide arabs in their quest for blood and conquest.
History will not be kind to them.
Permanently Deleted
Called it.
Yemeni Forces Unveil Advanced Home-Grown Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Al Ahed News
Named al-Qari’a [Calamity], the domestically engineered AUV was showcased during a naval exercise in the Red Sea on Sunday.
This new suicide AUV is poised to bolster Yemen’s military strength against maritime security threats, supporting the country’s efforts to safeguard its territorial waters and enabling Yemeni naval units to conduct more precise operations.
In recent months, Yemeni forces seized a US Navy REMUS 600 AUV off Yemen's coast, which has reportedly been under study by Yemeni military experts and engineers. The midsized REMUS 600 AUV can reach speeds up to 5 knots [9.3 km/h] and operate for up to 70 hours at a cruising speed of 3 knots [5.6 km/h].
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On 25 October, the Al-Quds Foundation in was live on Salaamedia, issuing an "emergency appeal", which included both praise and criticism of South Africa's response to the geenocide by "israel", as well as harsh condemnation of Middle Eastern nations, especially Egypt. It was also heavily advised to put more pressure on the South African government to begin taking more meaningful action against Isnotreal, such as a total ban on trade with the Apartheid state. The programme also urged much more direct action including storming "israeli" embassies/consulates and complicit arms industries (much like Palestine Action) in not only South Africa, but all over the world. Even martyrdom was suggested onboard flotillas delivering food and medical aid, in an attempt to tell the ISISraeli blockade to eat shit and push forward anyway. That's really about as radical as they probably could take it without consequence, even on South African airwaves. Still,
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Several more universities in South Africa have severed ties with their Pissraeli counterparts - University of Cape Town and University of the Western Cape, Nelson Mandela University, University of South Africa, University of Fort Hare and University of Venda. AFAIK, all 4 campuses of University of Johannesburg have maintained their boycott since 2011.
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Wits University had rejected demands for boycott.
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Several media outlets have named and identified a South African named Aaron Bayhack who joined the IDF's elite sniper team in Gaza. One more who is due to be sent to the
if he ever steps foot back into South Africa. Of course, there's also outrage of the pro-Apartheid "community" of a "brave, patriotic, innocent young boy" being doxxed by major outlets such as IOL and News24. Let alone the fact that a South African IDF serviceman stepping foot back into a country hostile to "israel" presents a very immediate threat to public safety. -
South Africa also submitted it's memorial to the ICJ on the morning of 28 October. "israel" was given 9 months (until the 28th of July) to submit a "counter-argument". It's not a mystery as to what this so-called counter-argument contains.
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The move to change Sandton Drive to Leila Khaled Drive is again delayed. So much for the socialist fraternal kiss under the Leila Khaled street sign with the US Consulate getting Falastin-2'd in the background 2 weeks ago.
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SAJFP also picked apart that one Haaretz article "Scary Time To Be a Zionist" and called out many a salty settler.
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A journalist by the name of Hamza Chalan has escaped Jabalia and fled to South Africa with his footage also 2 weeks ago.
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Google Earth still shows Mariupol in ruins and the
still claims the city is a bombed-out ghost town, even as the population is back to over 400,000 and most services and infrastructure has been restored.
Death to AmeriKKKa; Death to "israel"
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NSFL From a Journalist in Gaza NSFL
It's only text report but NSFL some of the most depraved evil Zionazi shit you'll ever read. CW Death, mass murder of children...
**NSFL**
A mother from #Jabalia says:
“They took all the children from their mothers and put them inside what resembled a pit or a hole. The tank came to circle around them repeatedly until their bones cracked under the pressure of dust and sand, amidst the screams of children and the wailing of mothers.
“After that, the soldiers came and started throwing the children towards the mothers, and whoever caught a child was ordered to carry him and move away quickly, with no guarantee that the child would be their own. “Many mothers carried children who were not their own, and were forced to leave with them, leaving their own children in the hands of other mothers.
This marked the beginning of a new chapter of suffering, with mothers searching for their children in the arms of other women, trying to calm the children they held until they found their real mothers.“
European Hedgehog In Decline: Now "Near Threatened"
The European hedgehog is officially classified as "Near Threatened" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), signaling a serious risk of extinction without immediate conservation efforts. Research shows a decline of over 30% in hedgehog populations across multiple European countries over the past decade.
Read more...
