Bulletins and News Discussion from December 2nd to December 8th, 2024 - May A Hundred Hazel Flowers Bloom - COTW: Russia

Just want to point out that whoever the person is that killed the healthcare CEOscum absolutely knew what they were doing. Today is the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center, so there's a fuck ton of tourists out. They knew that the best way to get around the city is on bike, which they used to flee the scene right into Central Park. You can get there way faster on bike than anything else. And they knew that in Central Park, specifically in the forested area of the Ramble, there are few cameras and many places to hide where they could change clothes and then blend back in with the massive crowds hitting the city today. Also apparently used a suppressed pistol, and knew exactly which door the CEO would be coming out of/when to be there. Impressive. I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that this assassin gets away with this. Trump assassins take notes.

Like 90% of US citizens are happy that that health insurance CEO died, but apparently the US can't have free healthcare because "they like their insurance"

Hey all, long time lurker, first time commenter. I used to spam up my geopolitics addiction-brained "effort posts" back on r/genzedong but finally decided to leave R*ddit after seeing how large parts of the site turned on LGBT as a scapegoat after the US election.

Just wanted to post some thoughts on the Syrian tragedy. It’s personal to me in that back when I was a little snot shitlib teenager, I used to volunteer for Amnesty International to fundraise and spread awareness for the “heroic Syrian rebels” fighting for democracy against the “Assad regime” (aka extort white-guilt tithes from schoolmate parents and propagandize for the US State Department). Of course, then Al-Qaeda/ISIS came along with more rebrands than Blackwater, United Fruit and the "formerly known as Twitter" company combined and showed everyone who cared to pay attention whom exactly the “Syrian opposition” really were. Ever since becoming a leftist and a Marxist-Leninist, I’ve tried to keep up with this conflict as best I can and so since I’ve been lurking for a while now and saw some people lost on the complexities of this 13 year long humanitarian catastrophe, so I'll try to fill in some information about the conflict insofar as I understand it. My sources are primarily A.B. Abrams' two books “World War in Syria” and “Atrocity Propaganda Fabrication and its Consequences” (Both on Z-Library and Libgen, both fantastic works that I highly recommend, we seem to be getting an outpouring of actually anti-imperialist published books nowadays when we used to have to scroll through random-ass substacks and twitter threads just to get any information)

Part 1: Target Syria: Origins of the Syrian Civil War

As can be expected, nothing about the “Arab Spring” which led to the outbreak of the conflict in March 2011 was organic. Being notorious self-plagiarists, this was the same playbook the West always uses: taking advantage of strained socio-economic material conditions within a designated adversary's society and funneling that discontent into the direction of regime change.

The origins of Western motives for Syrian regime change:

• Anti-Imperialist Geopolitics: For such a “small” country, Syria has been the bastion of West Asian anti-imperialism during the Cold War. Since the dissolution of the United Arab Republic after Nasser’s successor Sadat swung Egypt’s foreign policy away from the Soviet Union and towards the comprador role it diligently upholds today under Sisi, Syria "quickly emerged as the primary opponent of the imposition of Western hegemony in the Middle East.” After the collapse of the USSR, Syria began its alignment with the Axis of Resistance (Iran, Hezbollah) and with the DPRK for its Hwasung missiles to counter Israel. Later, this alignment expanded to Russia and China, hosting Russia’s sole Mediterranean naval base and signing onto China’s BRI.

• Syrian Secularism as Islamist target: The naked alignment of Al-Qaeda and ISIS with the US in Syria at the present moment, closely examined, is actually a long continuation of Western ties with the Islamist groups in the 20th century Cold War that "received considerable support from NATO member states, enabling them to more effectively target a number of Soviet-aligned and neutral governments.” In 1979, the Muslim Brotherhood targetted Syria with a Islamist uprising that occupied the city of Hama, killing over 1000 Syrian personnel before the restoration of the city. This is the origin of the West’s Islamist underlings’ particular hatred for the Damascus government and the lightbulb moment for the West in how they could be used against Syria. Following 1979, "Israeli and Western experts would notably highlight the presence of radical Islamist elements as an asset to undermine Damascus which “would not be difficult to operate again” and offered “increased U.S. opportunities for destabilization activities if this form of pressure proves necessary.””

• Pipeline Diplomacy: Its closer relationship with Iran in the post-USSR period led to Assad deciding to reject a Qatari oil pipeline project to Europe in 2009 that would have led from Qatar’s North Field through Saudi Arabia-Jordan-Syria-Turkey in favor of a Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline that would ship out via the Mediterranean through the Syrian port and oil refinery of Baniyas in Tartous Governorate without the need for Turkey. Tellingly, the major regional sponsors of Syria’s regime change in the 2010s became precisely those same countries in the Qatari project that Assad sunk. As America's imminent Healthcare Wormbrained Genius RFK Jr. once wrote for Politico:

  Secret cables and reports by the U.S., Saudi and Israeli intelligence agencies indicate that the moment Assad rejected the Qatari pipeline, military and intelligence planners quickly arrived at the consensus that fomenting a Sunni uprising in Syria to overthrow the uncooperative Bashar Assad was a feasible path to achieving the shared objective of completing the Qatar/Turkey gas link […] the CIA began funding opposition groups in Syria. It is important to note that this was well before the Arab Spring-engendered uprising against Assad

• Syrian sovereignty: Ultimately, Syria’s stance as a sovereign West Asian country unbeholden to the West just like Hussein's Iraq and Gaddafi's Libya was the primary Western rationale. Once again, it goes to show that Western hegemonic chauvinism is the root of it all. I’ll just let Abrams conclude this section:

  While there were multiple converging casus belli which led the Syrian state to be targeted for destabilisation and eventual overthrow by the Western Bloc and its partners, one common factor underlying every rationale for targeting Syria was the country’s position as an independent state under a single ruling party which was outside the Western sphere of influence. All states of this nature, from the Soviet Union and Ba’athist Iraq to Cuba, Afghanistan (pre-1992) and North Korea among many others, have been targeted for various economic, military and information warfare efforts. The final goal of these efforts has been to bring about their downfall, placing Western soldiers permanently on their soil and placing their territories and populations firmly within the Western sphere of influence. All reasons for targeting Syria are in some way consequences of this one single fact.

I have to admit the sentiment regarding the dead CEO was way more extreme than I expected, and I don't mean that in a bad. Just a little of the standard liberal scolding, but largely unanimous that he had it coming. Hope that pressure point keeps getting pushed on.

