Bulletins and News Discussion for December 11th to December 17th, 2023 - What's Yours is Mine - COTW: Canada
Bulletins and News Discussion for December 11th to December 17th, 2023 - What's Yours is Mine - COTW: Canada
Image is of the Cobre Panama open-pit copper mine, located 120 kilometers west of Panama City.
Canada is a prolific mining country, hosting many of the world's top mining corporations. Some of its extraction is local - for example, Saskatchewan is the world's largest producer of potash, a critical agricultural nutrient. Much of the extraction is abroad. Naturally, this means that Canada has cut a bloody, but often ignored, path through the global periphery, extracting minerals and causing environmental degradation.
A notable recent example is that of the Cobre Panama copper mine, which is owned by First Quantum Minerals, one of the largest mining companies in Canada. The company earned $10 billion in revenue in 2022, of which the Cobre Panama mine generated $1 billion. Protests in Panama about this mine have gone on for over a decade, urging for a greater share of the profits, protection of indigenous people, and stronger environmental protections. Canada has maintained a stoney silence (pun somewhat intended) on these movements.
On October 20th, the president of Panama, Cortizo, renewed the company's mining concession for 20 years, after a halt in production since the end of 2022 due to negotiations and reform. Everybody hated this. In October, protestors took to the streets in sufficient numbers that Cortizo was forced to halt new mining approvals, and announced a public referendum on whether the contract with First Quantum should be repealed. This was immediately cut down, but the government decided to invalidate the new concession anyway in late November, calling it unconstitutional, and closing down the mine.
First Quantum Minerals has lost about half its market value since October. Various international banks have said that Panama could lose its investment-grade credit rating next year due to the income hit - the mine generated 5% of its GDP. The international arbitration process which First Quantum has initiated against Panama could last years.
The book Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination handles Canada's role as an imperialist, anti-indigenous, extractive state throughout its history, and is on our geopolitical reading list.
The weekly update is here on the website.
Your Tuesday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Thursday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Friday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Saturday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
The Country of the Week is Canada! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.
Israel-Palestine Conflict
Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:
UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.
English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.
English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.
Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.
Russia-Ukraine Conflict
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Sources:
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section.
Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.
https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.
https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:
Almost every Western media outlet.
https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.
https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.
Being in Taiwan has made me just stop using Reddit altogether. Hard to use that site and see Sinophobic bullshit on anything featuring Asian people. The amount of salivating over a war with China over Taiwan is disturbing too. The people posting that garbage disgust me with how they're willing to sacrifice millions of Taiwanese trying to live a life like they do.
This megathread gives me better updates on global events from a leftist perspective than anywhere else I've looked with conversations surrounding those events being more informative than anywhere else on Reddit.
It seems like the China Vietnam meeting went well.
https://www.channelnewsasia.com/asia/china-vietnam-agree-build-shared-future-37-deals-3983801
Anyone have the edit of them holding hands, I forgot to save it.
Oops. Joe Biden mixes up Chinese leaders, refers to Deng Xiaoping instead of Xi Jinping
“I’ve said this to Deng Xiaoping in the Himalayas, and I’ve said this to every world leader: It’s never, never, never been a good bet to bet against the American people,” Biden said.
Also corrected in the White House transcript was a mistaken reference to former South Korean president Moon Jae-in instead of his successor Yoon Suk-yeol.
Joe Bideng
Your average German antifascist Magazine:
Dear readers,
One wall, two posters: In Hamburg, unknown people at Rote Flora changed the clear statement against Hamas into a statement of solidarity with Palestinians. It should no longer be written on the wall that the killing of Jewish people in Israel and around the world is not a liberation struggle. Anti-imperialist movements have been criticized for years for uncritical solidarity. The occupied cultural center in the Schanzenviertel has not changed its position. “Free the world from Hamas” is now hanging there. This demand reflects that Hamas is an Islamist terrorist organization. On October 7th of this year, the Islamists, who have controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, confirmed that they were, above all, carrying out terrorism by targeting civilians, murdering the defenseless, executing babies and children, raping women and displaying the dead. That day, Hamas hoped to murder as many Jewish people as possible. They killed people true to their fundamentalist Islamism. On that one On that day, Hamas didn't just take over 250 people hostage by kidnapping them from Israel. They also took hostage the approximately two million people in Gaza, who serve as human shields alive and as propaganda material when dead. Propaganda and contempt also seems to come from parts of the Israeli government post October 7th that articulated scenarios, such as the relocation of all Gazans to the Sinai or the use of nuclear weapons.With all justified compassion for the civilians in Gaza: If you are a leftist, you do not demonstrate with reactionaries, if you are a feminist, you do not show solidarity with the rapists and murderers of Hamas who are close to the Iranian regime. If you are an anti-fascist, you stand with the Jews and against anti-Semitism, especially in Germany. Any secret joy for the organization driven by religious fanaticism is no less an anti-Semitic reaction. The criticism of parts of the migrant communities and the left-wing solidarity spectrum because of anti-Israel positions and/or anti-Semitic sentiments is not new. It has been expressed for years and often comes from the respective milieu. In the current discourse, some politicians and journalists are now taking a harsh tone against migrants and “the” left. And they suggest that the entire migrant left and all migrants living here stand in unison against Israel. A generalization that also applies to other leftists. The fact that the German section of Fridays for Future is quickly drowned out when it spoke out clearly against one-sided “Free Gaza” solidarity. It is even more quickly drowned out that anti-Semitism is not just virulent in majority society, but omnipresent. But let's not talk about the Aiwangers and Walsers of this society. Let us also not remind you that the German fraternity decided to exclude Jews at the Würzburg Burschentag in 1822. Let's better forget that "Death (...) is a master from Germany". Anti-Semites are always the others - especially the strangers, the immigrants.