Sophie Lund Rasmussen, a prominent hedgehog researcher and author of the assessment report, highlights that the hedgehog's status reflects an urgent need for action. "In my view, it’s extremely sad and deeply concerning that even such a beloved and popular animal as the hedgehog is disappearing from nature. This is a species that people truly want to protect, which tells us something about the general state of nature," she stated.
The decline is attributed to various human-induced threats, including traffic fatalities — accounting for up to a third of hedgehog deaths annually — intensified agriculture, urban development, and the dangers posed by robotic lawnmowers. Furthermore, 90% of examined Danish hedgehogs contained pesticide residues.
Rasmussen emphasizes the importance of making gardens more hedgehog-friendly to improve their survival chances.
The "Near Threatened" classification is seen as a conservative estimate due to incomplete data from some countries, with existing data suggesting that the actual situation may be even more dire.
- Source: Aalborg University press release, October 28th 2024
A postal voting station was set on fire in Clark County, Washington overnight. Hundreds of votes in the USA were lost as ballots had not been collected since Saturday.
With no record of who did or didn't vote, Vancouver-Washington authorities have asked everyone who cast a ballot as of 11 a.m. on Saturday to show up at their offices to find out the status of their vote. In Portland, Ohio, two of these ballot boxes also suffered attempted arson.
Mexico, Honduras, Colombia, Venezuela, Brazil, Nicaragua and Cuba condemn the attempt on Evo Morales' life. The Bolivian government also condemns the attempt on Evo Morales' life.
Someone managed to get a video of what could be Israel's RA-01 stealth ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance, Reconnaissance) stealth UAV, mentioned for the first time in the legitimate leaked US spy documents, off of the coast of Lebanon. Remember as of weeks ago, no one even knew that this UAV existed.
Here's a comparison with the HA-10 concept that many posted about earlier.
The thin high aspect detachable wings appear to have been kept, but not as extreme. It's also not a characteristic shared by many stealth drones, and rules out flying wing designs like the RQ170 and RQ180. Other potential candidates are the Rafael Aeronautics Orbiter 5, which looks similar.
i feel like iran is cheating or something , like in a PC game you would not even get a choice to show this much restrainted , if somebody bombs your soil or embassy or honored guest for presidential inaguration..
It would just be a Pop up window with "So theres war now" ...
Anyway .. Israel will now apperently strike Iran again because of the 2 Palmtrees that got damaged on nethanyaus Residence or something
Edit: wtf is that even suppose to mean ..
Algeria cuba news: Army General Saïd Chanegriha and Cuban Vice Minister Joaquin Quintas chilling in a room and drinking water from a wine glass(?), nothing important just the usual "they agreed on coordination and appreciate the history and agreeing on Palestine and Western Sahara"
"Volkswagen's management wants to close at least three plants, cut tens of thousands of jobs, and also slash pay by 10% for remaining staff, according to a statement from staff representatives."
Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schäfer said: "We have to get to the root of the problems: we are not productive enough at our German sites and our factory costs are currently 25 to 50 percent above target. This means that some of our German plants are twice as expensive as our competitors."
He stressed that operations "cannot continue as before".
The results of the 2024 Brazilian municipal elections (Huge Text):
It was a victory mainly for the center-right (neoliberal, opportunistic, some pro-Lula, others anti-Lula). And the center-left parties also did well. The Workers' Party (Lula's party) increased its number of mayors. The Liberal Party (Bolsonaro's party) received a lot of money to try to elect 1,000 mayors, but ended up electing only 500.
Bolsonaro's biggest defeats were in the Northeast (Where most of the socdems won), Minas Gerais (Pro-Lula Liberal won) and Rio de Janeiro (Bolsonaro's stronghold, and he lost really hard to the current mayor who is a Pro-Lula Liberal, who is really popular). Lula's party also won some cities in the Southern region of Brazil (usually a pro-Bolsonaro stronghold, but they have a huge leftist presence due to the rural workers and the popularity of Trabalhismo ideology, which is basically Brazilian Peronism).
Bolsonaro's biggest victory was in Brazil's largest city, São Paulo. But Bolsonaro is a coward and is known for betraying his own candidates. There is a good chance that he will get jealous of this candidate and start attacking him, as he usually does. The two biggest losers of this election were the PSDB (Brazilian Social Democracy Party) (former party in power during the 1990s, neoliberal, socially conservative, was destroyed after the 2016 coup) and the former presidential candidate, Ciro Gomes (member of the Trabalhista Party, supposedly a socdem, decided not only to give his support, but to openly support Bolsonaro's candidate, the one who shaved his own asshole on youtube and mocked the women who died at the hands of men, against the “evil and opportunistic” candidate of the Workers' Party).