It's pretty wild that Reddit is universally celebrating this guy's death. Like yeah no shit but just a couple years ago you would get banned for saying whatever bit the dirt that month deserved it. Dare I say it, shit is accelerating.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/murdered-insurance-ceo-had-deployed-175638581.html

Murdered Insurance CEO Had Deployed an AI to Automatically Deny Benefits for Sick People

The guy was just so disgusted with the state of american political assassinations and had to show us hows it done

A Healthcare CEO got assassinated this morning. I am surprised this doesn't happen more frequently in America of all places with all the guns.

Libs' favorite Feel Good Stories: 98 YEARS OLD lady picked up a JOB at MC DONALD'S to pay for her RENT. Here's her EMOTIONAL story.

My favorite Feel Good Stories: Man KILLS CEO in DOWNTOWN Manhattan and ESCAPES. He left some MESSAGES behind.

A new american debt jubilee has been created

https://x.com/baldbucknut/status/1864671174484955198

For everyone that is confused why me and other Syrians might be happy about this:

A stagnant, oppressive and expired regime has finally been kicked out after strangling us since 1971. Yeah yeah the geopolitical implication and all that, but we're human in the end and there's an emotional weight in seeing the omniscient Baath regime with all the fucking Hafez and Bashar statues and pictures get stomped on and thrown in the trash. Let us have this at least, these fuckers have killed or tortured a young man from every single Syrian family.

is it finally happening

The CEO killing is being called a targeted killing, but the MSM taking the opportunity to scaremonger and make this about the safety of the general public. There's probably more people walking the streets that have been fucked over by healthcare corporations. Pretty sure they aren't going to be the targets of a hit or premeditated murder.

Could be cops lying, but reports coming out that the shooter's motive was ideological:

https://abcnews.go.com/US/man-shot-chest-midtown-manhattan-masked-gunman-large/story?id=116446382

The words "deny," "defend" and "depose" were discovered by detectives on the shell casings found at the scene where Brian Thompson, the CEO of major insurance group UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down, police sources told ABC News late Wednesday evening.

Zelensky says that the country's army does not have the strength to recover Crimea and that he will have to make “diplomatic efforts”. This is his first statement indicating that he would cede territory to Russia.

Absolutely pissing myself laughing. This propaganda telegram I follow which I've long believed has some feds in it has a moderator who has been telling people he's Swiss for years now. Constantly posts racist, hateful and homophobic shit in a bid to get me to quit the group because they don't like my presence there constantly undercutting stuff.

Anyway dude posted a voice message to the chat (quite common on telegram) without thinking about it and the dude has a yank accent so now I call him the fed.

This isn't news per se but as it's one of the fashy places I get shit from it's tangentially related

Israel is now starting to sell the story for why they need to invade Syria

https://tankie.tube/w/nzPuRscsdJmWj6G9E6BgUi

They intend to cross the Golan Heights (which currently exists as a buffer zone) because they say they need a buffer zone. It's an excuse to take Syrian land.

Greater Israel is their goal. Has always been their goal. They will never stop.

this assassination is one of the most threathing things that has happend to the US Oligarchy in quite some time imo.

it happend in the middle of New York , he got away.

a unrelenting Order was shown to be helpless and unprotected & and somewhere "he" still roams..

Lol maybe they are scrambling harder than we think...

They actually shook down a store over a welrod sale and he was absolutely not using a welrod lmao.

Hmmmm

It’s funny reading about the TikTok ban and seeing Redditors talk about how China will hack them through back doors.

Once again liberals believe China is more aggressive than it actually is.

I guess a year from now we are going to be seeing reports of Jihadi crimes in Syria with people asking what went wrong in Syria

China's BYD to produce its EVs in Brazil. “This will be the largest and most advanced electric vehicle production plant outside of China”. 300,000 vehicles are expected to be produced per year by the end of 2026, primarily to supply the Brazilian and South American markets.

lol extremely chad move if he just left the phone on purpose just to fuck with them/waste their time

Edit: if they do manage to unlock the phone I hope there’s literally nothing on there but hundreds of pig poop balls images

I expected a lot more blood to be spilled and I am glad that it wasn't. The political alignments are concerning, of course, but Syrians deserve peace and stability.

It looks like Assad had no real ability to keep the government together this time. Not that I supported the rebels, but I'm glad that the whole country wasn't set on fire just for him to lose anyway.

In the long run I hope that we see a new pan-Arab socialist movement form, and I hope that it will be Marxist this time.

And just like that, the Baath government in Syria is no more. I'm very emotional right now, many mixed feelings, one part of me is very happy and relieved, another part knows that some American and Israeli ghouls are sharing my happiness, which makes me question that happiness. There's much to dissect in the events of these last 10 days, we'll do that slowly and carefully over the next weeks. But wow, I can't believe that this even happened. 14 years, what was even the point of all this pain and destruction? Congrats to Jolani, he has cemented his place in the history books as the conqueror of Syria, he did what Alloush, Baghdadi and countless others couldn't do. Assad goes into the trashcan of history, another failson goes.

And for the last time:

Who must go? 😔

Bro the way the NYPD keeps glazing this assassin is only something I've seen with like Lebron's myrmidons, they are in love with this man

Real "Batman needs his Joker" ass dynamic going on with these cops

Live DPRK reaction:

A little report from Aleppo, I called my aunt yesterday. She stayed in Aleppo, more specifically Hayy Salah Al Deen in the western parts of Aleppo. Life is pretty normal according to her, the Jihadists are actually behaving well in their interactions with civilians. Shops are open, but there's some confusion about currency and prices, because fighters from Idlib mainly carry Turkish Liras instead of Syrian Liras, so all the prices are unstable and people are confused about what to do with their money. They distributed free bread yesterday, which was neatly organised. Electricity has somehow gotten better.

Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield calls off decision to cap anesthesia for surgical patients

lmao absolutely not a coincidence.

Christ, what a miserable state of affairs. Assad has always been a piece of shit, but I cannnot imagine how awful things are going to get once again in Syria without his regime at least nominally committed to multiethnic harmony. And the Axis of Resistance? What a joke tbh, I'm almost glad Nasrallah isn't here to see this. Iran is just watching all its pieces wiped from the board, for what? Some vague hope that Trump of all people is going to dial back sanctions? Disgusting. I hope I'm wrong, but grim days seem to be ahead.

It's mindblowing how many libs are Wuhan-pilled after the show trial The Republican-led Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic.

