Bulletins and News Discussion from December 16th to December 22nd, 2024 - Assad's Apology

Jenin Brigade reports that 237 PA security forces have been arrested for refusing the most recent Israeli-ordered operation to eliminate the resistance in the refugee camp.

https://t.me/thecradlemedia/27021

The Romanian government cancelled the results of a recent election because they didn't like a specific TikTok campaign. Turns out that people from all over the world were using this international platform and some had opinions on Romanian elections. How shocking! By this standard, all elections since the invention of the internet are invalid.

Turns out that this sinister "foreign campaign" that the current Romanian government used as justification to cancel the election was run by the ruling party! Couldn't they at least point at some foreign TikToks talking about the Romanian elections? How hard is that to do!

This is an absolutely bombshell: the story about the cancelled elections in Romania is even far more sinister than previously thought.

A new report from investigative outlet http://snoop.ro/ (https://snoop.ro/anaf-a-descoperit-ca-pnl-a-platit-o-campanie-care-l-a-promovat-masiv-pe-calin-georgescu-pe-tiktok/) reveals that the TikTok campaign which was cited in the declassified Romanian intelligence documents (summarized in my post below 👇) as evidence of foreign interference - and used as grounds to cancel the presidential election - was actually paid for by the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL), the very party that supported cancelling the elections!

According to the investigation, the campaign called "#EchilibrușiVerticalitate" that the intelligence services claimed was "identical to Russian operations in Ukraine" was organized by a marketing firm called Kensington Communication, hired by PNL (the ruling party), who paid Kensington over 1 million RON for it (about $210,000). Kensington then used a platform called FameUp to coordinate 130 influencers with specific scripts and messaging guidelines.

This puts the declassified intelligence documents in an entirely new light. What they presented as evidence of foreign interference was actually a campaign paid for by the ruling party. The same party that then supported using these allegations of "foreign interference" to cancel an election they were losing.

Even more bizarrely, confronted by journalists, Kensington Communication initially denied using the hashtag but later admitted to creating the campaign for PNL, claiming it was meant to be called "#echilibrusiseriozitate" and was changed to "#echilibrusiverticalitate" without their knowledge. Yeah, right...

This means that either the Romanian intelligence services didn't know this was a PNL-funded campaign when they used it as evidence to cancel the election (which raises huge questions about their competence), or they did know and didn't disclose it (which raises even bigger questions about their integrity).

In any case, it seems to indicate that something extremely sinister happened in Romania: a ruling party used intelligence services to cancel an election based on "foreign interference" evidence that they themselves paid for!

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1870682333713715480

Not one EU flag in sight, just people enjoying the moment

Not that I've caught your attention, I want to make a mini write-up about the situation in Serbia. There have been pretty massive protests ever since a train station canopy in Novi Sad fell and killed 15 people, due to inexcusable government negligence. When the news first came up, they said that it happened because they forgot to renovate it, despite the fact that videos came up of them literally fencing off the area and working on it lmao. People immediately started protesting against the government and asked for transparency regarding the technical documentation of the renovation, which Vucic didn't want to provide. The students started honoring the victims by blockading streets for 15 minutes (for 15 victims) each day on 11:52 AM exactly (the time the tragedy happened). Vucic thought he was hot shit and did his classic move of getting his masked thugs to beat up and disperse the protesters. This, in a surprising twist, ended up backfiring spectacularly and instead emboldening the students in their message, where now they held plenums and in agreement with their professors ended up blockading their respective universities. The majority of them are now blockaded, and almost every famous Serbian singer, dancer, athlete, writer and actor has ended up voicing their uncritical support for the protests and blockades.

And if you thought this was a color revolution in any way, here's our good friend amerikkkan ambassador Christopher Hill seen in a bus that Vucic rode today to showcase him building more roads, this time the work of a usasian company named Bechtel.

On the other hand, this is a pretty interesting move from the students with this letter, but since I figure this wouldn't work in since all their education is privatized, I'd really like to hear from someone familiar with or colleges, with Macron appointing his 15th prime minister (along with racist rants) and Magdenburg being pretty valid reasons for them to do this rn. Like maybe I'm crazy, but I figure sending this letter to Hasan would be a pretty effective way of getting their plight out there, since traditional media from anywhere isn't covering this shit at all.

Or TL:DR - watch Yugopniks stream (skipped to the part where he talks about it, along with the political background). Also tell me if I should do an actual in detail write up about the political situation, because even the shit Yugo says in the stream doesn't cover even half of it.

Panama Canal belongs to Panama, says the country's president after Trump's threat.

In social media posts on Saturday, the US president-elect accused Panama of charging “exorbitant” fees to cross the canal and threatened to take back control of the waterway. “Our country's sovereignty and independence are not negotiable,” Mulino said in a video published on X. Mulino said that a 1977 treaty between the two countries recognized Panama's sovereignty over the canal.

“Panama respects other nations and demands respect. With the new US government, I aspire to preserve and maintain a good respectful relationship,” he said. “Security issues such as illegal migration, drug trafficking and organized crime must be a priority on our bilateral agenda, as they are a real threat that should concern us,” he added

He went on to suggest growing Chinese influence in the region, writing: “When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave away a dollar during his term in office, it was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else.” Trump doubled down on the suggestion during remarks in Phoenix on Sunday, arguing that the US has a “vested interest” in operating the canal without Panama charging “exorbitant prices and passage fees” for ships operated by US companies and military personnel.

The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (Spanish: Tratados Torrijos-Carter) are two treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 1977. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. The treaties are named after the two signatories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Commander of Panama's National Guard, General Omar Torrijos.

The treaties were the source of vehement controversy in the United States, particularly among conservatives led by Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, who regarded them as the surrender of a strategic American asset to what they characterized as a hostile government. Support for the treaties came from a variety of interests, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and members of Congress, such as Ernest Hollings, Hubert Humphrey. More moderate conservatives, including former President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger, both made public statements in support of the treaty.

Many world leaders also came out in support of the treaties, including positive statements from Bolivian President Hugo Banzer, Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer, Guatemalan President Kjell Laugerud, Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza, Peruvian President Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Chilean President Augusto Pinochet and Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

Actor John Wayne, who was friends with Omar Torrijos. Wayne and fellow conservative William F. Buckley believed that the Panamanians had the right to the canal and sided with President Jimmy Carter. Wayne was a close friend of Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos Herrera, and Wayne's first wife Josephine was a native of Panama. His support of the treaty brought him hate mail for the first time in his life.

John Wayne normally:

John Wayne when he is friends with Socdem Military Dictator of Panama:

After being accused by the Israeli government of using “double standards”, Pope Francis once again criticized the bombings in the Gaza Strip this Sunday (22/12). The comments were made during the Angelus prayer, held exceptionally online because the Pontiff has a cold and wants to spare himself before his Christmas commitments.

“With pain, I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children machine-gunned, of the bombing of schools and hospitals. How cruel!” he said at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican.

The traditional Sunday event could not be held in the apostolic palace in St. Peter's Square because the Pope is ill. However, Francis decided to hold the prayer online, insisting that he was moved by the Palestinian population. The day before, he had already expressed sadness at the death of seven children in attacks on Friday (20/12) in the Palestinian enclave. According to the Gaza Civil Defense, 10 members of the same family died in an Israeli bombing in Jabaliya, in the north of the territory.

“It's not war, it's cruelty. I say this because it moves me,” he said in an audience with members of the Curia, the Holy See's government.

The Pontiff often speaks out about wars around the world. But in recent times, he has intensified his criticism of Israel, raising the tone of his speeches and abandoning a certain political neutrality. At the end of November, the Pope denounced “the arrogance of the invader” in Ukraine, but also in “Palestine”, a week after the publication of a book in which Francis advocates “carefully investigating” whether the situation in Gaza corresponds to the “technical definition” of genocide. In September, the Vatican leader had already criticized the “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Israel was quick to rebut the Pope's statements. “The Pope's comments are particularly disappointing because they are disconnected from the real and concrete context of Israel's fight against jihadist terrorism,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted on Saturday.

Elon Musk's 'X' deleted the account of Saudi-born far-right terrorist Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, and reinstated it hours later, but with all the pro-Israel and anti-Islamic Tweets removed.

https://xcancel.com/koryodynasty/status/1870470848571965927#m

South Korean media reporting growing concerns about the extent of alleged shamanistic and fortune-telling influences within President Yoon's administration, with multiple spiritual advisers allegedly operating at different levels of power.

Korea's martial law probe has uncovered extraordinary meetings at a burger joint involving a former military commander who, after being dishonourably discharged, was found to be living in a fortune-telling shop where he allegedly practiced divination alongside other shamans.

what is it that makes south korea such fertile ground for shamans and mystics?

House Democrats say GOP caved to Musk in funding bill, protecting his China interests

House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress caved to the demands of Elon Musk, sinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.

Congress passed a separate stopgap funding bill over the weekend, averting a government shutdown.

In a series of posts on X, McGovern said more could have been accomplished. The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing tech — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”

Tesla, run by Musk, is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the street from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.

“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote about Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there too — which could endanger U.S. security. He’s been bending over backwards to ingratiate himself with Chinese leaders.”

SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, has reportedly withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-China relations.

DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter to Congress on Friday that Musk needs “Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country.” It’s concerning, that Musk “has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership,” she wrote.

lmao

The Democrats are going with the “Elon Musk is a security threat for selling our country to China” narrative.

And yet, I would not be surprised to see the relations normalized under Trump, beneath all of Trump’s anti-China rhetoric for America to save face. China sees this as a win-win for them (though not so much for the rest of the world because the empire is going to be saved by China once again).

What exactly is going on in Georgia? Was the current government not democratically elected? Why are protesters calling it illegitimate?

I know they're trying to do Ukraine 2014 and all in Georgia but I thought that Georgians voted against that bullshit.

Trump threatens Panama's government with an American takeover of the Panama Canal.

Statement from Ansarallah on last night's operations against the US Navy.

Statement implies that the US shot down their own aircraft while trying to intercept cruise missiles and drones. Impressive military operation by the Yemeni Armed Forces. I wondered why they didn't fire any ballistic missiles last night, this seems to be the reason why, they wanted to confuse the US Navy with targets that can appear similar to an aircraft. Maybe even shadowing one? Either way, they succeeded in causing a chaotic situation that lead to the downing of a US F/A-18F aircraft. That is impressive. May Ansarallah continue in their operations to dissuade the imperialists and defend Palestine.

Twitter source

Xcancel mirror

Just going to add a tweet that Mohammed Ali al-Houthi made on the 8th March 2024, I think it fits in nicely given the current situation:

The heroes in the [Yemeni] armed forces know about the loopholes that can be exploited by synchronizing the take-off or landing of American aircraft on the battleships.
I advise the American and their ally to issue a decision not to take off at all.