Even with very strong support against him, the Workers' Party candidate managed to win by less than 1%, which guaranteed the Workers' Party control of the state and the capital. Now the Trabalhista Party wants to expel Gomes, and he said that he wants to ally himself with Bolsonaro's candidate for president and the governor of São Paulo. These elections weren't great for Lula, but they weren't completely bad. From what I've read on Twitter and Bluesky, it seems that left-wing parties in Brazil generally don't care much about the municipal elections and prefer to focus on the general elections for the Legislative and Executive branches.
In microchip news:
Intel invests US$300 million in China chip packaging and testing plant
Text
The US chip giant aims to expand an existing chip packaging and testing facility in China, its largest market
US semiconductor giant Intel said it would expand its chip packaging and testing base in Chengdu, in a show of commitment to the mainland market despite a recent call by a Beijing-backed cybersecurity group to review the company’s products.
In addition to enlarging packaging and testing capacity for server chips, the facility will also establish a “customer solutions centre to improve the efficiency of the local supply chain, increase support for Chinese customers and improve response time”, Intel China said on Monday on its WeChat account.
The Santa Clara, California-based company will inject US$300 million into its local entity, Intel Products (Chengdu), to support the expansion, according to a WeChat post published by the city’s Reform and Development Commission.
Launched in 2003, Intel’s Chengdu plant is responsible for the packaging and testing of more than half of the company’s laptop processors shipped worldwide. Packaging and testing is the final step in semiconductor manufacturing, ensuring the quality and reliability of a product.
The facility plays a critical role in Intel’s global supply chain, while Chengdu provides a “favourable” business environment that paves the way for the company’s “stable growth”, Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger said during a visit there last year. Chengdu is the capital of China’s southwestern Sichuan province.
Text
“My simple message is, ‘Let’s get it finished,’” said Gelsinger in an interview with The New York Times.
Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger has been frustrated with the U.S. government’s slow progress in providing Intel with its promised CHIPS Act funding. The New York Times shared recent interviews with Gelsinger and U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo about the CHIPS and Science Act.
The Biden-backed CHIPS Act represents $280 billion of funding for semiconductor manufacturing in the United States, giving the Commerce Dept. the ability to provide 10-figure grants and loans to companies like TSMC and Intel to supercharge a young U.S.-based chip industry. The Biden administration has promised Intel $8.5 billion in direct funding to build its new chipmaking fabs (plus $11 billion in loans and a 25% investment tax credit of up to $100 billion). Still, the company has not seen any of these funds so far.
Missing the funds is a problem for Intel, which is in turmoil due to $1.6 billion in losses in Q2 2024. Intel is cutting 15% of its workforce, representing 15,000 or more workers worldwide. Gelsinger has spent the past three months since the disastrous August earnings call restructuring his company and placating stockholders. He has become “frustrated” with the roadblocks the government has put in between Intel and its CHIPS Act funds.
“My simple message is, ‘Let’s get it finished,’” said Gelsinger in an interview. “There’s been renegotiations on both sides.” The U.S. government put some objectives between CHIPS Act recipients and their money, with milestones including completing building projects, securing customers, etc. “Obviously, with elections, you know, nigh in front of us, hey, we want this done,” said Gelsinger, with the possibility of a new presidential regime lighting a fire of urgency.
This reticence to give out CHIPS Act funding right away apparently stemmed from fears from the government that Intel specifically would not meet its promises. “[There is fear that] Intel is going to take chips money, build an empty shell of a factory and then never actually open it, because they don’t have customers,” said former Commerce Department official Caitlin Legacki.
Gelsinger’s tenure as CEO since 2021 has been marked by a desire to rebuild the company in a foundry-forward direction. One of the major forces behind lobbying for the CHIPS Act, Gelsinger also supercharged the Intel Foundry division, which, despite its extremely high costs, has been deemed crucial for Intel's long-term success. The foundry is set to be spun off into an independent subsidiary, with its overseas operations paused for the next two years while its U.S. facilities are prioritized.