Your editorial team
MAGAZINE #derrechterand 205/2023 3Just got this in the mail and immediately cancelled my subscription.
Like literally reproducing every Israeli propaganda talking point that has been debunked already and calling yourself leftists, all the while scolding every actual leftist that is not a Israeli lapdog. Infuriating.The cover - it translates to "Against all antisemitism - without question!"
Austerity is coming to your 🇪🇺 country in 2024:
This is the beginning of the end of EU and eurozone.
“Stop murdering thousands of children,” said the evil, crazy Nazi.
“It’s bad to murder children,” the monster added. “Children should not be slaughtered at mass scale with powerful military explosives, they should be allowed to remain alive and happy and healthy.”
What would lead someone to say something so hateful and depraved? What disgusting conspiratorial anti-semitic online rabbit holes must this freak have slithered down in his path toward radicalization to say something so profoundly evil? One can only guess.
“We should not incinerate children and blow their guts out of their bodies with bombs,” the world’s worst person continued. “Zero children should die by incineration, and their guts belong on the inside of their bodies.”
I’m just as shocked and dismayed as you are. I thought we were beyond this. I thought we as a civilization had left this kind of genocidal rhetoric behind us with the end of Nazi Germany. But, apparently, Adolf Hitler still lives on.
This fiendish enemy of all things good and righteous went on to say that all Palestinians are human beings just like everyone else, and they should accordingly be given human rights instead of exterminated like insects with some of the most sophisticated weaponry ever devised.
“I just don’t think someone having a certain ethnicity makes it acceptable to butcher them in massive numbers with modern war machinery and drive them off the land they wish to live on,” said the ghoul, adding, “I kind of think we ought to treat others how we ourselves would wish to be treated.”
Now, I’m as liberal as the next person and I absolutely support free speech, but this kind of repugnant blood libel is exactly why we need to be having some serious conversations about how far the right to free speech ought to go. We can’t have deranged fascists running around our society fomenting genocidal violence by spouting extremist rhetoric like “Don’t drop bombs on babies” and “It’s wrong to intentionally assassinate journalists.”
It makes me feel unsafe when people say such things, because I do not agree with the things they are saying. And, as we all know, the universe revolves around me and how my feelings feel. I therefore fear we have reached an unfortunate juncture in our society where we’ve no choice but to censor the internet, prohibit pro-Palestine demonstrations, ban TikTok, and make it illegal to be a Zoomer. The only alternative is to allow horrifying radicalization like what we just witnessed here to continue.
Caitlin Johnstone on twitter
babies were killed “execution-style” by Israeli forces while sheltering in an UNWRA school
blurred video at https://nitter.net/bookdellector/status/1734887088976207948
MORE - Attacks from Houthi-controlled Yemen struck two ships in the Bab al-Mandab Strait today.
UPDATE - Hapag-Lloyd pauses all Red Sea transits.
It is a good time for reminder that the Revolutionary Islamic Republic of Iran has been consistently the most principled supporter of Palestinians and has always rejected normalization with the zionist entity and has always held the correct principled position that the United States is the source of all imperialist violence today and must be forcibly removed from hegemonic power.
The Iranians have paid dearly for this correct and uncompromising position, including the millions who died as a consequence of Saddam Hussein's aggression in the 1980's. Saddam's Baathist government was backed by both the USSR and the US in this endeavor to destroy the revolution remember. They have lost many lives due to crushing sanctions. And yet they have not wavered. Aid to the resistance in Palestine is part of their annual national budget and written into the constitution.
Many many people from Talal Naji the Secretary General of PFLP-GC to Palestinian martyr Nizar Banat to Secretary General of Kataib Hezbollah in Iraq Seyyed Hashim al Haidari have emphasized this point that to be an enemy of Iran is to be an enemy of Palestine.
