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

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

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

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

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968 comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    For context, this is how it’s typically displayed

  • New lancet paper

    than official number, Lancet study finds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Agence France-Presse and Reuters contributed to this report

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

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

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

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

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

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

    Artic Competition - Foreign Policy dot com - 19 October 2024

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

  • Vatican approves guidelines allowing gay men to become priests, as long as they don't have sex

    Adjustment, considered unexpected, applies only to Italy. The new guidelines will be valid for a trial period of three years. Pope Francis, leader of the Catholic Church since 2013, has been credited with adopting a more welcoming approach towards the LGBTQIA+ community. He recently allowed priests to bless same-sex couples in specific cases.

    However, the admission of gay men to the priesthood remains a taboo subject. Gay priests often express fear of discussing their sexuality. Francis also allegedly used a derogatory word to describe gay people when discussing homosexuality in seminaries during a closed-door meeting last year. The case prompted the Vatican to issue a rare apology.

  • The Brazilian Supreme Court is asking the former president, whose passport has been detained, to prove that he was indeed invited by Donald Trump to the inauguration of the American president.

    Bolsonaro presented the Supreme Court with an email that, according to his defense, was Trump's invitation to his inauguration. But the email is automatic, generated from a website used to book any seat in front of the Capitol. And it's not even a VIP area. The booking site is t47inaugural.com/tickets/. Now it remains to be seen whether the KPoppers and Swifters will fill the seats and guarantee “the largest audience in history”.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

    —-

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

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

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

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

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

  • José “Cha Cha” Jiménez, a human rights activist who co-founded the Rainbow Coalition and served as chairman of the Young Lords organization, died Friday. He was 76.

    Mr. Jiménez spent much of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s fighting gentrification in Lincoln Park, allying with other organizations in Chicago to uplift minority and low-income communities, and rallying for an independent Puerto Rico.

    https://archive.is/tqRU6

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

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

    NO FUCKING WAY, JUAN GUAIDO 3.0 has dropped

  • Labour Party is blasted after using 'forbidden' Brazilian funk to extol the Starmer government in the UK.

    The post shows Labour's promises for the year 2025 with images of animals made by artificial intelligence and accompanied by the song 'Montagem Coral', by DJ Holanda, which suggests drugging 'novinhas' (“Novinha” is a term that appears in funk music lyrics, and also in sexual content. It is used for young girls) to have sex. The party apologized and the piece was deleted.

    The funk lyrics suggest drugging “young girls” for sexual advantage. In the 34-second video, you can hear the lines: “Use poppers and weed! Go, naughty young girl, relaxing sit on dick, naughty, shameless! Go sit on your dick, crazy about marijuana” The Labour Party apologized for the video. “We recognize that the translation of the lyrics is completely inappropriate. We apologize and the video has been deleted,” the party said in a statement.

968 comments