It seems as if the "loophole" was used. The Americans were warned, they were told what would happen months in advance, and it happened. 1 F/A-18F down.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi tweet

Xcancel mirror

Putin on the fact that the decision to start the SMO should have been made earlier: It is impossible to name a specific date and time, but, in any case, we should have gotten our bearings earlier and understood that our opponents were not going to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were simply leading us by the nose, misleading us. Later, Western leaders admitted this - they publicly stated that they did not intend to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were only going to achieve one goal - to give time for the rearmament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces so that they could prepare for future military actions. And if they gave them the opportunity to prepare for future military actions, it means they were counting on them starting. This means that they assumed that there would be military actions. And we, understanding this, should have acted more decisively and promptly, should have prepared for this and chosen the right moment to start them, and not wait for the moment when it would be impossible to do nothing further. A crime can be committed either by action or by inaction. Our inaction would be a crime against the interests of Russia and its people.

The war was always going to happen. Russia was forced to seize the pre-emptive strike ahead of a Ukrainian offensive. Putin was being naive but eventually realized that it would have been far worse by just waiting for things to happen.

A big selection of news (and some combat footage) from Syria, the Donbass, occupied Palestine, and Yemen:

Yesterday, Syrian patriotic resistance forces (composed of former Syrian Arab Army soldiers) ambushed some of Washington’s al-Queda “HTS” proxies in Talfita, in the Qalamoun mountains area north of Damascus (video): https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,-ex-SAA-unit-consisting-of-loyalists-to-the-Syrian-Arab-Republic:0

Russian forces liberated the Kharkov oblast settlement of Lozovaya (south of Kupyansk) and the DPR settlement of Krasnoye (northwest of partially Kiev-occupied Kurakhovo): https://sputnikglobe.com/20241222/russian-forces-liberate-two-key-settlements-in-donetsk-and-kharkov-region-1121235815.html

Russian forces captured an Australian mercenary near the Kiev-occupied DPR city of Kramatorsk (video): https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/12/22/934377.html

This longer news report mentions that today Palestinian resistance forces killed and wounded several more Zionist occupation troops in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp with a thermobaric rocket strike and sniper fire: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739542/Palestine-Israel-Jabalia-refugee-camp-buildings-destroyed-ghost-town-Israeli-military

The Yemeni Armed Forces launched eight cruise missiles and 17 drones at the US imperialists’ “USS Harry S. Truman” aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. At some point during this engagement, a US F-18 was shot down. Washington claims that it was “a friendly fire incident”, while Yemeni army spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree states that Yemen shot down the warplane: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739549/Yemen-armed-forces-Yahya-Saree-thwart-American-British aggression-down-US-F-18-fighter-jet-CENTCOM-friendly-fire-claim

Commentary: Why the four red lines are critical to China-U.S. ties

News from Iceland:
The (fe)madlads did it! They made a new government!

Socdem - People's Party - Pro EU rightists

Their policies are of course disgustingly liberal along with some sus ones like "Revise immigration policies based on Nordic models." but also some interesting ones like "Formulating policies on natural resources and their sustainable use." as well as poverty alleviation and housing security

here is a transcript of the press conference
see earlier post for some context
and here is a post about the election results

Why would the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser "USS Gettysburg (CG-64)" switch their allegiance to Hamas and shoot down one F/A-18?

Clearly this act of betrayal cannot go unpunished. I hope the US Navy sinks the rebellious cruiser.

Yankoid airplane down!!! Yemen got one! Of course, westerners are claiming friendly fire.

By the way, I was very surprised to hear from the President on the direct line that our people allegedly helped evacuate 4 thousand Iranian soldiers through Khmeimim. I was tormented by vague doubts.

Today, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied this information from Putin.

That is, our geniuses of reports and reports managed to screw the head of state here too.

And this is not only about Syria. This is about everything in general.

Either there is a communication issue between Iran and Russia, which speaks to the current state of relation between both countries, or Putin is openly lied to by his ministries.

In either case, evacuation is underway from Syria. Russia is out.

Next news thread here:

https://hexbear.net/post/4151797

Macron visited the French department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean, which was devastated by Cyclone Chido, the worst in 90 years. But he went berserk with the island's natives and cursed a lot into the microphone, saying that without France they would be even more in the shit.

When confronted by the population without water, electricity and food, Macron goes berserk and spouts colonialist pearls such as “you must be happy with France”, “you can't be French and criticize the Metropolis”, “we give you everything”, and other hits from the century before last.

In geo-solar news, it's Solstice, folks. The northern hemisphere's about to start getting more of the sun back, and the southern hemisphere's about to start getting a break from its relentless beating. Happy Solstice, y'all.

In news from countries you don’t really hear about

Albania is set to ban TikTok for a year https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/21/albania-bans-tiktok-for-one-year-following-school-stabbing)] (removed amp link)

Some combat footage for today.

Russian FPV drones destroyed another German-built Leopard tank in Kharkov oblast: https://sputnikglobe.com/20241221/watch-german-leopard-tank-get-taken-out-with-fpv-drone-strikes-1121230395.html

A Russian drone strike destroyed a Kiev regime anti-aircraft system: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--The-Mighty-Beavers-found-and-destroyed:0

Warplanes are in Yemeni airspace conducting aerial assualts, according to the Al Mayadeen correspondent stationed there. Explosions were reported in Sana'a, as well as the sounds of aircraft. This appears to be in response to Yemen's ballistic missile attack yesterday that evaded Israeli air defenses. Unknown at this time if it's Israeli, US or UK aircraft, or a coalition force of multiple countries. US surveillance aircraft and drones were operating close to Yemen within the last few hours, and the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), was spotted less than 600km off of the coast of Yemen today. Mohammed al-Houthi also tweeted about it. Just be aware that most of the photos circulating online are of previous attacks and not the current attack.

Al Mayadeen twitter source

Xcancel mirror

Update from the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), click here to expand:

CENTCOM forces conducted precision airstrikes against a missile storage facility and a command-and-control facility operated by Iran-backed Houthis within Houthi-controlled territory in Sana’a, Yemen, on Dec. 21 Yemen time.

CENTCOM forces conducted the deliberate strikes to disrupt and degrade Houthi operations, such as attacks against U.S. Navy warships and merchant vessels in the Southern Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb, and Gulf of Aden.

During the operation, CENTCOM forces also shot down multiple Houthi one way attack uncrewed aerial vehicles (OWA UAV) and an anti-ship cruise missile (ASCM) over the Red Sea.

The operation involved U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy assets, including F/A-18s.

The strike reflects CENTCOM’s ongoing commitment to protect U.S. and coalition personnel, regional partners, and international shipping.

So it was a US airstrike, no Israeli involvement as of now. Also apparently no anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched at US Navy ships this time, only cruise missiles and one way attack drones. Again, all according to US sources. Also I'm not posting US sources because I uncritically believe what they say, but rather to get an idea of what they were doing and who was responsible for this attack.

I used to be naive and think that even though my country's only left-ish party, the Red-Greens, are absolutely dogshit when it comes to antiimperialism, militancy and the like, at least they were good on social issues. That is supposed to be the deal with the western left, they get to go all in on the "woke" stuff in return for being useless on everything to do with economy and geopolitics.

I am smarter now. Recently, 70 percent of the delegates at an extraordinary party congress voted to expel the Red Left faction for being too radical and too supportive of Palestinian resistance. That is bad enough as it is. But the purge prompted some Red-Green guy who sits in a municipal council to write a really depressing piece in Arbejderen. I thought we could at least be spared from the culture war bullshit, but alas no. He started out by saying how good it was that everyone in the party was now agreeing to support "democracy".

Then he went on to say that now the baddies had been purged it was important to have freeze peach inside the party. He had been silenced, you see. What was he silenced for? You guessed it, transphobia. Apparently admins in party group chats had removed his posts about "defining gender biologically". He then went on to complain about trans women footballers and how unfair it was to cis women footballers that they were playing, consistently misgendering the trans players throughout the piece. And the guy calls himself a leftist and holds elected office for a presumably "revolutionary socialist" party.

Judging from his complaints he is at least being "silenced" by other party members but it is deeply fucked that he can even think that transphobia is a legitimate belief inside a leftist party.

In this whole article, the discussion is only around wild birds spreading disease. No mention of feeding the doodoo to cows 🤦‍♂️

Scientific American How the U.S. Lost Control of Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic

Edited to fix an autocorrect typo

Another simulated Oreshnik or IRBM strike was carried out today according to air raid monitoring channels. 2nd one in two days, so two days in a row now we've had stimulated strikes. I wonder if we'll get an actual real strike before the end of the year, or if Russia is just wheeling out the missile launchers to keep Ukraine on it's toes. If there's another strike, will it be an Oreshnik, or another intermediate range system?

Also with regards to Oreshnik, it turns out that satellite imagery from Airbus showing the supposed damage, only showed old damages to the factory complex from previous strikes. Another older satellite image from Airbus was ordered to confirm that. Also Maxar, the supplier of satellite imagery for Google Maps, has been covering up all the damages to the factory complex in their satellite imagery, including from all previous attacks. There is even suspicions that Airbus is doing similar with regards to Oreshnik and selling old imagery, only showing old damages from previous strikes, and not Oreshnik. Either that, or the Oreshnik damage is not visible on satellite imagery, or Oreshnik missed completely. Here's the article on that.

The only reliable source that seems to have seen imagery of the damage caused by the Oreshnik strike has not released it publicly, and states that the only damage visible on satellite imagery is "small holes punched in roofs", given the kinetic nature of the projectiles. If that's true, most of the damage would be underground and thus not visible on any satellite imagery, similar to a tank being hit by an APFSDS (sabot) round, where the only damage visible on the outside is a small entry hole, while the inside of the tank is destroyed.

Twitter source with regards to that

Xcancel mirror

https://xcancel.com/AryJeay/status/1870290401510264884#m

Yemeni missile dodges 2 Israeli interceptors before striking in Tel Aviv.

https://neurosciencenews.com/long-covid-spike-protein-brain-28156/

Key facts

• Spike protein persists in brain tissues and skull bone marrow for years post-infection.

• mRNA vaccines reduce spike protein accumulation in the brain by 50%.

• Chronic spike protein presence may accelerate brain aging and increase stroke risk.

In 2019, the net profit of the banking sector amounted to 1.7 trillion rubles; in 2020 - 1.6 trillion; in 2021 - 2.4 trillion; in 2023 - 3.3 trillion. The forecast for the current year is 3.5-3.8 trillion, that is, twice as much as in the pre-COVID, calm 2019. The main beneficiary of what is happening in Russia is the banking sector (financial capital), and not the defense industry or exporters. No industry received more than banks.

It’s over. Finance capital has won. Specifically, American finance capital has won. There is no other way to read this data without cope.