Those rockets and UAV killing American occupiers in Iraq? Iran helped design and manufacture those.
The drones striking the cancerous entity from Yemen? Iran helped design those and transferred manufacturing technologies.
The tunnels in Gaza that the Resistance is using to deliver "new flavors of death" to the occupiers? Hajj Qassem Soleimani helped design those.
The guns in the West Bank wielded by Palestinian heroes in defense of their homeland? Iran paid for those.
The 100,000 precision missiles in Hezbollah arsenal that has the occupiers and the Americans shitting themselves in fear? You already know...
Palestine is not alone, it has never been alone, and the only people saying that it is alone are irrelevant defeatists and anti-Iran and anti-Resistance.
Rest of the tweet thread
Through a seemingly innocuous change to the definition of “electronic service communications provider,” the bill vastly expands the universe of U.S. businesses that can be conscripted to aid the government in conducting surveillance.
Under current law, the government can compel companies that have direct access to communications, such as phone, email, and text messaging service providers, to assist in Section 702 surveillance by turning over the communications of Section 702 targets.
Under Section 504 of the House intelligence committee’s bill, any entity that has access to equipment on which communications may be transmitted or stored, such as an ordinary router, is fair game. What does that mean in practice? It’s simple…
Hotels, libraries, coffee shops, and other places that offer wifi to their customers could be forced to serve as surrogate spies. They could be required to configure their systems to ensure that they can provide the government access to entire streams of communications.
Even a repair person who comes to fix the wifi in your home would meet the revised definition: that person is an “employee” of a “service provider” who has “access” to “equipment” (your router) on which communications are transmitted.
The bill’s sponsors deny that Section 504 is intended to sweep so broadly. What is the provision intended to do, and how is the government planning to use it? Sorry, that’s classified.
At the end of the day, though, the government’s claimed intent matters little. What matters is what the provision, on its face, actually allows—because as we all know by now, the government will interpret and apply the law as broadly as it can get away with.
At the end of the day, though, the government’s claimed intent matters little. What matters is what the provision, on its face, actually allows—because as we all know by now, the government will interpret and apply the law as broadly as it can get away with.
This isn’t a minor or theoretical concern. One of the FISA Court amici posted a blog to warn Americans about this provision. I can’t overstate how unusual it is for FISA Court amici to take to the airwaves in this manner. We’d be foolish to ignore it. 9/11 https://www.zwillgen.com/law-enforcement/fisa-reform-bill-702-surveillance/
If you don't want to have to worry that the NSA is tapping into communications at the hotel where you're staying, tell your House representative to vote NO on the House intelligence bill this week. More on the many flaws with that bill here: 10/11 https://www.brennancenter.org/our-work/research-reports/fisa-reform-and-reauthorization-act-biggest-expansion-government
Instead, they should vote for the Protect Liberty & End Warrantless Surveillance Act, a bill passed by the House Judiciary Committee on a 35-2 vote that would reauthorize Sec. 702 with strong reforms to protect Americans’ privacy and civil liberties. 11/11 https://judiciary.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-judiciary-committee-applauds-bipartisan-passage-hr-6570-protect-liberty
A sitting Ukranian MP threw three grenades killing one and injuring 26 at a village hall because they wouldn't give him the floor.
This thread is about the forced conscription of a Gazan civilian to act as a suicide bomber on behalf of the IDF. I edited it to improve the layout.
Thread by @MouinRabbani on Thread Reader App
THREAD: The following translation of a witness statement from the Gaza Strip was produced by a volunteer with the Palestinian Journalist Syndicate. It is provided here because it is an account that according to the translator "we find to be highly credible". I am not in a position to verify it, but would suggest that doing so is an urgent task for those who claim to oppose human shields and suicide bombings, and demonstrate they are acting in support of a principle rather than of a state.
Translation [Brackets indicate the translator's clarifications, I have made no corrections]
Prior to our apprehension within Majda Wasila School, located near Palestine Mosque in the western sector of Gaza City. [When this incident occurred, the civilian was in Majda Wasila School along with his family members and others, near Palestine Mosque in the western part of Gaza City.] I was approached by an [Israeli] officer who asked my name, occupation, and age.
He also sought information regarding my relatives and family. He then directed me to accompany him. When I asked about our destination, he said: "I am going to present you to your Lord akin to a bride." Clarifying if he meant a groom, he elucidated, "a bride adorned in white attire and makeup."
[In this dialogue, the Israeli soldier is making light of the possibility of killing the civilian.] I was escorted to a location next to a tunnel that belongs to the resistance. There, the Israeli officer outfitted me with a belt containing explosives and a GoPro camera affixed to my head. He secured a rope around my waist, with the directive, "When I tug the rope, you are to return to me." I was held at gunpoint near the tunnel entrance and threatened with harm against my family.