They believe everything if it says CHINA BAD, even if western scientists themselves don't believe the lab leak theory.
If you point this out, you are a Chinese bot, case closed.

Romania has annuled the results of the first round of their elections. Citing Russian interference.

In reality they didn't like the result so they're fighting it. Bourgeoise democracies are only allowed democracy if it's the outcome the bourgeoisie want.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn4x2epppego

Hezbollah: Following the repeated violations initiated by the Israeli of the cessation of hostilities agreement announced to come into effect at dawn on Wednesday, November 27, 2024, which take various forms including firing on civilians and airstrikes in various parts of Lebanon, which led to the deaths of citizens and the injury of others, in addition to the continued violation of Lebanese airspace by hostile Israeli aircraft reaching the capital Beirut, and since the reviews of the relevant authorities to stop these violations did not succeed, the Islamic Resistance carried out an initial warning defensive response this evening, Monday, targeting the Ruwaysat al-Alam site belonging to the Israeli army in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kafr Shuba

Czechoslovak comic from 1958

Now would be a great time to clog up their tip line with bullshit if anyone wants to have some fun

Got emself a dang roll-top knapsack. 5/5 fit.

UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in New York City

Fucking tired of hearing about the fucking hostages. In particular these past few days with the video of the hostage being released by Hamas. Guy is a fucking IDF soldier, he willingly signed up for this shit for the glory of being a colonizer. And now they're banging on about another soldier who actually got what he deserved on Oct. 7th, but everyone thought was being held hostage.

I hate how the media treats these genocidal freaks with more humanity than the all of the innocent Palestinians that are being systemically exterminated by Israel.

horrors approaching

Honestly, between the video and the getaway, the UHC exec murder looks like a professional hit. Like they must have denied some Delta Force guy's kid coverage or some shit.

Seized from here

Also i lost the link but apparently an official account of the DDP of taiwan congratulated the ROK president for the coup and said taiwan should do the same, they deleted after it failed

Regarding this CEO, there's one important question I've yet to see anyone ask...

Vaxxed??

Taiwan "liberals" supporting the right wing incel President.

I don’t have strong feelings on Assad (because no investigation, no right to speak), but I fear the coming years are going to be horrific for the Syrian people. Complete instability, fighting among factions, etc… it’s the people of Syria who will suffer most. I don’t think you’re going to see things stabilize there for quite some time.

I do wonder, though, if this instability means Hezbollah will continue to be able to resupply from Iran.

Assad is gone? Wow. I didn't know that... he led an amazing life. What else can you say?

I'm starting to believe that there is a god out there, but that god is an evil god. That god is a god that not only allowed white supremacy, genocide, and colonialism to reign victorious for centuries, they actively supported them and blessed the perpetrators. They are the same god that decided the Al-Aqsa flood would not dislodge Israel after a year, but Israel-friendly terrorists take over an entire country in less than two weeks. A god that deserves to be overthrown, and their followers punished for their transgressions and crimes against humanity.

Imagine if this was a sign that American anarchists are growing teeth again. There was once a time in the early 1900’s when calling someone an Anarchist in the US was the equivalent of calling someone a Tankie today.

It would be nice to see a mass purge of NATO-leftist pansies and get some real muscle back into the movement.

I don't feel anything about the collapse of the SAA in Hama and possibly further. It's a rotting government, even a particularly vulnerable minority like the Ismaili Shias in Salamiyah are seeing the writing on the wall and handed over their town to HTS today. People in the left anti-imperialist camp are missing too much context in their steadfast defence of Assad and the government. Yeah most minorities would rather live under Assad, that's obvious, but it's frankly a horrible government and most people are just indifferent at this point. I expected horrors to be committed when HTS took Aleppo, but they are behaving better than the SAA and NDF thugs so far honestly. It's very hard to be motivated to fight for the rotting Baath government, what does a vision of the future even look like at this point? Back to 2010, where you get arrested if you get caught praying when you have lunch break? It's psychologically over for the Baath government, their last 15 years have ranged from mediocre to disastrous in people's minds, and the natural reaction is that people either openly welcome HTS or become indifferent towards HTS.

North Korean troops so 'poorly trained' that Putin army yet to throw them into battle, say western officials

Schrodinger's army

This coverage is so funny because you can tell they're trying not to frame things like this but all this does is humanize him and make him seem normal.

the lock's been picked

Amnesty late as aways

A report from Amnesty International alleges that Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip constitutes the crime of genocide under international law, the first such determination by a major human rights organisation in the 14-month-old conflict.

The 32-page report examining events in Gaza between October 2023 to July 2024, published on Thursday, found that Israel had “brazenly, continuously and with total impunity … unleashed hell” on the strip’s 2.3 million population, noting that the “atrocity crimes” against Israelis by Hamas on 7 October 2023, which triggered the war, “do not justify genocide”.

Israel has “committed prohibited acts under the Genocide Convention, namely killing, causing serious bodily or mental harm, and deliberately inflicting on Palestinians in Gaza conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction” with the “specific intent to destroy Palestinians” in the territory, the report said.

It marks the first time Amnesty has alleged the crime of genocide during an ongoing conflict, and builds on a March report by the UN special rapporteur for Palestine that concluded “there are reasonable grounds to believe” Israel was committing genocide against Palestinians.

“Our damning findings must serve as a wake-up call: this is genocide and it must stop now,” Agnès Callamard, the group’s secretary general, said in a news conference on Wednesday.

Amnesty cited the deliberate obstruction of aid and power supplies together with “massive damage, destruction and displacement”, leading to the collapse of water, sanitation, food and healthcare systems, in what it called a “pattern of conduct” within the context of the occupation and blockade of Gaza.

“We did not necessarily start out thinking we would come to this conclusion. We knew there was a risk of genocide, as the international court of justice said,” Budour Hassan, Amnesty’s Israel and occupied Palestinian territories researcher, told the Guardian. “When you join the dots together, the totality of the evidence, it is not just violations of international law. This is something deeper.”

The main allegations in the report are:

The unprecedented scale and magnitude of the military offensive, which has caused death and destruction at a speed and level unmatched in any other 21st-century conflict;

Intent to destroy, after considering and discounting arguments such as Israeli recklessness and callous disregard for civilian life in the pursuit of Hamas;

Killing and causing serious bodily or mental harm in repeated direct attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, or deliberately indiscriminate attacks; and

Inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about physical destruction, such as destroying medical infrastructure, the obstruction of aid, and repeated use of arbitrary and sweeping “evacuation orders” for 90% of the population to unsuitable areas.