According to reports from last month, Intel is set to receive its first round of CHIPS Act funds before the end of 2024. Gelsinger, as mentioned above, is anxious to receive funds before the election, and Qualcomm is reportedly waiting until the election to make a move on purchasing Intel assets.
Why are Chinese delivery drivers having meltdowns? by SCMP Deep Dive
Looks like China’s delivery gig industry is reaching its breaking point, in what we call 内卷 (or involution). The means of exploitation is not so different from what I’ve heard about Uber and Lyft drivers have to endure in the US.
Hexbear News Mega America desk, I have caught the electoralist bug and want a sitrep on the upcoming US presidential election - which are the key swing states? what are the battlegrounds to look out for? where are the biggest upsets likely to happen for Harris and Trump?
Give me your informed analysis, give me your spicy takes, give me your conspiracy theories, but please keep them realistic and not the wishful thinking ones. I want to become an “expert” on US electoralism.
Someone in the PNW burnt a ballot box cw:
linkedit: guess they did a few
https://apnews.com/article/vote-ballot-drop-box-democracy-fire-f66c52f774955106fb9e7c8172825cff
Since everyone's talking about that alleged comedian's racist joke about Puerto Rico being a garbage patch, and I can't think of an interesting discussion topic about Japan:
What strategic value does Puerto Rico currently represent to empire? Previously, a staging ground to place American bases in the Caribbean near Cuba was an absolutely critically important point in the Cold War. As US-Cuba relations cool down, and as the Puerto Rican debt crisis and failure to recover electrical infrastructure from 2017's hurricane Maria post privatization of the electric grid, it seems like our value to empire is reduced. Puerto Rico receives more money in federal funds every year than we produce with our entire manufacturing sector, and the usual culprits for embezzlement, Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) make up a comparatively very small portion of the economy. Previously, I had concluded that the reason the US keeps us around as a colony was just that, the strategic value. But how is it realized?
Follow up question, how could whatever strategic value Puerto Rico has for the US, in the event of a successful PR independence movement, be leveraged against US empire?
Edit: the claim that the federal funds are greater than the manufacturing GDP is entirely wrong actually, I misremembered that from when I had looked this up before and skimmed the sources and came to the wrong conclusion. I just checked and GDP from manufacturing is around 5x federal funding. Still, there's a huge debt problem that's being handled via austerity instead of economic development. I doubt there's too much potential for development in a country with an enormous brain drain problem and inflated US dollar wages, at least under the colonial status quo. So it still begs the question, what's the plan long term?
https://x.com/GUAN_FAHRANZAYD/status/1850253566855832016
Good twitter thread about the algerian missiles program. For anyone that is interested. It is in Arabic.
English article from Fereshteh Sadeghi on the US-israeli attack on Iran last week.
The Iranian army later in the day announced the death of at least four officers, including a colonel, killed during Israeli air raids in Khuzestan. An informed source speaking to The Cradle on condition of anonymity reveals that the number of Iranian casualties is higher than what is officially being reported.
Details about the Israeli air raids or the extent of the harm to the Iranian military are unclear and patchy at best. Both sides have a vested interest in controlling the narrative: Tel Aviv to project power and deterrence, and Tehran to maintain an image of resilience and minimize perceived vulnerabilities.
Israel says it deployed over 100 F-35 fighter jets to conduct the offensive. However, an Iranian conservative lawmaker on Saturday morning claimed that the strikes in Tehran were actually carried out by small drones or quadcopters.
Hamid Rasaei wrote on his Telegram channel that “the Zionist regime’s agents in Tehran were involved in those attacks and Iranian anti-aircraft guns fired at those microdrones.”
The narrative in the west of the country was different. Images of an Israeli missile’s booster falling in Iraq’s Salahuddin province suggest Israel used the Golden Horizon Air launched Ballistic Missile to hit Iranian radars in the western belt of the country.
The use of Iraqi airspace by Israel was confirmed by the Khatam Al-Anbiya Air Defense Base. It has blamed the US military for allowing Israel to fire air-launched ballistic missiles into Iranian territory from 100 kilometers deep inside the Iraqi soil. No such permission had been granted from Iraqi authorities.
...
Although the official Iranian media have downplayed the extent and strength of the Israeli strikes, University of Tehran academic and political analyst Mohammad Marandi tells The Cradle that “it was a big operation on the side of Israel and actually a considerable one, as Israelis did harm Iranian radar and defense systems.”