And to add to that:

Putin began his meeting with big business with the words: "The economy does not live by the rate alone, but also by the supply of goods on the market first and foremost." It is clear that the issue of the rate and the complaints of business generals about the Central Bank greatly irritate him. But, according to the law and rules, the Central Bank is completely independent in decision-making. Even the head of state cannot influence the decisions of the Central Bank's board of directors. They tried to change the law in the early 2000s. It didn't work. Everyone who needs to knows this. They have to fight off complaints with jokes.

There is no way to defeat American imperialism without defeating American finance capital. Even when you are winning on the military front, you still have to escape the ideological indoctrination from the IMF.

Has anyone here written on the recent Romanian elections "scandal"?

My suspicions is that it's a less severe version of the Georgian case: someone who doesn't automatically bow to NATO & EU won an election, and liberals cry about Russian coup (without ample evidence)

Or maybe there is actual evidence, unlike in Georgia?

Even if there is evidence, the rundown is usually: Russians giving money to a right wing candidate is BAD, end of democracy, while NED giving money to a different right wing candidate is just the power of Freeeedom
It's highly unlikely that TikTok alone would be enough to win an election, anyway

It looks like the twitter account of the suspect in the latest terrorist attack in Germany has been found. The suspect appears to be an ex Muslim atheist man who left Saudi Arabia for Germany in 2006, and believed that the German government was persecuting ex Muslim and women Saudi refugees, along with trying to spread radical Islamic ideology across Europe? Saudi Arabia apparently wanted to extradite him, and Germany refused, and that appears to be related to his work in helping apostates, mostly women, to escape Saudi Arabia for refugee status in Germany, which was interpreted as participation in human trafficking, again of mainly women. The details are unknown at this time, this is all speculation with regards to that. In some of his tweets, he says that Germans are complicit in the persecution he faces as an ex Muslim and that he wants to take violent action against German citizens. He also appears to be a Zionist. Also went on an unhinged rant about how women social media influencers and models leaving Islam would lead to the collapse of the religion. It appears that he has a fixation with regards to ex Muslim women.

Content warning for his twitter account: Islamophobia, condoning terrorist acts, sexism, Zionism, and everything in between.

Twitter link

Xcancel mirror

Nitter mirror

As time goes on, I continue to think Louisville is the most barbaric city in hell world https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-12-19/pregnant-kentucky-woman-cited-for-street-camping-while-in-labor

People keep making fun of how that photo of the cops surrounding Luigi, just one guy, makes him look more badass (as they should), but here's the other thing: Why are they walking? Why not just put him in a van and drive him to the location like they normally do?

I remember hearing that some of the prisons in syria where people are being released from USED to back in the day be CIA blacksites, where america could hold people indefinitely and that lasted until syria-us relations deteriorated. Anyone know if that's true?

Also the syrian had arrested abdullah occalan and then also released him?

Zambian soccer player Barbra Banda, 24, was the target of transphobic attacks from exclusionary trans groups after being named the BBC's British Player of the Year. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, notorious for her attacks on trans rights, was one of the figures who endorsed the comments on social media.

Active at Orlando Pride in the United States since March of this year, Barbra Banda is Brazilian Superstar Football player Marta's colleague. Barbra is a cisgender woman (in other words, she identifies with the gender she was assigned at birth). In other words: she is not a trans woman. That same year, Rowling was also one of the public people to use her X profile to attack Algerian boxer Imane Khelif during the Paris Olympics.

The player was announced as BBC Player of the Year on Tuesday (26). The result is based on a popular vote. She was part of a shortlist with other players, all of whom were defined, according to the British newspaper, by “a large panel of experts involved in soccer from around the world”. After Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala in 2015, Banda is the second African player to win the newspaper's title.

The player told the BBC that she was “shocked and surprised” by the nomination and thanked her family, the Pride team and the Zambian national team (she was also part of the squad at the Paris Olympics). “Growing up in Zambia was never easy, especially as a girl,” said the athlete, saying that it took a while for her mother to support her in pursuing athletics. “It wasn't easy, but I think hard work and consistency really helped,” she added.

“Presumably the BBC decided that this [naming the Band Player of the Year] was more time-efficient than going door-to-door to spit directly in women's faces,” tweeted J. K. Rowling when sharing a post by The Telegraph's sports editor-in-chief. Another figure known for speaking out against the rights of trans people and their inclusion in sports is British swimmer Sharron Davies. She said on her X profile that the nomination is “trolling pure and simple”. “Of all the fabulous female footballers in the world, the BBC has deliberately chosen a man to be the best female footballer of the year,” she wrote in one of her posts.

The latest from Justin Podur talked in depth about one aspect of the Syrian War that IMO has become a bit of an elephant in the room. This is one war where sanctions played an important role, albeit with massive caveats.

There was a civil war that ruined the country, and then a part of it was occupied. That part was permitted some rebuilding and was supplied by the occupying force. Either financially (Americans buying the SDF's oil in the northeast) or directly (Turks sending their oligopolies to rebuild and supply the local economies in Idlib and Afrin). The portion of the country that remained under control of the central government more or less failed to rebuild - wether that's an indictment of Assad's government, Russia's and Iran's financial werewithal, the power of the sanctions themselves, or all of the above is up for discussion.

The truly bleak statement from Justin is that while the sanctions architecture might create a real demand for acquiescence, the moment the country bends the knee slightly it doesn't get rewarded for it. Western policy seems all stick, no carrot. Assad is gone. Yet Syria went from being bombed 3 times a week by the Israelis to 300 times in 3 days. The entire security infrastructure of the country is just gone. And still the Europeans and Americans are dithering on wether they'll even remove sanctions imposed on a new regime which, by and large, is giving them everything they ever asked for and then some.

So in my view this is a cautionary tale to the likes of Venezuela and Cuba. Juan Guaidó could have taken over the former and turned PDVSA into a Chevron subsidiary. Something tells me the Americans would still never forgive these countries for mildly inconveniencing them.

Apparently the attacker in Magdeburg was a Saudi doctor living in Germany since 2006. Things are about to get ugly in Germany, especially given they currently don't have a government and there are elections in February. Fully expect the AfD to take advantage of the rampant Islamophobia latent in all Germans, and pair that with "it's time for Syrian refugees to go home to a Safe Syria." Grim.

Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/saudi-man-arrested-after-magdeburg-attack-state-premier-7df18630

If you want to see what happens when Government doesn't do stuff, look at Greece.

These countries (Portugal, Greece) are literally examples of what happens when the Government isn't there to constrain capitalism and private debt is allowed to explode without control.

Denmark Imposes Harsh Welfare Reforms Targeting 'Non-Western' Immigrants

Denmark’s rubber-stamp parliament, has approved welfare reforms imposing strict conditions on welfare recipients, disproportionately targeting racialized minorities. The new laws require some welfare recipients to work 37 hours per week for a paltry DKK 6,553 (USD 917) monthly before taxes—an amount woefully inadequate in one of the world’s priciest nations.

The reform, presented by the ruling Social Democrat-led right-wing regime, was passed with the support of regime-loyal far right parties. A spokesman from the fascist Danish People's Party, gleefully embracing the prospect of forcing unpaid menial labor on non-white minorities, declared, "We don't just see this as a political victory; we see it as a victory for Denmark, for Danes, and for fairness".

The reforms, championed by the Nordic hermit kingdom's minister of employment, the Social Democrat hardliner Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, claim to link "rights and responsibilities" but explicitly target 'non-Western' immigrants, particularly immigrant women. White refugees from Ukraine are explicitly exempt from the new punitive measures. The legal framework carefully avoids overt racial language, relying instead on conditions such as residency and employment history—criteria that disproportionately disadvantage minorities—thus providing a thin veneer of legality for the regime’s actions.

People targeted by the new reforms will be required to work full-time doing activities that includes doing menial public sector work, unpaid internships with private employers, employment in subsidized-wage positions or attending language classes. Tasks proposed for the work obligation include cleaning public toilets and sweeping sidewalks. Failure to comply could lead to even lower payments.

Critics from the moderate pro-democracy opposition, like Victoria Velasquez from the Red-Green Alliance, argue that the reforms fail to address barriers like health, education, or language and could cause even more people to end up working as unpaid labor in jobs that should be filled by paid workers earning fair wages under collective agreements. The nation's independent labor movement shares these concerns.

An estimated 10,000 individuals—90% of them non-Western immigrants—will also see their welfare payments slashed under tightened eligibility rules. These cuts will help finance modest subsidies for children’s activities and medications, presenting the reforms as a zero-sum game where the most marginalized are made to fund improvements for others.

• Source: Arbejderen, December 20th 2024

Idk where else to put this but our local Amazon plant is striking. I work nearby for a subcompany so I drive by every day to work and this morning I saw like 12-20 people out front with signs. I'm reaching out to my local org to see what I can do to help even though my branch isn't fully established yet.

Jackson Hinkles Chinese social media got banned lmao

germany's gonna be a scarier country than the usa in a year and that's saying a lot

Grim scenes from Magdeburg

Some brief news from Denmark:

**Bartenders Fired Over Pro-Palestinian Stickers**

In Copenhagen, two bartenders at a music venue were fired for wearing stickers featuring the Palestinian flag and the name of the organisation Antifascist Action. In a statement William Weiss, one of the bartenders, tells how the dismissal infringes on his freedom of expression. Management argues that the termination complies with a company policy prohibiting political messages at work.

Six additional staff members have resigned in protest. Weiss contends the venue’s policies shield problematic customers rather than employees.

**Private Care Homes Shut Down**

Over four years, Danish authorities have forcibly closed 19 private care homes due to severe abuse and mismanagement affecting vulnerable children and adults. Violations include violence, illegal restraints, and misuse of public funds, according to Denmark's social supervision authorities.

Eva Naur, a welfare law lecturer, criticizes a lax approval processes that allow underqualified operators to run care homes. These homes often generate significant profits; a review of 81 private care homes found that in the past five years, owners have paid themselves dividends totaling 155 million DKK (€20.8 million).

**Danes Firmly Reject Switching to the Euro**

A majority of Danes (55%) remain opposed to adopting the euro, as shown by a recent poll. This resistance mirrors the outcome of Denmark’s 2000 referendum, when voters first rejected the single currency.

Despite increasing pro-European sentiment in Denmark since Brexit, younger Danes are not overwhelmingly pro-euro. Among Danes aged 18–34, 56% oppose replacing the krone, Denmark’s current currency. Although not part of the Eurozone, the Danish krone is closely pegged to the Euro.

**Danish Investment in Weapons Stocks Surges**

Private investment in military-related stocks has increased tenfold in Denmark since 2021, with holdings in these stocks now valued at 2.1 billion DKK (€281 million).

The shift in attitudes follows the Ukraine war, which has reshaped views on military spending and defense and ramped up militaristic propaganda. Arms manufacturing stocks face no regulatory barriers in Denmark.