As an occupying power, Israel is legally obliged to provide for the needs of the occupied population, Kristine Beckerle, an adviser to Amnesty’s Middle East and North Africa team, said on Wednesday. She described Israel’s May offensive on Rafah, until then the last place of relative safety in the strip, as a major turning point when it came to establishing intent.

“[Israel] had made Rafah the main aid point, and it knew civilians would go there. The ICJ ordered them to stop and they went ahead anyway,” she said. “Rafah was key.”

At least 47 people including four children were killed in air strikes across Gaza on Tuesday, according to health officials in the territory, including at least 21 who were sheltering in tent camp housing displaced people near the city of Khan Younis. The Israeli military said it had targeted Hamas militants.

Amnesty has called on the UN to enforce a ceasefire, impose targeted sanctions on Israeli and top Hamas officials, and for western governments such as the US, the UK and Germany to stop providing security assistance and selling arms to Israel.

The rights group has also urged the international criminal court, which last month issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the former defence minister Yoav Gallant, to add genocide to the list of war crimes it is investigating.

Finally, it called for the unconditional release of civilian hostages and for “Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups responsible for the crimes committed on 7 October to be held to account”.

The report, You Feel Like You Are Subhuman’: Israel’s Genocide Against Palestinians in Gaza, is likely to be met with outrage in Israel and generate accusations of antisemitism. Several legal experts and genocide studies scholars contend that the 7 October attack was also genocidal.

The Holocaust led to the creation of the Jewish state and the Geneva conventions, which codified and outlawed genocide as a punishable crime. Both initiatives were the international community’s “never again” response to the horrors inflicted on European Jews by the Nazis in world war two.

In its conclusion, the report says that Amnesty “recognises that there is resistance and hesitancy among many in finding genocidal intent when it comes to Israel’s conduct in Gaza”, which has “impeded justice and accountability”.

“Amnesty International concedes that identifying genocide in armed conflict is complex and challenging, because of the multiple objectives that may exist simultaneously. Nonetheless, it is critical to recognise genocide, and to insist that war can never excuse it,” it states.

Amnesty said the report was based on fieldwork, interviews with 212 people, including victims, witnesses and healthcare workers in Gaza, analysis of extensive visual and digital evidence, and more than 100 statements from Israeli government and military actors it said amounted to “dehumanising discourse”. It also used video and photo evidence of soldiers committing or celebrating war crimes.

Israel’s acts in Gaza were examined “in their totality, taking into account their recurrence and simultaneous occurrence, and both their immediate impact and their cumulative and mutually reinforcing consequences”, it said. Findings were shared “extensively” on multiple occasions with Israeli authorities, the group added, but were not met with responses.

Thursday’s publication builds on the London-based rights group’s previous bold positions on Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories. In 2022, Amnesty joined Human Rights Watch and the respected Israeli NGO B’Tselem in issuing a major report accusing Israel of apartheid, as part of a growing movement to redefine the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as a struggle for equal rights rather than a territorial dispute. Israeli politicians called for the report to be withdrawn, alleging antisemitism.

Hayat Tahrir al-Sham intend to deploy toxic materials in Aleppo, Idlib

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/hayat-tahrir-al-sham-intend-to-deploy-toxic-materials-in-ale

A reliable Syrian source informed RIA Novosti that militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, formerly known as Jabhat al-Nusra, are preparing to use toxic substances in Syria's Idlib and Aleppo provinces.

An informed source revealed that militants from Hayat Tahrir al-Sham have transferred several cylinders containing toxic gases from a stronghold of the Turkistan Islamic Party near Jisr al-Shughur to southern Idlib and other areas in western Aleppo.

So Assad's enemies were the ones attempting to use chemical weaponry? Color me surprised.

Wow I really think he's gonna get away lmao

I’m thinking ahead to a scenario where this guy is actually caught. I’m sure his trial will be pretty public and whatnot. Do you all think there will be rallies across the US in support of him? I sure as hell hope, that could be a really interesting organizing and agitating opportunity

Just got home from work and man what a thread to get back to. Like many of you, I am not Syrian nor do I have any ties there but man, what a ride it has been since this mess kicked off.

I mean it's always been critical support for Assad but still. I feel like it's clear that we're witnessing another Iraq or Libya. I'm afraid for what comes next now. It's a really tough time wrapping up this year, but hopefully the imperial core will face something soon. Or at least Ukraine getting KO'd at last. I don't know. Something...

Lastly, sure am gonna miss the Who must go memes, those were a favorite of mine. But in all seriousness, wishing nothing but the best to the Syrian people. Feels like dark times are ahead. :(

X X HTS attack was a 4D chess move by the watermelon seller, Russia, and the Axis of Resistance.
Turkey arms the terrorists to attack Syria. The SAA fall back to make it look like HTS are a serious threat. This lets Iraq, Russia, Iran, maybe Yemen, all send troops to Syria without the west being too annoyed. The coalition quickly and effectively extinguish HTS with the two faced Erdoğan giving intel through back channels. Israel keeps violating the cease fire with Lebanon for the weeks that this operation takes. When HTS falls there is a large coalition of Russian and axis of resistance in northern Syria who move into southern Lebanon to enforce the ceasefire, and then into northern occupied Palestine to push the IDF back inside the UN recognized 1967 borders of isisrael. They break the siege on Gaza and once again Russians release prisoners from concentration camps and end a genocide by force.

Looks like our favorite assassin of the moment might not have used a traceable Citibike after all. Per the NYTimes:

The police are now investigating whether the gunman escaped on an unmarked e-bike, rather than a Citi Bike as they first said, according to two people familiar with the investigation.

The picture they released of him on the bike initially raised my doubts, since the wheels on that bike looked a bit too thin to be the ebikes that Citibike uses, but I just waved that away as the image quality is super shitty. Regardless this just adds more hope to the idea he'll get away without issue.

This year has been nutty.

1. Trump won U.S. elections in large part due to high cost of living

2. Modi lost his Parliamentary majority despite electoral fuckery due to high cost of living and mass unemployment

3. Hasina Government in Bangladesh got overthrown in large part due to high cost of living and mass unemployment.

4. And now, Syria, though of course in this case external interference was much more overt.

I think neoliberalism is not working. Nothing is going to change for any of these countries because within the neoliberal framework, there is no answer. The replacements will be just as bad if not worse.