Fouad Izadi points to a stellar performance by Iran's air defense systems, in which “Iran was basically able to minimize the effect of this aggression” by Israel.
Marandi, who served as a consultant for the Iranian negotiating team at the last round of Vienna nuclear talks, agrees with the assessment that Iran’s air defenses performed well: “Iranians had conducted security and intelligence operations ahead of the strikes and succeeded in limiting the extent of damage by dummies and decoys as well as spreading misinformation about sensitive sites.”
As he tells The Cradle, the damage inflicted on Iranian military sites was not grave because “the possibility of a direct confrontation with the United States convinced Iranians many years ago to relocate almost all sensitive sites and strategic production facilities underground. Neither warplanes nor missiles are able to penetrate into those underground facilities.”
“What remains on the ground are small workshops producing missile spare parts and they are scattered across the country, but not near borders, that’s why the strike failed to leave a significant harm,” Marandi adds.
Another ballot drop-off arson attack has occurred (I believe this is the third), this time in Vancouver, WA.
There is something morbidly funny to me in the Zionist line that Yahya Sinwar "died like a dog." Basically just confessing that they regularly kill dogs using drone surveillance and tank shells.
It never looks quite good to compare the killing of your enemies to killing a dog, but if you're gonna use it it needs to be embarrassing for the victim and not your own side, like death by starvation or just plain execution.
"Israel" is trying to pass a bill to completely ban UNRWA. The bill will very likely be adopted.
Hezbollah targeting a shelter: https://xcancel.com/MenchOsint/status/1850489072378085692
Afermath: https://xcancel.com/15Escao/status/1850504934854451471
Notice the car and bus in both clips.
I see Walz is going to get the very important Dreamcast Vote. Can't wait to see trump play Simpsons Road Rage now.
So what I'm getting from the latest elections (clarify if i missed anything) is that
- Georgia's generic regional post-soviet center-right big tent party kept its majority but also was possibly pulling nixon shit but also going up against an opposition that desperately wants to pull another color revolution with a little cia moolah, too much of a mess for me to sort out
- LDP got fucked as we all know, afaik it'll be succeeded by a coalition between the half-dozen center-left parties and center-right libertarian Osakans
- Bulgaria elected basically the exact same parliament as last time, the bitter rivalries the three identical center-right parties and their justified reluctance to team up with the four fascist parties means they're gonna have to do this again in a few months, one must imagine sisyphus happy etc
- Despite the loss of their most hitlerite faction, the lithuanian succdems are able to keep their coalition with two(?!) agrarian conservative succdem parties
- Demsocs seem likely to win the Uruguayan presidency but we've gotta wait another month for the second round
- Uzbekistan had elections too but all the parties were on good enough terms with their own generic regional post-soviet center-right big tent party for no one to care
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7dkgz71x6o
One of these structures, known as Taleghan 2, has been previously linked to Iran’s nuclear programme by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
BBC Verify has identified what appears to be damage to a storage unit at the Abadan Oil Refinery based in the south-western province of Khuzestan.
Apparently Israel did (kinda sorta, but not really) strike oil and nuclear sites? Seems kinda like an "I'm not touching you" thing, with minor targets being chosen to avoid serious implications.
Really cool article about student resistance organizing written by a Palestinian former political prisoner about martyr-scholar-fighter Jihad Mughniyeh.
Between Two Fields: Jihad Mughniyeh, the Student Fighter by Fairouz Salameh
Excerpt:
The university was a necessity for him, and his perception of its role is clear in his statement: “There is an abundance of weapons, but the problem is in the person who will stand behind it; the battle today is a battle of minds, weapons, and technology. If we are not educated, who will carry the weapon? Who will develop this weapon and who will develop and keep up with technology? And who will represent the resistance in conferences and on media platforms? As resistance and liberation movements, we need individuals from various fields, just like those who fight with weapons on the front, so being in university is part of my mission in the liberation movement I belong to, whether the Islamic Resistance or others.”
Mughniyeh embodied the unity of words and actions, living out the principles he espoused. His call for “educated people who work” was not mere rhetoric; he led by example, excelling both in his studies and in resistance activities. He frequently reminded his peers, “I’m not telling you what you should do, but what we all must do. And I’ll be the first among you to do it.” This consistency set Mughniyeh apart and drew others to him, as his relationships were built on a foundation of fraternal camaraderie.