**Industrial Unions Gear Up for 2025 Contract Talks**

Danish industrial unions have concluded nationwide preparatory meetings for the 2025 labor agreement negotiations. CO-Industri, a coalition of unions representing Danish industrial workers, collected over 500 proposals for improvements to working conditions.

The first negotiations, scheduled for January 2025, will set the tone for labor agreements across Denmark’s private sector. The collective agreements for the industrial sector is often used as a reference for negotiations in other sectors of the labour market.

**Fascist Party Advocates Use of Cluster Bombs And Landmines**

Alex Ahrendtsen, defense spokesperson for the far-right Danish People’s Party (DF), has called for Denmark to withdraw from treaties banning cluster bombs and landmines.

Ahrendtsen argues Denmark should have access to such weapons for defense purposes. However, Liberal Party Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen is not ready to go against the current consensus among western states and has reaffirmed Denmark’s commitment to international conventions prohibiting their use.

**Universities Introduce 'Anti-Harassment' Policies In Response To Pro-Palestinian Activism**

The Moderate Party-controlled Ministry of Education and Science has introduced a new so-called 'anti-harassment' policy for universities. Violators risks suspension. The regime claims the policy is necessary as some students feel they're being harassed "in connection to a current political agenda", ie. pro-Palestinian activism.

In one incident activists had painted the slogan "Zionists should be afraid" on buildings at the university campus in Roskilde. Zionists claimed that this message made all Jewish students feel unsafe. Discourse on harrassment on campuses has not mentioned zionist hate speech in support of the American-Zionist genocide against Palestine.

**Controversial Cleaning Company Loses Key Contract**

The cleaning company Renell has lost its contract with Næstved Municipality. Earlier this year the municipalities of Vejle, Køge and Hørsholm has cancelled contracts with the comapny although it recently won back the contract with Hørsholm.

The company is part of a collective agreement with the organization "Det removedlige Hus" trough its membership of the "Christian Employers' Association". "Det removedlige Hus" is a so-called yellow union or company union that renounces the right to strike and has no affiliation with the Danish labour movement. Calculations show that Workers at Renell earn significantly less than unionized counterparts covered by agreements with Denmark’s legitimate unions.

**Social Democrats Accept Royal Honors**

A large number of current and former Social Democratic ministers has been offered knighthoods by Denmark's unelected monarchy. A handful refused to accept the decorations but most, including Danish leader Mette Frederiksen, accepted.

Earlier this year the Social Democrats, who leads the Nordic hermit kingdom's ruling right-wing regime, decided to abandon a century-long policy of refusing to accept royal honors. A century ago the Social Democrats were a republican party but as the former labour party gained influence they shed their radical beliefs and became enamored to the institutions of the bourgeois state, including the monarchy.

Today the social democrats are as monarchist as any, using the royal cult of personality to further a reactionary nationalist agenda and embracing the royals in the hope that their popularity rubs off on the social democrats. This January Danish leader Mette Frederiksen was strutting with joy as she faced crowds gathered in Copenhagen to proclaim the accesssion to the throne of hand-picked successor Frederik Glücksburg, who took over the reins from his aging mother in a bloodless transfer of power. Since then the social democrats were a leading force in awarding the monarchy substantial budget increases.

• Source: Arbejderen, December 19th 2024

According to Ukraine's Air Force Command, Russia fired five ballistic missiles at Kyiv at around 7 a.m. on Friday. Ukrainian air defenses shot down all five missiles. In addition, 40 UAVs were shot down, and another 20 drones did not reach their targets, according to the command

In vacation country Portugal news, the incompetent government decides to appeal to security racism whenever it is caught not fixing anything. This time, they decided to direct the police to do stop people in the middle of their mostly immigrant neighborhood in the middle of the capital to humiliate and search them, so they can "appease the feeling of insecurity" that the far right, the pigs, and themselves have been trying to create - neither of these would be close to being able to find a majority finding them competent, by the way.

And they present as a great result apprehending some minor drugs, small amount of money (4600€), and a knife. And some white Portuguese guy who was probably selling the drugs. Those immigrants surely are leading to increased feelings of insecurity, by way of opportunistic <redacted>. Other than some of the cops, they're not even close to fascist, just eurocuck buffoons pretending to play politics incapable of thinking about the consequences.

If capturing Kurakhove takes months it will take a forever to defeat Ukraine in a city like Kherson or Sloviansk. At some point Russia will need to do decapitation strikes on Ukrainian leadership. Either that or lose another 1/2 million people on both sides. Seems like Putin's low and slow grind strategy worked well for the first few years of the war but eventually Nato is going to re-organize and meet the challenge. If Nato ends up defeating Russia I'm moving to Mars with elon.

o7 to the DPRK leadership for their uncharacteristically muted response to the drone incursions and SK political meltdown on December 3. Yoon Suk Yeol and SK military leadership tried to elicit a response from DPRK and Pyongyang gently pushed the spotlight back on Seoul where it belongs. Well played.

Wtf

Democrats eye Harris 2028 presidential run as they devise political comeback Party aides are confident in US vice-president’s ability to bounce back, including a bid for California governor emocratic party aides have begun to float ideas for a Kamala Harris political comeback, reportedly eyeing another run at the US’s highest office even as the party continues to grapple with the electoral messages contained in the vice-president’s decisive defeat in November’s White House race against Donald Trump.

Harris, who has reportedly not ruled out a second run for the presidency, is now reported to be considering a run for the California governorship, currently held until 2027 by Gavin Newsom. Newsom was a rumoured presidential contender during the chaotic summer that saw Joe Biden step down from a rematch with Trump – whom he defeated in the 2020 election – and then endorse Harris as his replacement.

According to the Washington Post on Monday, some Democratic party aides believe Trump – who, among other things, overcame a criminal conviction and other such charges to win – has sufficiently overturned the norms of losing White House candidates’ not attempting a second bite at the proverbial apple to give Harris the opportunity of a repeat bid in 2028, this time for the full cycle.

“Since Donald Trump has rewritten the rules – the norms – I don’t believe Kamala Harris or anyone should try to go with precedent, ever,” said Donna Brazile, a Harris ally, Al Gore 2000 presidential campaign manager and political commentator. “There are no rule books.”

Molly Murphy, a pollster who worked on the both the Biden and Harris campaigns, told the outlet: “The rules potentially don’t apply this time, and she still absolutely could have a mulligan because of the unique circumstances of this race and the candidate switch.

“But I don’t think it will be a given.”

The sentiment that Harris could make another bid for the White House comes as the Democratic party is sculpting an argument that her loss to Trump was not as comprehensive as has been popularly portrayed. She emerged from her three-month, $1.5bn campaign with higher approval ratings than she entered it, according to the political website 538, though she lost the electoral college 312-226 and became the first of three candidates to lose the popular vote to Trump.

“She is ending this race in a very different place than other nominees that have lost,” one Harris adviser told the outlet. “Her approval is higher. People were very happy with the race that she ran.”

Supporters further point to unequal political consequences for male and female candidates following a ballot box loss. Hillary Clinton did not attempt another run after losing to Trump in 2016, handing the Democratic torch to one-term president Biden.

Debbie Walsh, director of the center for American women and politics at Rutgers University, told the Post, “landing in general has kind of been harder for women”, noting that women who served at state level positions “don’t get the soft landing of a position in a law firm that allows them to regroup and earn some money and maybe run for something else. They struggle a bit.”

But as Harris considers her future – husband Doug Emhoff is returning to entertainment law – donors and supporters in California, where she served as a US senator and state attorney general, are pushing for a run for governor in 2026 to replace who would then be the outgoing, term-limited Newsom.

“The people that drove that conversation – within 18 minutes of the election being called – was the finance team,” one Harris confidante told the outlet.

If Harris, who beat Trump by 20 points in California, runs for and wins the governorship, she would become the nation’s first Black female governor, a considerable consolation prize.

But other Democrats are also considering both races. For president, Newsom as well as fellow governors JB Pritzker of Illinois and Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan are said to be getting into position.

Harris campaign aides acknowledge the competition but say her name recognition, coupled with donors and experience as well as a conviction that she was dragged by Biden’s unpopularity, opens the starting gate for a comeback.

It’s almost Shakespearean that Joe Biden didn’t just kill his own campaign – he killed hers, too,” a Harris campaign adviser told the Post.

Meanwhile, California congresswoman Katie Porter, a potential state governor candidate, diplomatically told the outlet: “I am certain that everyone will want to support Kamala Harris in continuing to serve this country.”

Harris herself has not revealed her thinking but is said to be “processing” her loss and plans to “stay in the fight”.

“The fight that fueled our campaign – a fight for freedom and opportunity – that did not end on November 5,” Harris said on a call with donors and supporters in November.

Harris ultimately used the word “fight” 19 times during that call.

That last sentence killed me inside. My day is ruined.

Manhattan DA has indicted Luigi on, among other things, a terrorism charge, alleging that United Healthcare is a part of the government.

comradeworkwear was banned from all social media sites after creating a deck with playing cards with names and faces of amerikkklan CEOs, the product was named "most wanted CEOs" creatively named in parody of the Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards which were issued to amerikkkan soldiers during the ameriKKKlan invasion of iraq. the face side of the cards depict amerikkklan CEOs.

source from reactionary site

edit: text says why am i evil with a qr code to scan.

NYPD decided to do a perp walk photo op with Luigi:

This seems to have pretty much backfired on social media, for obvious reasons (this picture objectively goes hard). Lots of people comparing him to pics of Superman in handcuffs or saying they are treating him like a supervillain in Gotham.

Oh, also, that's Eric Adams directly to his right behind him. He might have given a speech about how Rikers is the Blackgate Penetentiary of New York, I am trying to check.

: You are not a sovereign country, . You know this.
https://xcancel.com/camilapress/status/1869212016558449101

Venezuela says new sanctions announced by Ottawa today “confirms, once again, [Canada's] servile role as a slave to the imperial interests of the United States.”

The head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was assassinated in a bomb attack in Moscow, along with his assistant.

Russian leadership really needs to wake up and realize that Ukraine/NATO are not going to just sit on their hands and wait to lose the war.

It seems like the newsmega has a lot fewer of the regulars recently. I miss the input from the users who are actually proximate to the conflict in Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. Their input was extremely valuable.

Sheikh Khaled Nabhan, feeder and guardian of stray cats in Gaza, was murdered by the Genocidal Entity. May you rest in power, inshallah.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

In Kids TV News, HBO is dropping Sesame Street (they license content, which essentially funds its production and availability on PBS). Given Trump will almost certainly end federal funding for PBS (and the show is a personal target of Matt Schlapp and Ted Cruz), it may prove to be one of the casualties of the new republican regime unless someone else picks it up.

As a parent, it’d actually be quite sad to see it go, either entirely or from PBS. High quality, freely available children’s content that is positive, educational and inclusive should be a given, but naturally, the market will consume all - even Elmo.