Quoting the tweet:

"Quite telling that at no point whatsoever the U.S. embassy in Seoul condemned or even criticized Yoon's coup attempt. During the coup they wrote they were "closely tracking" the situation and when it failed they praised Yoon's announcement to end martial law as "a crucial step". That's it.

In fact I checked around and I couldn't find a single example of a Western liberal democracy that condemned Yoon's move.

The "shared values" they keep saying they "support" apparently don't extend to condemning self-coups when attempted by friends...

If you wonder why people have become super cynical, look no further..."

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1864196912469168279

This goofy ROK nonsense is a just a big psyop to distract us from Syria, the current focus of Yankee imperialism, how's the Lion doing?

Well it seems like the SAA has managed to reorganize and prevent further advances into Hama City, but HTS are staging for an assault from the northern suburbs and publicly warning residents of such. HTS still capturing villages in Salamiyah District east of Hama but SAA still holding on to the main road just about 9km south from the new frontline. Seems like a sensible place to make a stand if the SAA has finally gotten its shit together after the shock has worn off. Also, all those rumors about coups were misinformation of course.

Aleppo is a total defeat, SDF accepted an offer from HTS to withdraw from the city, new civil administration being established already. I shutter thinking of the scores of captured equipment surely now in the hands of the bandits, and likely years of counterinsurgency that it will take to uproot them from the area.

NATO and the Zionist entity are conducting bombardments, hitting "iran-backed" government militias in Deir Ez-Zor (yet again) and assassinating Hezbollah's liaison with the SAA in Damascus today. Likely to try to distrupt arms deliveries. Turkey, a thousand curses upon them, is bombing SDF targets with air and artillery and sending their puppet army the SNA to attack the SDF in the north, probably aiming for Manbij.

The Great Satan went to the UN to say they are "happy with the treatment of people in Aleppo" by HTS, which is labeled by the Great Satan as a designated terrorist organization and AQ affiliate, so you know their hands are all over this offensive. Russian aviation must have also been effective the past few days since the Great Satan brought some White Helmet guy to whine about barrel bombs and destruction of hospitals. Old shit and a complete farce considering what has been sanctioned by them in in Gaza. Russia accuses US and allies, including Ukraine specifically, of arming HTS fighters.

Finally, another huge wave of internally displaced people in the wake of this offensive. The barbarism continues.

> Declare martial law

> Arrest opposition leaders

> Send the military to block access to Parliament

> Set up for a coup

> Quit

Welcome back, died 2023, born 2024

“Moderate” Syrian rebels (Al Qaeda) as Zionist tanks roll in to establish the Großisraelisches Reich: “We did it Patrick, we saved Syria!”

CW: MURDER

Here's the vid of the CEO assassination: https://x.com/Jake_Hanrahan/status/1864375810527801659

apparently you can to stop martial law. you can just do that and the military can't stop you.

lol

Israeli tanks have officially crossed the border of the demilitarised zone between the occupied Syrian Golan and Quneitra. Fuck Israel for not even letting people have one hour of fucking calm and good mood.

Every 480p security cam frame of an alienated worker murdering a CEO instead of a classroom of children or a walmart/nightclub of minorities a painting

Dear God I am so tired of being surrounded by zionist jews that use antisemetism or other facets of their identities such as being poc or lgbt to just be islamophobic or pro-genocide. Do they not realize even public perception of the people in the west has become more pro-palestine than pro-israel, small as it may be? When this all boils over do they not understand just how much ammo they're giving to antisemites and neonazis? By pretending there's no genocide, twisting facts and straight up lying do they think just whining is gonna convince people of the inevitable? I wish my biggest fucking issue in life was being upset that my tl was filled with "obvious antisemites" aka people talking about the gaza genocide. I'm just so fucking over it they're everywhere, may God help the non-zionist jews who have to deal with these people and what the fall-out of this genocide will bring. I'm so fucking tired of anti-arab rethoric and the clear apathy towards arab lives, not even children are spared from their evil. And ofc Palestine is not enough, they had to get their hands in Lebanon and Syria but somehow "Israel" is the victims. Cause apparently colonization and genocide it's ok if they do it. Rant over, I just ran into some victim playing zionists who are otherwise "progressive" and lost it. I'm so done, it sometimes feel like running into one of these people makes me forget that most of the world (not politicians, but people-wise, especially non-westerns) arent zionists or pro-Israel and it ruins my day, I gotta remind myself.

And here we go with blaming the resistance for the bombing days after Israel already broke the ceasefire, as predicted by many in the News Megathread. The immortal science takes another easy point

link for the libs: TW: The Guardian

I hope Elon Musk attempts to "help" the police find the shooter, only for his garbage AI to fuck it up

it's notable that Ansarallah has had major success despite being physically cut off from the rest of the Resistance and under a blockade, and it has defeated the US Navy in its attempts to open up the strait

For evening the odds on the cheap, there's no stock like drone stock.

spoiler

Sends your opps back to the dock

Hey now this Lenin guy might be onto something

Is it fair to say that things went from bad to very bad in new and horrible ways today?

I hope Yoon just pretends this never happened and continues being president. Then next month he attempts another coup, it would be the funniest outcome lol

Gun crisisHealthcare crisis

Working together to force the government to address at least one of them

Israel is currently invading Syria, Bibi said the 1974 agreement is over and now they can invade Syria freely. Doubt these terrorist can organize any strong resistance to stop Israel, the Syrian Interim Government will probably only last a couple of months.

Burkina Faso: Captain Ibrahim Traoré terminates the functions of the Prime Minister and members of the government

https://burkina24.com/2024/12/06/burkina-faso-le-capitaine-ibrahim-traore-met-fin-aux-fonctions-du-premier-ministre-et-des-membres-du-gouvernement/

The President of Faso, Captain Ibrahim Traoré, terminated the functions of the Prime Minister and members of the government on December 6, 2024, according to a presidential decree read on the 8 p.m. news on public television (RTB).

Anyone know more info? I'm not even sure if this is real yet tbh.

A comrade in here called it: the CEO Killer’s gun had nothing to do with a random gun shop in Connecticut!

Pigs are just outdoing themselves on this one

Per MSNBC by way of Reuters, backpack possibly belonging to shooter found in central park containing "Monopoly money"

A backpack resembling the one worn by the suspect has been recovered near a playground in Central Park, according to media reports. MSNBC said on Saturday that police examining the bag and its contents found a jacket and Monopoly money, but no firearm.

Other health insurance companies have begun removing pages on their websites about their leadership

South Korean Parliament voted 190-0 to block the President's martial law declaration. South Korean National Assembly Speaker asks police to leave parliament.