Mughniyeh built his relationships on a solid foundation of trust and honesty, building enduring bonds rather than passing acquaintanceships during a temporary stage. He dedicated most of his time to students, engaging with them both on and off campus, during and after class hours. His goal was to forge a sustained movement rather than just an administrative framework for student activism. While many of his university peers were solely focused on academic pursuits, Mughniyeh centered his efforts on the resistance cause, particularly the Palestinian struggle. Palestine was a constant theme in every gathering or discussion he held with his peers. During a 2011 session with students, as Mughniyeh mourned his father with tears, he realized he was mourning in the wrong way. He understood that true mourning and loyalty were not expressed through grief alone, but through actual fieldwork, of which he saw student activism as one of its noblest forms. Mughniyeh often shared this personal story with his fellow students, using it to strengthen their connection with those who had become martyrs, whether they had a direct relationship to them or not. His message was clear: honoring the martyrs meant activating their role within the resistance movement for which the martyrs had made these sacrifices.
pls get rid of the semicolon in the title between neoliberalism and rampages, its driving me nuts. sorry for being a grammar freak but if i continue to look at it i may explode @SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net
editing to add that i dont want this to be misinterpreted as being ungrateful for all the great work you do summarizing the news for babybrains like myself, keep up the excellent work, unironically
Death to America
Denmark’s Air Force is unable to meet NATO's demand for troop transport due to a shortage of operational EH101 helicopters, and has seen itself forced to prioritize domestic search-and-rescue missions instead. With outdated equipment and maintenance delays due to parts shortages, Denmark can barely sustain its own search-and-rescue capabilities, let alone fulfill ever-increasinsing NATO demands. Major General Jan Dam has highlighted the strain on the Air Force, stressing the difficulty in maintaining even minimal operations with the aging fleet.
- Source: DR (state media), October 28th 2024
Dozens of civilians have been killed and thousands displaced in Sudan’s Gezira state, aid groups said, after several days of attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling the army for more than a year. In an interview with The AP on Friday, Chaiban said the war has created “one of the most acute crises in living memory” with more than 14 million people forced to flee their homes, plunging Sudan into the world’s largest displacement crisis.“ We’ve never in a generation seen these types of numbers,” he said. About 25.6 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are expected to face acute hunger this year due to the conflict.
In Malaya, the position is even more complex. In the first instance, we are, as yet, a communally fragmented people with neither history nor traditions which can generate emotional factors that would make for unity despite the fact that no common economic interests exist.
in On the Future of Socialism in Malaya (1958)
By kneecapping Chinese capital — the most advanced section of the Malaysian bourgeoisie — [The Malay-Muslim Feudal Class] had no choice but to seek new sources of capital that would not threaten its political hegemony. British capital diminished as East Asian capital — primarily from Japan and the newly industrializing economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore — was becoming an important source of funds and technology."
in Malaysia’s ‘incomplete’ revolution (2023)
I was able to organize my life enough that I have some free time. As a result, I wanted to restart my project of compiling a digital list and references of Malaysian and Singaporean history, with particular focus on introducing the left-wing movements and debates in the country.
The top 2 quotes is the current introduction to the project.
I am just posting this to further incentivize me on finishing my current readings and the project.
Okay, to make this post more news-megaworthy, let me discuss this paper:
The Business Times - 4 Asean members among those said to have Putin’s blessing to join Brics as partners
BRICS leaders have agreed on a list of nations that will be invited to join as partner countries, as the bloc seeks to strengthen its role as a counterbalance to Western political and economic influence, and South-east Asian nations Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are reportedly on it.
A lot of fan fare about this. Odd considering that out of the 4, 2 of them Indonesia and Thailand, also seek to be part of OECD.
I maintain a welcoming but skeptical view of ASEAN member states joining BRICS.
... The Philippines and Singapore are unlikely to join [BRICS].
The joke writes themselves but we all know this already.
The paper then goes on about Malaysia-Russia relations with not much substance.
Another article notes in it's introductory line:
150 years ago, a Russian explorer made his way to the Malay Peninsula, not to colonise the territory, but to carry out scientific expeditions. In the 1870s, NN Miklukho-Maklai arrived in Johor to begin his exploration.
Colonialism is still a large part of national consciousness, even if it get's subdued by neocolonial state narratives.
Shit I missed a Zionazi dunking session.. but y'all I gotta say not a single 
dropsitenews yet to say definitely, just reports ceasefire talks
to our brave medics
first