Another school shooting

I’m sure that’s great news for the bourgeois who are glad the ruling class is no longer being targeted and we’re back to our regularly scheduled hell world programming

This whole drone saga really reminds me of the clowns in the woods if anyone remembers that

After relentlessly bending the knee to "mama bear" Nancy Pelosi and the Dem establishment, all while providing cover for American participation in the Gaza Genocide with progressive voters, AOC lost the vote for top Dem spot on the House Oversight committee to Gerry Connolly, a 74-year old Democrat from Virginia with throat cancer, after Pelosi threw all her weight behind Connolly.

Serves that worm right lol.

A new virus with pandemic potential is rapidly spreading around American farms. I hear this one is from a weird American meat selling market where animals in the facility are kept trapped in small cages around feces all day, and sometimes even fed feces in some cases? Apparently the Americans believe this helps the animals grow faster and taste better? So barbaric

Attack kills head of Russia's nuclear and chemical weapons defenses in Moscow.

A bomb implanted in a scooter and detonated from a distance killed General Igor Kirillov on Tuesday (17). Ukraine's security agency, which accuses Kirillov of using banned chemical weapons in the war, told Reuters that the country was behind the attack.

If anyone wants a good source going through the recent drone/UAV/UAP hysteria in the USA, the twitter account I'll link below goes through it video by video, ID'ing the objects using geolocation techniques and FlightRadar24. Spoiler alert: it's all civilian or military aircraft. On some occasions it's stars our out of focus lights.

Twitter source

Xcancel mirror

Nitter mirror

Whoever's running this PsyOp, you can shut it down now lol. The American people are more ignorant than you estimated.

https://xcancel.com/Lfelizleon/status/1869768924604354996

very cool

also isntreal bombing yemen

A little news from occupied Palestine.

Palestinian al-Qassam Brigades forces stabbed to death four Zionist occupation troops (including an officer) in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, seizing their assault weapons. Yesterday, the resistance also killed another five occupation troops in central Jabaliya: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/19/739372/Qassam-Brigades-claims-to-have-killed-4-Israeli-troops-in-northern-Gaza-stabbing-attack

The fascist Tel Aviv regime’s warplanes attacked Yemen’s As-Salif port and Ras Isa oil facility in Hodeidah province; and two power plants in Sana’a. The attacks killed nine civilians. In response, the Yemeni Armed Forces struck Tel Aviv with two Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missiles and a drone: https://sputnikglobe.com/20241219/houthi-missile-lands-direct-hit-in-tel-aviv-amid-tit-for-tat-attacks---photos-1121216865.html

https://tass.com/world/1890607

https://tass.com/world/1889703

Grocery Prices Set to Rise as Soil Becomes 'Unproductive'

https://www.newsweek.com/grocery-prices-set-rise-soil-becomes-unproductive-2001418

The Crumbling Foundation of America’s Military The U.S. failed to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to supply Ukraine. Could it equip its own armed forces in the event of war?

In 2023, the U.S. Army Science Board expressed concern that the nation’s industrial base “may be incapable of meeting the munitions demand created by a potential future fight against a peer adversary.”

"there are 2 girls, but because of the ravages of capitalism, the yanKKKee has to line one behind the other, so he can kill them both with one bullet to save munitions."

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/17/two-charged-over-us-tech-used-in-deadly-drone-attack-on-soldiers-in-jordan

A naturalized American citizen and a Swiss-Iranian dual citizen were arrested by the US for illegally exporting technology that was used in a drone attack against Americans.

After campaigning against Donald Trump as a grave threat to democracy, President Joe Biden says it’s not his concern that Trump doesn’t “abide by the rules of the democracy we’ve established,” and Biden again committed to a smooth transition of power — including attending Trump’s inauguration.

“Of course I am,” Biden said, asked in an interview with MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas if he would attend the ceremony after Trump skipped his. “The only president ever to avoid inauguration is the guy who’s about to be inaugurated.”

Asked about inviting Trump to the Oval Office after November’s election, Biden said it was “how we’re supposed to be,” even after Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election.

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-government-shutdown-news-12-19-24/index.html

lol.

Are we going to get another March surprise folks

California declares state of emergency over bird flu

So who else thinks Israel is going to bomb Bethlehem on Christmas for the second year in a row?

alan macleod says alot of vpns are owned by a israeli company headed by an israeli former spy

there is a 6 year old child with no legs in gaza getting around with an adult roller skate as a crutch

Feels like a lot of shit has happened and the vibes are completely off, but I think a lot of folks here and elsewhere have kind of forgotten that the American imperial machine is still in a state of rapid unraveling and no "wins" in the Middle East are going to stop it. Compared to 2015, for instance, the world is entirely different. So many more regions can afford to effectively ignore the United States and pursue their own interests, for good or ill. The civil war in Sudan is case and point; the US can't do shit to stop it, and has no real influence there at all. Fucking Ukraine is doing more on the ground to shape Sudan that the United States, let alone actors like the UAE. India has shown complete disregard for the American imperial project to the point of assassinating enemies of the Indian state in Canada of all places. The Sahel has been able to entirely pursue its own interests, and there's nothing the West can do about it. They can't even stop Yemen from closing down the Red Sea. There's a shit ton of dooming here, but I think it's important to not lose sight of the fact that the world has irrevocably changed in the last decade, that the space for maneuver is far wider than its been in decades, and there's virtually nothing the United States or its pawns can do to change this continuing shift.

A really somber "Tankie Therapy" episode from The East is a Podcast on the fall of Syria. I was personally waiting for the crew to give their views because they know how important revolutionary optimism is for how we as leftists should think about the world, but they also keep it grounded in material reality. The way they manage to resist slipping into either forms of delusional optimistic idealism or some doom-and-gloom self-flagellation, especially in completely uncertain times like this, and are able to give a broad and pragmatic perspective is something I really admire.

https://x.com/cafreeland/status/1868659332285702167

Chrystia Freeland bailing on the Trudeau show. He asked her to leave her role as finance minister and take another cabinet position, she said no and took some pot shots on the way out the door. She was definitely the number two in the Trudeau government, the wheels are really coming off.

I can imagine her winning her seat again maybe, but she's delusional if she thinks she can distance herself enough from the current government to get the leadership role of the LPC. edit: actually, she might be able to become leader of the LPC because liberal voters might try to mix things up with a naturally governing girlboss (this is a riff on the liberals as canada's natural governing party, not transphobia or whatever), but she's got way too much trudeau government stink on her to be PM.

She's done as much to continue the war in ukraine as anyone in the west. What a shit.

🇲🇱Biggest Lithium plant in Africa, unveiled in Mali:
https://xcancel.com/cecild84/status/1868657869702201691

Yesterday, Mali Inaugurated , the largest lithium production mine in Africa, and the fifth in the world, the new "Lithium Mali SA" plant opened its doors in Goulamina, in the Bougouni region, Mali. The ceremony took place under the chairmanship of the President of the Transition, Army General Assimi GOÏTA, accompanied by members of the government, the president of the National Transitional Council (CNT), and in the presence of local and traditional authorities. The Chinese Ambassador to Mali, CHEN Zhihong, as well as the Chairman and CEO of the Ganfing company, Wang Xiao SHEN, also attended this event.

In his speech, the President of the Transition, HE General Assimi Goïta, stressed the importance of this new infrastructure for Mali, emphasizing that this project, the result of profound reforms in the mining sector, constitutes a major step forward in the exploitation of the country's natural resources. The Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces expressed his satisfaction to see this project, eagerly awaited by Malians, particularly those in Bougouni and its surroundings, come to fruition. Concerning the expected economic benefits, the General announced an initial turnover of 680 billion FCFA, which will stimulate the national economy. The dividends from the mine, estimated at 71 billion FCFA, will be shared between the State (30%) and the private sector (5%). An investment of 25 billion FCFA is also planned for community projects, such as roads, health centers, schools and energy infrastructure. This project will create thousands of jobs, thus contributing to a significant reduction in unemployment and better employability of young people. The President of the Transition praised the "strategic and sincere" cooperation between Mali and China, thanking the Chinese company Ganfing for its commitment to respect Malian laws and support the socio-economic development of local communities.

This project required an investment of more than 300 billion FCFA and should generate more than 150 billion FCFA each year for the Malian state.

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1868830594991636722

This 👇 potentially changes everything, it looks like Trump envisions a U.S.-China G2.

He says that "China and the United States can together solve all the problems in the world". https://x.com/kyleichan/status/1868741445815091393/video/1…

From the point of view of a citizen of the Earth, I'm all for an improved relationship between the U.S. and China. And so far, despite some of his hawkish appointments, all of the statements by Trump himself point to that. Actions must follow of course, which is anything but a given: U.S. rhetoric often bears little correlation to their actions...

From the point of view of a European though, a US-China G2 would be a strategic disaster of the highest order. In fact it's long been something that many European strategic thinkers have warned about: if a US-China G2 materializes without Europe at the table, it will be on the menu.

A U.S.-China G2 would effectively mark an end to the undeclared world war we've been witnessing these past few years and declare the U.S. and China to be the 2 winners, setting the new rules of the game together the way the winners of WW2 did. Europe had a De Gaulle and a Churchill back then to defend its interests, there's virtually no-one today...

Which is why I've long said it was so strategically dumb for Europe to blindly follow the U.S. in its hostile strategy against China as one day (which looks like it may be coming soon) the U.S. would be bound to flip its position, leaving Europe exposed and with a damaged relationship with China. The smarter approach would have been to maintain an equally balanced relationships with both powers while building up European strategic autonomy. Instead of following Washington's lead on chip restrictions, decoupling initiatives, and confrontational rhetoric, Europe could have carved out its own path...

The question now is whether Europe can still recover its strategic position. And unfortunately the challenge appears nearly insurmountable: years of strategic complacency have left Europe vulnerable at precisely the moment when strength and independence are most crucial, with a complete absence of leaders of the caliber needed to navigate such tricky waters...

Saw this coming from miles away. US threatens China with tariffs while killing Europe as a potential consumer base to absorb Chinese export surpluses through inciting a Ukraine-Russia conflict.

US now defeats China’s capital control as China invites American capital to enter through foreign direct investment, entrenching dollar hegemony while enabling the US to shift away from running huge trade deficits, which had led to the MAGA movement (or the Bernie Sanders movement in another timeline) from disfranchised American workers. In other words, the US partially stops de-industrialization (but won’t re-industrialize, so contradictions will continue to grow) without having to sacrifice the primacy of the dollar.

China gets to keep its growth while continuing to alleviate millions more out of poverty, gets its talents back from US purge, preserves its industrial capacity but loses financial sovereignty in the process.

Europe and the Global South lose. European exodus to the US will fulfill America’s white supremacist dream. The rest of the Global South will be left vulnerable to fend for themselves.

Now, we wait and see how China responds to this offer.