South Korean parliament speaker Woo Won-shik says President Yoon's martial law is now null and void. - Yonhap. Speaker Woo: "All soldiers who entered the National Assembly building have left". Lee Jae-myung: "Martial law lifted... Will protect the lives and safety of the people

Law enforcement actively leaving South Korean National Assembly building - CNN

[289 new comments]

ahahahahah what the fuck

this started and ended before I woke up lmao

South korea update

• The Yonhap News Agency is reporting that members of the national assembly have been banned from entering the building, with the South Korean military having reportedly announced the suspension of all parliamentary activity. We have not yet independently verified this information. The parliament speaker is traveling to parliament and plans to convene a session, according to local broadcaster YTN TV.

-The US, south Korea’s most powerful ally, has not yet commented on the martial law declaration. About 28,500 American troops are stationed in south Korea to guard against north Korea, led by Kim Jong Un.

• Here is a statement from martial law commander Park An-su.

He said:

All political activities are banned in South Korea following the imposition of martial law on Tuesday and all media will be subject to government monitoring.

All political activities, including those of the national assembly, local councils, political parties, and political associations, as well as assemblies and demonstrations, are strictly prohibited.

All media and publications shall be subject to the control of the martial law command.

With martial law imposed, all military units in the south, which remains technically at war with the nuclear-armed north, have been ordered to strengthen their emergency alert and readiness postures, Yonhap news agency reported. Under south Korean law, lawmakers cannot be arrested by the martial law command and the government has to lift martial law if the majority of the national assembly demands it in a vote. The leader of the prime minister’s own conservative party, Han Dong-hoon, has vowed to stop the imposition of the law “with the people” and Lee Jae-myung, the leader of the opposition Democratic party, which has a majority in parliament, has also expressed opposition to it.

A taxi driver in Seoul who asked to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal said: “They’re using exactly the same methods they used in the Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan eras … Whenever their regime is in crisis, they use war-mongering and martial law to cover it up.”

Park and Chun were military dictators in South Korea between 1961 and 1988. “I never imagined this would happen again,” the taxi driver said.

-South Korean markets started reacting to the news. The won tumbled to the lowest level against the dollar in two years: 1,443 won per dollar.

-The Chinese Embassy in Korea told Chinese citizens in the country to remain calm and pay attention to political changes. It asked them to “strengthen safety awareness, reduce unnecessary outings, express political opinions with caution and abide by the official decrees issued by Korea.”

-Live video broadcast by state news media shows soldiers pushing against citizens who are trying to enter the National Assembly building.

How far out of date do we consider "news" for the mega?

I'm 3 months out of date on this but apparently Nuland got added to the board of directors of NED.

https://archive.is/OZLaO

So what's up? "Israel" signs a ceasefire agreement and immediately breaks it by continuing the bombing campaign against Lebanon? Fuck this piece of shit nation

Death to "israel", the absolute worst spawn of capitalism and colonialism. Death to every zionist that exists.

Theres a south korean ambassador speaking at our college, specifically to scaremonger about the DPRK Russia alliance.

any questions yall wanna submit?

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/04/mexico-canada-trump-tariffs-feud

“We are not going to fall for a provocation of which country is better,” she said, adding that her country was increasingly being used as a political foil.

“Mexico should not be used as part of [Canadian] electoral campaigns,” she said.

Sheinbaum then dug deeper, adding that Canada “could only wish they had the cultural riches Mexico has”, pointing out her country has civilizations dating back thousands of years.

"Fuck off puck sucker" Mexico style.

Made it out of Syria for the time being. Chaos rules, looting, thuggery and thieving. Gets the US Israel stamp of approval because this is what they believe in. Going through the border was a mash of gunfire, infighting and looting from every single shop and market. Terrorists on motorcycles, gunslingers and criminals. An incredibly sad experience. The house was surrounded by "rebels" drunk in "victory" from 5am, constant celebratory gunfire and around 10 they tried to beat the external door down to loot the contents of the house. Early morning Israel was destroying #Syria Air Defence with bunker buster bombs. The whole house shook. The CIA road map is always the same. The Resistance is broken and I doubt it can be repaired but the extremist mercenaries in the pay of Israel will tell you they "support Palestine". Go on then, you are on the border now.

Syrian rebel commander urges Israel to support uprising, strike Iran-backed forces

They're getting pretty open about it now

My prophecy maxed evangelical father has reminded me that Damascus falling/getting completely roasted (some of these folks think nuked) is a big end-times thing. So now I guess something new for him to vibrate over

How is the US media portraying this whole situation in Syria? I was checking some local media, they are generally pro-US liberals, but the local media is saying that these rebels are Islamic extremists and terrorists, that at least Assad, even though he is a dictator, promotes a secular state and maintains stability in the region.

bro survived 2 assassinations, ran for 40 minutes and jumped a 2 meter wall in negative 3 degree weather livestreaming the entire time at like 2 am to defeat an incel coup attempt

the only logical conclusion is that we are npcs living in lee jae myungs isekai fantasy

Lmao South Korea is not a real place

South Korean ruling party to oppose President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment

If Assad's government can survive this, he needs to initiate an anti-corruption campaign on the scale of what the DPRK did during the Arduous March.

Its interesting observing Libs outside of the news mega bubble here. Someone unironically thought will be able to trade Kursk for all of the annexed territories including Crimea as part of ending the conflict.

One day you're a young, happy, innocent and talented entrepeneur CEO of a massive healthcare company and the next a dude kills you with a silenced pistol (that is probably homemade)

Such is life, man. Don't you hate it when this happens?

‘Last shelters’ emptied at gunpoint in Gaza’s Beit Lahia as "Israel" displaces thousands | The Cradle

South Korea's Martial law comes after wrangling over budget bill

Yoon has been a lame duck president since the latest general election when the opposition won a landslide.

He was not able to pass the laws he wanted, instead, he was reduced to vetoing desperately any bills that the opposition had been passing.

Yoon is also mired in several scandals, mainly one around his wife, who is accused of corruption. She is also accused of influence peddling. The opposition has been trying to launch a special investigation against her.

This week, the opposition slashed budgets that the government and ruling party had put forward - and the budget bill cannot be vetoed.

In the same week, the opposition is moving to impeach cabinet members, mainly the head of the government audit agency, for failing to investigate the first lady.

Yoon has gone for the nuclear option - he claims it is to restore order when "anti-state" forces he says are trying to paralyse the country.

Police have been deployed at the entrance to the National Assembly Building in Seoul, following South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol having declared Martial Law

Under Martial Law, South Korean President Yoon has outlawed any form of Political Activity, including Protests, Demonstrations, or Rallies; while all Media Outlets across South Korea have been placed under Governmental Control.

US backed Military coup or Yoon Suk is attempting a self-coup by himself?

Martial law can be lifted by a majority vote in parliament. But am hearing the police is barricading the entrance to the building with buses.

I guess Bitcoin hit the $100k mark for the first time today. God it’s all so stupid

Oh cool, South Korea declared martial law.

Well that was fucking quick

All this doomerism is just silly. Telegram posts made by HTS (who were trained in ukraine) and western media outlets are not to be trusted. Would you trust the BBC and Ukrop telegram posts about the war in ukraine? Why would you trust them on what is happening in Syria?

This is not Risk or a paradox map painting game. Holding territory at all costs is stupid tactics. We have seen this exact sort of media operation in ukraine. HTS were trained by the same people that taught Ukraine to do deep arrow offensives that cost huge amounts taking territory they cant hold in the long run. Every town HTS take is just thinning out their forces more. They don't have the logistical base to hold on. If the west cant supply ukraine they cant supply HTS. HTS don't have the local support to stay. They don' have the recruitment pool to make up for losses when the attrition starts setting in. SAA have a good reason not to try fighting inside the towns. That is where civilians are. That is where guerillas want to fight, where they have the advantage.

This conflict is days old and HTS has 0 industrial capacity. They are fighting with borrowed weapons and loaned dollars. Maybe they will take some more territory but they will only get weaker over time.

Fuck. I hope all comrades with family or friends in Syria have their loved ones stay safe. I was about to post another Syria essay but seeing this sudden outcome where the Syrian people that lived formerly under the Damascus government will now have to contend with a new regime that at "best" will likely resemble something like the 2021 Taliban and at worst will return to their 2015 ISIS roots leaves me numb. I'll just leave this quote from the Abrams book as a prediction from 2021 that now seems chillingly prescient and also something I hope will, by any means possible, not come to pass:

A subjugated and jihadist dominated Syria, much like Afghanistan which had seen its government toppled twenty years earlier using many of the same methods, would serve as an effective hub for jihadist operations abroad – whether into Iraq to keep check on Iranian influence, into southern Lebanon targeting Hezbollah, or against Iran itself. Projection of jihadist power further afield, including against western China, Russia and Central Asian states, was also a significant possibility, should terror groups such as IS and Al Qaeda be able to operate freely from Syrian territory. It was estimated that 9,000 fighters from Russia and Central Asia alone had joined jihadist groups in Syria and Iraq, while an estimated 5000 from China’s Uighur Turkic minority had also joined the frontlines in Syria alone. The potential value of turning Syria into a wellpositioned hub of operations against others which resisted Western hegemonic ambitions, much as Afghanistan had been, provided a fifth major incentive for the Western Bloc to undertake operations against the Syrian government.

https://www.abc7ny.com/amp/post/unitedhealthcare-ceo-shot-brian-thompson-killed-midtown-nyc-writing-shell-casings-bullets/15623577/

The pigs are of course actually doing their job when a CEO gets got. They appear to be getting closer to identifying the hero who deposed Brian Thompson. More evidence points to this being interpersonal conflict or a vigilante, but unfortunately that's because of "mistakes" which are making him more traceable.

Edit: They've got photos of him without a Mask, AND HE'S HANDSOME.

Edit 2: Alleged photos - might just be the pigs clutching at straws here

I've stayed at the same Hostel he was at lmao. It's a good one if you're in NYC

We're in the end stage officially. Homs has fallen, which means that government territories are de facto split between the Alawite coast and Damascus. Nearly all suburbs of Damascus including Daraya and Douma have also fallen, so it's probably a battle for the city starting tomorrow. South Rebels have reached Damascus first, but they're not trained and just doing this for fun and friendship, the core HTS grouping are still in the process of combing Homs and they probably need another day to reach Damascus.

Assadheads, it's nearly over. Rebels have entered the suburbs of Damascus lmao

Okay, I've made a shitty map of the current situation at around 23:00 Syrian time on the 6th of December. This is based on Telegram news mostly and probably very inaccurate in the south, but the situation is very fluid there. Arrows represent current movements and upcoming movements.

rise up

Usa does more sanctions on china's chipmaking thingies, and intel ceo is fired (lmao).

French Government collapses. No confidence vote against Macron's PM.

A new rumor has the internet worried that the Disney Channel is ending in the United States. The internet is in a tizzy because of a rumor that the Disney Channel is shutting down in the United States. However, at the time of writing this article, Disney has not made any announcements about shutting down the Disney Channels stateside.

That being said, Disney has already shut down channels in several countries. There is even a timetable showing which channels were shut down and when. So far, they have been shut down in Australia, Southeast Asia, Italy, the UK, South Korea, and more. Disney Xd has been shut down in even more countries as Disney tries to push viewers to Disney+. In France, Disney Xd has already been shut down, and Disney Jr. and the Disney Channel will terminate on January 1, 2025. In Spain, Disney Channel will cease operations on January 7, 2025.

They are going to close down all their channels outside the US to push for Disney+ garbage.

The Progressive Party in South Korea is the only based party there with actual seats?

The Progressive Party (Korean: 진보당), formerly known as the Minjung Party (Korean: 민중당, lit. 'People's Party') until June 2020, is a left-wing, progressive and nationalist political party in South Korea.

Although the party has never officially claimed to be socialist or anti-capitalist, it is classified by some media outlets as being "far-left" (Korean: 극좌; Hanja: 極左) or "radical left" in the context of South Korean politics. The Progressive Party maintains "progressivism" as its official ideology rather than "socialism".

They oppose all forms of sanctions against North Korea. The party's politicians say only the complete lifting of sanctions on North Korea brings peace on the Korean Peninsula.

The Progressive Party is known as an anti-American party, but they had stated they do not oppose everything related to the US and argue that what they call "반미" means "against American imperialism".

On 13 October 2017, when the founding ceremony of the Jinbo Party was held, several left-wing American political figures such as Ramsey Clark and Noam Chomsky expressed their sympathy for the cause, especially with respect to attitudes regarding Korean reunification, and policy towards North Korea. This party also contacted certain American politicians such as Jesse Jackson and Bernie Sanders in 2018 to draw support for the declaration of the end of the Korean War.