Once again a shutdown looms

will I be the only person in my office legally allowed to work for the next ??? weeks? find out very soon

The leader of Yemen's Ansarallah, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi: 'Egypt is also under threat. The situation in Egypt may deteriorate quickly and the Zionist regime will seek to destroy all the capabilities and powers of the Egyptian army, like they did in Syria. The Zionist regime is seeking to implement this plan to overthrow the regime in Egypt'

People in NYC holding banners during a CEO Event at Ziegfeld Ballroom

cw: link

U.S. Files Murder Charge Against Mangione That Could Bring Death Penalty

https://xcancel.com/Slatzism/status/1868795614491800032#m

It seems the school shooter left a manifesto. It seems from said manifesto that she was quite far-right. No big surprises here.

Jordan Peterson moves to US

In a recent episode of The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast, hosted by his daughter, Peterson cited his feud with the College of Psychologists of Ontario and concerns about a contentious bill targeting hate speech as among the key reasons for his decision to leave Canada.

"The issue with the College of Psychologists is very annoying, to say the least, and the new legislation that the Liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C-63, we'd all be living in a totalitarian hellhole if it passes," Peterson said.

What's C-63, you may ask?

The Minister of Justice has examined Bill C-63, An Act to enact the Online Harms Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service

oh

🙏

Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling

Scholz lost the vote so his government is now finally gone. Only 207 of 733 voted for him and 394 against. This doesn't come as a shock or anything this just makes it official elections are in 60 days in feb. Based on the newest poll SPD is going to lose quite a bit and get between 15-17%. CDU/CSU is going to be the biggest party with 31-35% greens might actually also lose after mentions of a Green-Black (Greens and CDU) coalition are around. AfD looks to double their % from the elections up to 20% maybe even higher.

No idea if what the greens in Belgium did had any influence since there a city government was decidedly won by the left and greens formed a gov. coalition with right-wing freaks.

After losing a vote in the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee over the Dem ranking seat on the House Oversight Committee following Nancy Pelosi and establishment Dems throwing their support behind a 74-year old with cancer, AOC appealed to the general House Democratic Causus, and lost again. Lmao get fucked snake.

The r/politics comments are actually kinda funny. It's hard to tell to what extent reddit shitlibs have changed after the election and the extent to which the DNC isn't paying for astroturfing now that the election is over.

First Offical Statement by "Citizen" Bashar Al- Assad

IMF data on GDP at purchasing power parity at the end of 2024.

1. China - 37.1 trillion.
2. USA - 29.2 trillion.
3. India - 16 trillion.
4. Russia - 6.9 trillion.
5. Japan - 6.6 trillion.
6. Germany - 6 trillion.
7. Brazil - 4.7 trillion.
8. Indonesia - 4.7 trillion.
9. France - 4.4 trillion.
10. Britain - 4.3 trillion.

This person jaq James has written several in depth papers criticizing the various major China bad uyghur genocide reports. I've mentioned the ohchr Xinjiang report on hexbear a few times as the maximal credible set of accusations. Working paper 4 in the link below is about that and is worth reading. These are very legal arguments but are quite readable.

https://www.cowestpro.co/papers.html

link to the poll. This section is a ways down, might want to ctrl + f "vaccinate"

The highest support, 76%, is for requiring transgender athletes to play on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Support for increasing oil and gas production in the U.S. is nearly as high, at 74%.
More than two-thirds, 68%, favor allowing parents to make medical decisions about their minor children, including whether or not to vaccinate them against measles, polio, and other disease.
Sixty-one percent favor banning “gender-affirming” care such as hormone therapy or surgery for transgender minors under 18.

Bird flu sweeps through zoos with ‘grave implications’ for endangered animals

Is the U.S. Government discourse back in Paul Ryan era again? It's really sad to see all the hand-wringing about the national debt.

And this time, there is

Ansarallah continue their streak of being Allah’s strongest soldiers

🇾🇪🇸🇾🇵🇸🇮🇱 The Leader of Yemen's Revolution Sayyed Al-Houthi on the latest developments in the region:

full text

• The enemy, in partnership with America, has continued to exterminate the people of Gaza for 440 days with American missiles and bombs that it drops on the displaced

• The soldiers of the so-called Israeli "army" are competing with each other to commit massacres in Gaza, the number of which this week reached 30 massacres

• What is happening in Jabalia reveals the extent of the deliberate and systematic targeting of all aspects of life in the Gaza Strip

• The Palestinian people have the legitimate, moral and legal right to confront the Israeli enemy.

• The enemy continues its attacks on Lebanon despite the ceasefire agreement and Lebanon’s implementation of its commitments, but the enemy is known for its disloyalty and treachery.

• It is unfortunate that the Palestinian Authority does not provide the slightest protection to the Palestinian people, but on the contrary, it is committing a grave mistake that amounts to treason.

• The Israeli path in Syria is to penetrate towards Suwayda and seek to link it to the desert areas under American control.

• The Israeli enemy has a plan called “David’s Corridor” which aims to penetrate the Euphrates River in the areas occupied by the Americans.

• The Israeli enemy has a dream of reaching the Euphrates River and sees the opportunity available to it because it does not face any obstacle in penetrating into Syrian territory.

• The occupation seeks to create opportunities and considers its control over the strategic Syrian Mount Hermon a very great gain because it overlooks all of the Levant.

• The occupation destroyed the capabilities of the Syrian army, which belong to all Syrians, and despite that, they were left to be targeted by the enemy.

• It is very unfortunate that the Syrian military capabilities are left for Israeli targeting and destruction. This is a strange and astonishing asceticism.

• The occupation is violating Syria by land, sea and air without any response, and it is sending teams to steal certain documents, equipment and research.

• The occupation’s continuation of its crimes against Arab countries comes with support and partnership from Washington, and they are two sides of the same coin, which is Zionism.

• Despite the comprehensive Zionist invasion, there is a ban inside Syria against any incitement against the Americans and Israelis.

• There is great negligence on the part of Muslims and collusion of some regimes and some groups with the Israeli enemy, and this is one of the biggest reasons that encouraged the enemy to target several countries.

• The harshest and most hideous scenes of crime in Gaza testify that Muslims, and Arabs in particular, are the most cowardly and evasive of nations.”

It turns out the father of the editor-in-chief of African Stream is a Central Committee member of Sudan’s Communist Party:
https://africanstream.media/african-streams-ceo-sits-down-with-his-father-to-discuss-sudans-war/

some wild speculative article in naked capitalism that some of the drones are searching/training to search dirty bomb.

Simpler explanation that usa cities are routinely filmed from drones to search for undesirables is impossible of course

Chocolate Prices Soar Amid Exploitation and Climate Change

Cocoa prices have skyrocketed by 80% since September, reaching EUR 9,876 per ton last week. This surge is fueled by rising global demand, climate change, and exploitative farming practices that are squeezing crop yields.

Belgian chocolate producer Leonidas reports stagnant sales as consumers, already squeezed by the ongoing cost of living crisis, cut back on chocolate purchases due to soaring costs.

In the Global South, poverty-stricken cocoa farmers are forced to adopt unsustainable practices, planting monocultures in direct sunlight to boost yields. While this accelerates growth, it leaves trees—naturally healthier when grown in shaded, biodiverse environments—more vulnerable to drought, disease, and climate-related failures. These methods worsen the already severe impact of climate change on cocoa production.

Meanwhile, growing demand from countries like China has further strained global cocoa supplies. Experts predict prices will continue to rise, potentially exceeding €12,000 per ton. For Western consumers, accustomed to cheap chocolate, the treat may soon return to being a luxury item.

• Source: DR (state media), December 15th 2024

Belousov said that the Russian Defense Ministry must be prepared for any development of the situation, including a possible military conflict with NATO in Europe in the next decade

According to him, the decisions at the alliance summit and doctrinal documents indicate that such a conflict is possible.

Other statements:

— The Ukrainian Armed Forces lost over 560,000 people in 2024

— In total, during the Second Military Operation, the Ukrainian Armed Forces lost about 1 million people, and during the “Kursk adventure” — 40 thousand

— The speed of advancement of Russian troops is currently on average about 30 square kilometers per day

— In 2024, Russian troops liberated almost 4.5 thousand square kilometers of territory occupied by the Ukrainian Armed Forces

— Over 427 thousand people have entered the military under contract since the beginning of 2024

— Compared to 2022, the Russian military will receive 7 times more tanks, 3 times more infantry fighting vehicles and armored personnel carriers, and 23 times more drones

— In the special operation zone, over 58 thousand units of weapons and equipment of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were destroyed in 2024, including 18 thousand of foreign manufacture

— Russian air defense shot down 86 Storm Shadow and Scalp missiles, 215 ATACMS, 1,629 HIMARS projectiles, and more than 27,000 drones in 2024

— The US will modernize all components of the nuclear triad by 2030 and create new nuclear warheads

Ecuador On Track To Allow a U.S. Military Base in the Galapagos Islands - Telesur English

Article

This will happen despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits the presence of foreign military forces on Ecuadorian territory. On Saturday, the Mexican newspaper La Jornada published an article claiming that US military ships will arrive in the Galapagos Islands in the coming days, effectively establishing a US military base on an archipelago of invaluable scientific significance.

“Ships, military personnel, weapons, equipment, and submarines will be able to operate in this archipelago, which was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1978,” journalist Orlando Perez wrote, noting that this decision implements a decree signed by President Daniel Noboa on February 15, 2024.

On December 10, the Comprehensive Security Project for the Insular Region and the Guidelines for the Implementation of the U.S.-Ecuador Cooperation Agreements were approved. “The initiative aims to combat drug trafficking, illegal fishing, and other illicit maritime activities in this region of Ecuador. It also seeks to prevent violent conflicts and related crimes among narco-terrorist groups linked to international cartels vying for control over drug export routes and territorial dominance for drug sales,” La Jornada’s article mentioned.

The decision of the Noboa administration follows an agreement signed between Ecuador and the United States on October 6, 2023, by then-President Guillermo Lasso. “That document outlined that the U.S. Department of Defense’s military and civilian personnel, as well as its contractors, would be granted privileges, exemptions, and immunity equivalent to those enjoyed by administrative and technical personnel of diplomatic missions under the Vienna Convention,” Perez explained.

“In practice, this amounts to the establishment of a military base, similar to what occurred between 1999 and 2009 in the coastal city of Manta. That agreement was not renewed by then-President Rafael Correa, and the 2008 Constitution prohibited the presence of foreign military forces or bases on Ecuadorian territory,” he added.

Due to this constitutional limitation, Noboa submitted a proposal to the National Assembly for a partial amendment to the 2008 Constitution to remove the article prohibiting foreign bases. However, this bill has not yet been reviewed or approved by the Ecuadorian lawmakers.

“Former Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fernando Yepez described the development as an example of ‘unacceptable, shameful, dangerous, and undignified colonial servility.’ There is no awareness of national sovereignty, Ecuador’s interests, or the negative experiences with foreign military bases,” Perez concluded.