Major politicians of the Progressive Party support a volunteer military system. The party also supports women's rights, LGBT rights, youth politics and labor-oriented politics. The party actively supports the feminist movement in South Korea. Kim Jae-yeon said the reason for running for the 2022 Korean presidential election was "to become a feminist president".

The Progressive Party is a Korean nationalist party, but it shows support for multiculturalism and immigration, aiming for "resistance nationalism'" instead of "right-wing nationalism". In addition, the Progressive Party opposes neoliberalism, believing it promotes discrimination against immigrants

The most important reason for the PP's classification as far-left in South Korean politics is anti-Americanism. The PP believes that South Korea's socioeconomic contradictions are primarily due to the United States, rather than China or Japan, and hence supports the anti-American struggle. This is a significant departure from usual liberals such as DPK and JP, who are hostile to China/Japan but somewhat favourable to the United States to offset their China/Japan hegemony. The PP, in particular, advocates dissolving the alliance between the United States and South Korea.

China is calling all of its citizens in Syria to leave the country as soon as possible

The Hero also uses Public Transportation. He keeps getting cooler every passing second.

The TikTok ban law has been upheld. Is it joever for TikTok in ?

Today's MoA is worth reading and certified chud-brainworm free

https://www.moonofalabama.org/2024/12/craig-murray-the-end-of-pluralism-in-the-middle-east-.html#more

A truly seismic change in the Middle East appears to be happening very fast. At its heart is a devil’s bargain – Turkey and the Gulf States accept the annihilation of the Palestinian nation and creation of a Greater Israel, in return for the annihilation of the Shia minorities of Syria and Lebanon and the imposition of Salafism across the Eastern Arab world.

What this all potentially amounts to is the end of pluralism in the Levant and its replacement by supremacism. An ethno-supremacist Greater Israel and a religio-supremacist Salafist Greater Syria.

Reminder that this is what Korea looked like before China's intervention. It's not too late if Iran is already preparing to go in balls-to-the-wall, but I have a feeling they aren't.

The words carved into the casings answer something I was wondering, which is "why didn't this apprent professional just stroll up behind the ghoul, put one in the back of his head and keep walking?" Apparently, the answer is that the plan called for three shots.

Listening to the latest Death Is Just Around The Corner really depressed me

Gonna try to donate what I can towards Palestinian aid and I feel obligated to keep up with the atrocities perpetrated by the Zionist entity but I feel like it's self harm and I'm hurting myself more than being as informed as I am is helping anything and idk what to do about that

Any advice from other "watches the world burn and can't look away" heads would be appreciated

Yoav Gallant is in New York City today. Our masked hero has the opportunity to become the stuff of legends…

Kevin spacey is in israhell stating his support to the state. Pissrael is not beating the allegations

Hebrew media reports that a group of Israeli soldiers accidentally entered a minefield on the Lebanon border, leading to an explosion that injured eight of them in 'Ras al-Naqoura.'

Wtf?

Israel carried out several airstrikes against buildings in Damascus, including the passport & migration office

Free Syria? More like Syria being freely annexed by "Israel"...

They didn't wait even for one second, it's almost as if they had it all figured out beforehand. That's the way they operate, the most disgusting country in the world..

Yemen's Ansarullah have announced that, in cooperation with the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, they attacked a 'vital target' in the south of Israel using drones.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbAjKefPYKY

Excellent analysis by a Syrian living in Germany with sources in Syria, he also shares frustration with the Pezeshkian government and its naivety, along with the Arabic world. This is from shortly before the fall of Aleppo but is still all applicable, and he stated it was a strong possibility. Hezbollah agreed to the ceasefire due to existential issues, it knows another round of fighting is upcoming soon and need to take a breather to regroup. They are fixing issues with their internal security, communications, leadership and securing their position in Lebanon. They are in a dangerous and precarious position. They are not abandoning Palestine, they have depleted their resources and capabilities to dangerous levels and are unwilling to completely commit organizational suicide. They are competent fighters but cannot afford the escalation to wholesale slaughter of civilians by the tens of thousands that Israelis were willing to do, they must rethink their strategy and secure their alliances.

It appears that yoon isn't going to be impeached today

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/live-blog/2024-12-07/south-korea-president-speech

One ruling party lawmaker entered and voted, and the opposition peers cheered him.

Kim Sang-wook, a ruling party lawmaker who voted, says he didn’t support the impeachment motion against President Yoon Suk Yeol, chilling a crowd that had applauded him until a moment ago. Yet he says Yoon doesn’t deserve to be president, as he tearfully recalled armed forces descending down on the parliament, live footage shows.

[He] adds that his party should pivot and support impeachment against Yoon in the next bid unless the president takes an action that would reassure the public by then. The reason he took part in the vote even though he opposed the impeachment is that it was part of his mandate as a legislator, he said.

lmao

South Korea’s acting defense minister has summoned a meeting of top military commanders, News1 reports. It didn’t give details.

The military meeting is to remind commanders that they should stay ready at all times to protect the people against security risks, Nocut News reports, citing the defense ministry. It appears to be a move by the military to salvage its standing and reputation after being involved in the martial-law debacle.

Remember that one episode of Drake and Josh where Josh played a criminal in a reenactment in a show based on America's Most Wanted, and then everyone thought he was the criminal and tried to citizens' arrest him? If that guy with the nice chin isn't actually the guy who killed the CEO, I'm imagining his life is like that right now, except everyone loves him.

The entire Syrian goverment just collapsed. Wtf was that? Did Assad forces just all agree to surrender to these people without a fight? Did Assad stop paying these people? Is that why he did nothing during the Israeli-Hezbollah war? Did he seriously thought the Iranians and Russians would fight for him? Was General Soleimani the only person who truly cared about the Axis of Resistance?

Tsunami warning for the United States West Coast, in the last half hour:

Also, a tsunami warning has been issued for coastal areas in California and Oregon, including San Francisco. The warning will remain in effect from Davenport, California, to Douglas/Lane Line Oregon, until further notice, the National Tsunami Warning Center said.

Source: ABC News

I know a lot of our users live in that area, so I thought I'd post it.

The dooming on Hexbear whenever major geopolitical events happen is crazy

Forgive me if I don't condemn Russia/China/Iran/etc for not dropping everything to go save Assad of all people

The Saudis are probably feeling real stupid about letting Syria back into the Arab League in 2023. MBS should have just held out a little longer and Syria would have indeed collapsed.

Insert here that meme with the two guys digging for diamonds.