Pisrael strikes sanaa again and professional traitors in jordan (allegedly) intercepted a drone from yemen

More and more reports incoming about a potential ceasefire agreement/prisoner exchange deal with regards to Gaza. The attitude and media reports are of a very similar tone to the Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon. No matter how "bad or good" the ceasefire deal is, a ceasefire is a ceasefire and will bring desperately needed relief to millions under siege in Gaza.

apparently they shut down airspace over Wright-Patterson AFB in Ohio on Friday night because there were a bunch of drones.

article includes audio of air traffic chatter mentioning them.

(sorry if this has already been posted, I searched the name of the base with and without the hyphen and didn't find any results on this comm)

TASS "Domestic mRNA vaccine for cancer will be free"

Big names. Gamaleya is very famous, known for developing the earliest vaccine for COVID, and the Blokhin oncology research center is the largest in both Europe and Russia. Hope it's true and widely available.

spoiler

The creation of a cancer vaccine using the mRNA platform will cost the state about 300 thousand rubles for each specific patient, and will be administered free of charge. This was reported by Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, chief oncologist of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, General Director of the National Research Center of Radiology Andrei Kaprin.

[snip]

The vaccine was developed jointly by several scientific teams - the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology, P. Hertsen Moscow Oncology Research Institute (MORI) and the N.N. Blokhin National Medical Research Center of Oncology. The beginning of distribution of the vaccine to patients is planned for early 2025.

[snip]

Massacre in Haiti: At Least 200 Dead in Cite Soleil and Artibonite - Telesur English

Article

At least 200 people have been killed in Haiti since the past weekend, with a significant number of victims in Cite Soleil, one of the poorest and most violent areas of Port-au-Prince.

The office of the Prime Minister of Haiti reported that the attacks, attributed to the gang led by Monel “Mikano” Félix, were unleashed following the illness and subsequent death of his son, whom Félix blamed for witchcraft practiced by elderly members of the community.

Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aimé stated this Thursday that “all those responsible for the massacres will be arrested” and emphasized that the victims deserve justice, reparation, and security. During a press conference, Fils-Aimé indicated that the government is intensifying its efforts to combat insecurity, noting that he, along with his cabinet and leaders of the National Police, are developing strategies to increase the safety of the Haitian population.

“No one should live under these conditions, fearing to go out on the street. The government’s fight is for everyone’s safety,” he emphasized.

Fils-Aimé underscored the importance of holding criminals accountable for their actions and called for unity among citizens to advance this cause. “If we unite, we can build the country we desire,” he stated.

To strengthen the response to violence, the Prime Minister announced that the government will provide comprehensive support to the police and armed forces, especially in technical and financial areas. In this regard, he revealed that starting in December, police salaries will be doubled, referring to them as “national heroes.”

The recent wave of violence has been particularly alarming; in addition to deaths in Cite Soleil, another 20 civilians were killed while sleeping in attacks in the Artibonite department. Fils-Aimé described as “unacceptable” the treatment that armed gangs give to “defenseless populations,” preventing their right to live in peace.

The National Network for Human Rights Defense (RNDDH) reported at least 110 elderly people killed during attacks in Cite Soleil and warned that the total number could be higher. Witnesses recounted that mutilated bodies were burned in the streets. The tragedy began on Thursday and culminated on Saturday afternoon with the child’s death.

Monel “Mikano” Félix is one of Haiti’s most prominent gang leaders and shares criminal leadership with former police officer Jimmy “Barbecue” Cherizier. It is estimated that his organization has approximately 300 members and has expanded its activities to other areas of Port-au-Prince.

Despite the presence of a police force backed by the UN known as the Multinational Security Support Mission—primarily composed of Kenyan agents—the violence continues to escalate. Last month, three American commercial planes were hit by gunfire while operating at Port-au-Prince International Airport.

In response to this growing crisis, the United States requested that the UN convert its security mission into an official peacekeeping operation to ensure financial resources and permanent personnel. However, this proposal faces resistance from Russia and China in the Security Council.

So far, only 400 troops have been sent to address a situation requiring at least 2,000 troops to effectively respond to armed gangs. Additionally, Dominican President Luis Abinader highlighted that a lack of financial resources compromises the full functioning of the mission.

Previous international interventions have been criticized for failing to address structural issues such as corruption and institutional fragility. Past missions like MINUSTAH did not adequately strengthen Haiti’s National Police enough to ensure public safety.

The current mission recently announced an operational expansion with a new base to deploy international police in more areas. In its statement, it committed to protecting key infrastructures and creating safe conditions for national elections.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on Monday for a UN mission focused on human rights to be authorized quickly in order to restore security amid rising violence caused by gangs since early this year. HRW noted that while there is hope regarding the Multinational Mission backed by the UN led by Kenya, governments have failed to provide sufficient resources for its effective operation.

Fils-Aimé concluded his speech reiterating: “Our commitment is what guides us every day: security, respect for the Constitution, and fair elections.”

Real Idenity of the CNN "rescued" Syrian prisoner revealed and verified by members of his hometown.

Via Verify-Sy Syrian fact checkers Salama Mohammed Salama aka Abu Hamza, 1st Lieutenant in SAF Intelligence.

Excited to learn that Drone Discourse is colliding with Sky Orb Discourse

US-Backed Kurdish Forces Report Ceasefire Failure in Northern Syria

GPS Issues Likely To Delay New "Israeli" Artillery For Danish Army

Denmark’s purchase of artillery systems from the controversial "Israeli" defense company Elbit, notorious for arming the zionist apartheid a d genocide against Palestine, has run into new problems after revelations about flawed GPS systems. The systems, including Puls rocket launchers and Atmos howitzers, were equipped with civilian-grade GPS vulnerable to jamming, rendering them ill-equipped for modern warfare.

Attempts to upgrade to military-grade GPS systems are now mired in delays and mismanagement, potentially pushing the systems’ readiness back by three years and inflating costs.

Delivery of the weapons has already been delayed by the ongoing Palestinian war of liberation.

The deal itself stems from a rushed and opaque procurement process in early 2023, during which Danish officials approved the purchase under dubious circumstances. An independent investigation revealed misleading information was provided to decision-makers by the Liberal Party-controlled ministry of defense, raising serious questions about the integrity and competence of the authorities involved.

The Nordic hermit kingdom purchased the systems to replenish its arsenal following a hastede decision to traffick it's French Caesar howitzers to Ukraine's Kiev regime.

• Source: DR (state media), December 18th 2024

Came across this image that goes incredibly hard when looking up Russia's NBC protection forces (due to the assassination this morning)

Live updates: Abundant Life Christian School Shooter was a 17-year-old female student, official tells AP

A teenage student opened fire at the Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin, on Monday, killing a teacher and another teenage student in the final week before Christmas break. The shooter also died, police said. Victims: A teacher and a teen student were killed in the shooting by a fellow student, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said in a press conference Monday afternoon. Six other students are being treated at local hospitals, with two in critical condition.

Shortly after the shooting, the school's Facebook page posted, stating that they had had an active shooter incident and were asking for prayers.

Shooter: The shooter was a 17-year-old female student, a law enforcement official told The Associated Press. Police in Madison, Wisconsin, said the shooter apparently was dead by suicide when officers arrived. Location: The shooting took place at the nondenominational Abundant Life Christian School, which has about 390 students, from kindergarten through high school, according to its website.

Unlike US, China trying to resolve, not worsen Red Sea crisis

Is Freeland’s exit a sign of a turn away from Washington? -Yves Engler

spoiler

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out, Madame Freeland.

Chrystia Freeland’s resignation from cabinet is a small win for all those who wish Canada would take a more independent foreign policy and not simply toady to the Americans.

A year after becoming prime minister, Justin Trudeau replaced foreign affairs minister Stéphane Dion, who represented a less pro-military and Washington faction of the Canadian elite, with Freeland. When she became foreign minister, the US embassy in Ottawa sent a memo to the State Department in Washington entitled “Canada Adopts ‘America First’ Foreign Policy.” Uncovered through a freedom of information request by Jay Watts, the largely redacted cable concluded that Trudeau promoted Freeland “in large part because of her strong U.S. contacts” and that her “number one priority” was working closely with Washington.

Coordinating the bid to overthrow Venezuela’s government was the highest profile example of Freeland’s “America First” policy. In 2020 Venezuelan foreign affairs Minister Jorge Arreaza pointed out that the Trudeau government’s Venezuela policy took a sharply belligerent turn after Freeland replaced Dion in January 2017. Freeland helped establish the Lima Group and participated in a half dozen meetings of the anti-Venezuelan government coalition. As the Globe and Mail reported, “Freeland spoke with Juan Guaidó to congratulate him on unifying opposition forces in Venezuela, two weeks before he declared himself interim president” in January 2019.

As part of her pro-Washington policy in the Hemisphere, Freeland also supported the ouster of Bolivia’s first indigenous president. Hours after the military command forced Evo Morales to resign on November 10, 2019, Freeland released a celebratory statement declaring, “Canada stands with Bolivia and the democratic will of its people.”

Ottawa provided significant support for the Organization of American States’ effort to discredit Bolivia’s 2019 vote, which fueled opposition protests and justified the coup. “Canada commends the invaluable work of the OAS audit mission in ensuring a fair and transparent process, which we supported financially and through our expertise”, noted Freeland at the time. But the OAS audit mission was designed to precipitate Morales ouster. A slew of studies demonstrated the partisan nature of the OAS audit mission and a year later Morales’ former finance minister, Luis Acre, won 55% of the vote for president and his MAS party took a large majority in the Congress.

Freeland is deeply anti-Palestinian. She’s attended multiple genocide rallies over the past fourteen months and declared that “Canada stands with Israel”. When I asked Freeland in April if she condemned Israel’s killing of 14,000 Palestinian children she declined to respond. During a visit to Israel in 2018 Freeland announced that should Canada win a seat on the United Nations Security Council, it would act as an “asset for Israel” on the Council.

Israel-first Liberal MP Anthony Housefather and his former colleague, turned Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center head, Michael Levitt, bemoaned her resignation. Levitt labeled Freeland’s resignation letter “a devastating blow to the Prime Minister”.

Freeland is particularly hawkish on Ukraine and the NATO proxy war. As finance minister she’s led the international charge to freeze $300 billion in Russian Central Bank assets and give them to Ukraine. Canada has pledged $5 billion to Ukraine that was taken from seized Russian assets. Freeland’s also repeatedly called for escalating the NATO proxy war and sending more arms to Ukraine.

Long before Russia’s February 2022 invasion, Freeland framed the smoldering fighting in eastern Ukraine as a global battle between good and evil. In November 2019 she declared that Ukraine was at the “forefront of the struggle between democracy and authoritarianism” and that “modern Ukraine is the country where the struggle is ongoing and the future of the rules-based international order and genuine democracy in the world will be determined.” But democracy has never been a genuine concern for the hardline nationalists in Freeland’s family. Her grandfather, Michael Chomiak, was a Ukrainian Nazi collaborator and propagandist during World War II.

When it comes to Freeland’s international policy the dominant media act like fawning sycophants, rather than serious journalists. Their portrayal of Freeland is often downright embarrassing. Expect that type of commentary in coming days.

Chrystia Freeland’s letter announcing her resignation suggests she’s seeking to push the Liberals further to the right. She’s likely hoping to force Justin Trudeau to resign so she can take the reins of the Liberal Party. A reminder that the Liberals can get even worse.

Trump to announce $100B SoftBank investment in the US

Why does the U.S. need a foreign company to invest in Dollars locally? So much for the nationalism when you have a company from one of your client states decide where the money goes.

mate has no other problems huh.

Now trump is getting in on the drone hysteria

In mildly amusing financial dipshittery:

A surge in gold imports that widened India’s trade deficit to a record last month and pushed the rupee to an all-time low was due to an error in calculation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Officials double-counted gold shipments in warehouses following a change in methodology in July, the people said, asking not to be identified ahead of an expected formal clarification. Attempts are on to reconcile the data, which could have been over-estimated by as much as 50 tons in November or almost 30% of total imports of the precious metal that month, some of the people said.

boomerberg

I stumbled on this website that maybe possibly someone here might find of interest: https://headline.nolog.cz/ It's by some lefty nerds.

It change tracks czech headlines from RSS feeds using red=deleted green=added (sorry color blind folks). Some basic filters but nothing fancy. So when they edit the original headline you can see it:

As I do not read czech I am using Firefox's built in translation. (Which is expanded recently tho mostly European languages.) It keeps up pretty good considering all the sentences are malformed. Web site is FLOSS (docker), so could be re deployed to another language.

They have available if you want the full archive of article changes in CSV format which is 12mb to download, 60mb when extracted, and 176,000 lines long. Maybe sometime it would be of value. The kind of thing that needs to be proactively collected.

What’s Behind the New U.S. Military Base in Galapagos - Telesur English

Article

President Daniel Noboa has succeeded in establishing a foreign base in an archipelago of invaluable importance to humanity. U.S. military vessels are set to arrive in the Galapagos Islands in December, amidst accusations that Ecuador is surrendering its sovereignty and violating its own constitution.

President Daniel Noboa has succeeded in establishing a U.S. military base in the Galapagos Islands, allowing Washington to expand its network of approximately 750 military bases across 80 countries. With this, the United States will have another location to deploy its nearly 200,000 troops stationed in 159 nations, as extensively documented by Professor David Vine of American University in Washington.

The decision, approved by the Galapagos Governing Council and based on military cooperation agreements with the United States, was formalized on December 10. Specifically, a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) will permit the U.S. to deploy ships, aircraft, and military personnel to the archipelago.

The Noboa administration justifies this move by claiming that the U.S. presence will help combat drug trafficking, illegal fishing, and other illicit activities in the island region. However, the Galapagos’ geostrategic location and contemporary geopolitical events suggest that this decision amounts to a negotiated surrender of sovereignty.

This development follows the precedent of the U.S. military base in the coastal city of Manta, where American soldiers were stationed for a decade to conduct air and sea operations as part of the Plan Colombia. Despite the stated goal of combating drug trafficking, violence did not decline during that period. In 1999, the homicide rate in Ecuador was 13.55 per 100,000 inhabitants, but after a decade of U.S. military presence, it increased to 17.74.

During that same period, 21 cases of boat interceptions, destruction, and sinkings were documented, involving vessels transporting migrants along maritime routes through Central America to the United States. Currently, in the Galapagos Archipelago, the U.S. is reportedly planning to establish a chain of naval stations equipped with radar systems in the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR).

Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution explicitly prohibits the installation of foreign military bases on national territory. This principle was introduced during the constitutional process under Rafael Correa’s presidency, leading to the closure of the U.S. base in Manta in 2009. Given this constitutional prohibition, President Noboa submitted a proposal to the National Assembly to repeal the article restricting foreign military presence. Although Parliament refused to debate the proposal, Noboa pushed forward after securing approval from the Constitutional Court.

The court’s approval was based on the provisions of the SOFA agreements signed by former President Guillermo Lasso and President Noboa in 2024. “This type of agreement signifies Ecuador’s surrender of full sovereignty over sensitive matters like security and national territory,” said Mexican sociologist Miguel Ruiz. “This surrender explains events like the brazen invasion of the Mexican Embassy in Quito, ordered by Noboa—an action that could hardly have been executed without the backing of U.S. power structures,” he added.

Former Deputy Foreign Minister Fernando Yepez condemned the decision to establish a U.S. military base in the Galapagos as “colonial servitude” that jeopardizes national sovereignty. “There’s no awareness of Ecuador’s interests or the negative experiences with foreign bases,” he said. Social and political organizations have denounced the measure, citing the lack of community consultation and the violation of special regulations governing the Galapagos, which prioritize the conservation of natural heritage and the well-being of its residents.

The Galapagos Islands, celebrated for their unique biodiversity and their role in Charles Darwin’s research, face new environmental challenges with the arrival of military equipment. Although the cooperation agreements promise strict controls to prevent ecological harm, environmental activists remain skeptical. “Past experiences show that military operations often fail to respect even the minimum conservation standards,” said environmental activist Cristina Cely.

Additionally, the construction of new infrastructure in local ports and airports, necessary for operating the base, could further disrupt the fragile terrestrial and marine ecosystems of the Galapagos.

While the Noboa administration argues that the U.S. base will help combat drug trafficking and illegal fishing, critics contend that the move primarily serves U.S. strategic interests in the region. In February 2024, Noboa signed an agreement granting U.S. military personnel privileges and exemptions, including diplomatic-level immunity, setting a dangerous precedent for national sovereignty and exposing Ecuador to potential legal conflicts.

For former presidential candidate Andres Arauz, the U.S. military base is not aimed at combating drug trafficking but at advancing Washington’s geopolitical agenda. “The United States seeks a base for a potential Third World War against China as part of its strategy for Pacific dominance. The U.S. already had a military base on Baltra Island in the Galapagos during World War II for similar reasons,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ecuadorians will elect their next president in February 2025, a decisive moment to determine who will write the next chapter of U.S. military deployment on Ecuadorian soil, Arauz pointed out.

Turkey’s Erdogan in Egypt, holds first meeting with Sisi after Assad's fall

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met on Thursday to discuss Syria, Gaza and bilateral relations in their first meeting since the fall of the Syrian regime.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation summit in Cairo, Erdogan pledged continued Turkish support for Syrian unity and the country's reconstruction after 13 years of civil war. Unlike Turkey, the main backer of the Syrian rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad from power on Dec. 8, the Egyptian government has long-favored Assad over the Islamist-leaning opposition. Assad's fall has raised concerns in Cairo about a potential resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was removed from power in 2013.

On Gaza, Erdogan urged enhanced coordination between the two nations to guarantee the seamless delivery of humanitarian aid, stressing the critical need for an immediate, permanent, and sustainable ceasefire.

After Sisi's ousting of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-led government, Erdogan declared he would never shake hands with him, labeling him a "brutal killer."

However, the last two years saw a thaw in relations between Cairo and Ankara. The two countries exchanged ambassadors in July 2023, and Sisi paid his first-ever visit to Turkey in September.

Between February 2022 and October 2022, in addition to receiving Russian recognition, the DPR was recognised by North Korea (13 July 2022) and Syria (29 June 2022). This means that three United Nations member states recognised the DPR in total throughout its period of claimed independence. The DPR was also recognised by three other breakaway entities: the LPR, South Ossetia (19 June 2014), and Abkhazia (25 February 2022).

Wth Abkhazia? Is there a reason why they didn't recognize the two republics before? Also, what happened to the DPR and LPR? Did they become provinces within Russia or some kind of autonomous region? They seemed to have been overshadowed after 2022.

#Historic

Video of a Hezbollah fighter talking to an ISIS terrorist several years ago about how israel and certain Arab rulers exploit people to create sectarian division between Shias and Sunnis, which benefits no one but israel

Fast-forward until today... (Twitter link)

Diplomatic Standoff in the Kattegat Resolved: Chinese Freighter Will Depart After Inspection by Chinese Authorities

Chinese authorities, observed by representatives from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Germany, has inspected the Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier anchored in the Kattegat for weeks following Nordic allegations of involvement in sabotaging underwater communication cables, presumably at Russia’s behest. The inspection was facilitated through high-level talks between Chinese and Nordic diplomats, hosted by Denmark's Moderate Party-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The allegations stem from cable failures in the Baltic Sea on November 17 and 18, which Western authorities were quick to label as "sabotage." China has denied any involvement, stating it has "no knowledge" of the incident, while Russia dismissed the accusations as "absurd," citing the lack of evidence.

The Yi Peng 3, returning from a routine voyage to Russia, suspended its journey in response to the allegations. The vessel remained anchored in international waters within Denmark's exclusive economic zone, where Nordic authorities lack the legal jurisdiction to detain or inspect it without China's consent. To avoid escalating tensions, China has opted to keep the vessel stationary in the Kattegat until now. Nordic naval vessels have monitored the ship closely throughout its stay.

The case has also drawn the attention of the United States, whose embassy in Copenhagen has reportedly pressed Danish military and civilian officials from several agencies for intelligence on the vessel. Observers suggest that elements in the US leadership may be deeply concerned about perceived Chinese involvement in what they view as Russian sabotage targeting NATO infrastructure. Reflecting China’s commitment to resolving the issue, a "fairly large" delegation, as described by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, participated in talks in Copenhagen. Rasmussen commended all parties, including China, for their cooperation.

Despite these efforts, the resolution fell short of Nordic expectations. Initial demands from Nordic governments called for the Yi Peng 3 to dock in a Swedish port for investigation and crew interrogation by Swedish police. Instead, they were compelled to accept a compromise allowing only Chinese authorities to carry out the inspection, with Western observers restricted to a passive role and prohibited from conducting their own inquiries.

This incident recalls a similar case last year involving another Chinese vessel accused by Western governments of disrupting communication cables in the Gulf of Finland. That ship was permitted to leave without inspection.

• Source: DR (state media), December 19th 2024

NVIDIA's new computer looks legitimately very impressive and can run inference while only pulling a max of 25W. Hopefully hardware and software improvements continue to quickly make AI less power hungry.

edit: to make this post more worthy of the news cavern: This is a low power computer for $250 that is probably powerful enough to run a dog robot that hunts people (if you need a reason to care).

Constitutional Court Asks Yoon to Submit Written Argument

Russia - Agree To Be Provoked Or Fall For Lucy's Football? | Moon of Alabama

The most recent batch of ATACMS missiles used in Ukraine appear to have been sent by South Korea
Could have fun implications given that Russia and DPRK recently signed that defence treaty