While I was resisting compliance with his commands, he suddenly thrust me into the tunnel opening, where I landed and remained for approximately 3 minutes. Then he started yelling [at me to move] and fired shots to force me to move forward in the tunnel. I walked a distance of about 40 meters. He then pulled me from the tunnel using the rope, and said: "your Lord still does not desire your presence."
I was handed over to the soldiers, who received instructions to find another individual of younger age. When I got back outside the tunnel, I discovered my family members still near the tunnel, and a child (15 years old) was taken from the group. Fortunately, he returned unharmed, and I saw him upon my release from detention.
The [Israeli military's] objective underlying these actions is to avoid entering the tunnel. If the camera affixed to my head had detected the presence of resistance fighters within the tunnel, [the Israeli officer] would have detonated [the explosives on my belt], killing me and others. Further details will come out in the coming days.
End of Translation.
An Israeli acquaintance adds: What is described here is not "use of human shields", but rather a much more severe crime: forced conscription of a civilian to act as a suicide bomber on behalf of the IDF.
That being said, there is ample evidence that the IDF is also using human shields in recent weeks, both in Gaza and in the West Bank (including one instance in which after using a Palestinian as a human shield the IDF apparently attempted to execute him: at the time reports indicated he survived the shooting).
I would also note that in [Operation] Cast Lead [in 2008-2009] there was a somewhat similar case, which in Israel is dubbed the "Child Procedure" incident, in which a 9-year-old Palestinian child was forced to open bags which the IDF suspected were wired to explode. "Child Procedure" is a paraphrase of "Neighbor Procedure", the IDF-speak for using Palestinians as human shields (a practice notably used by newly popular "leftist" Yair Golan, who called it "very humane".
It is widely assumed Golan will lead the leftist-Zionist camp in the upcoming elections).
End of comment by acquaintance and END OF THREAD
Maersk has announced that it is temporarily suspending flights to Israel due to the threat of attacks from Houthi drones and anti-ship missiles. The United States and Israel cannot do anything about the fact that the Houthis are actually increasing the naval blockade of Israel from the Red Sea and causing huge losses to the Israeli economy.
Shipping firm pauses Red Sea journeys over attacks - BBC
Danish shipping company Maersk has said it is pausing all journeys through the Red Sea.
The decision comes after a spate of attacks on vessels launched from a part of Yemen controlled by the Houthis - an Iran-backed rebel movement.
The group has declared their support for Hamas and say they are targeting ships travelling to Israel.
The Red Sea is one the world's most important routes for oil and fuel shipments.
"The recent attacks on commercial vessels in the area are alarming and pose a significant threat to the safety and security of seafarers," Maersk, one of the world's biggest shipping companies, said in a statement sent to the BBC.
"Following the near-miss incident involving Maersk Gibraltar yesterday and yet another attack on a container vessel today, we have instructed all Maersk vessels in the area bound to pass through the Bab al-Mandab Strait to pause their journey until further notice," it added.
Wikipedia:
In the 2022 Forbes Global 2000, Møller-Maersk was ranked as the 161st largest public company in the world. Maersk is one of the largest shipping companies in the world and is the largest by fleet capacity, with 18% of worldwide fleet capacity.
God Bless Yemen.
Hostages killed by mistake were waving white flags
An initial investigation into the incident in which three hostages were mistakenly killed by the Israeli army in Gaza were holding up a white flag, a military official said on Saturday. The incident occurred in an area of intense fighting where Hamas militants operated in civilian clothing and used deception tactics, the official said. The hostages were shot at in violation of Israeli rules of engagement, the official added.🏳
An Extension of Nazism: How Did Zionism Collaborate With Hitler to Establish ‘Israel’?
"Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of the relationship between Nazism and Zionism is the disconnect between Zionism and the Holocaust during World War II. Zionism was not interested in the massacres of Jews and rescuing them as much as it was in the facilitating the emigration of Jews to Palestine. And those Jews who did not emigrate to Palestine before the establishment of the “state” in 1948 were not a matter of concern for Zionism, whose conviction was limited to the fact that the solution to the Jewish question was solely related to the establishment of a state, and that anything else was irrelevant.
This is confirmed by Egon Redlich in his diaries, Memoirs of a Zionist: The Terezin Diary of Gonda Redlich in which he confirms the sacrifice of tens of thousands of Jews who were eliminated and sent to their deaths through deals that Redlich himself felt ashamed of, in exchange for false promises. He wrote: “The Zionist movement in Czechoslovakia sent thousands of Jews to Nazi extermination camps in exchange for Nazi promises to send a few dozen or hundreds of Zionist leaders and financial figures to Palestine.”
Abdul Wahab Al-Masiri, author of the eight-volume Encyclopedia of Jews, Judaism and Zionism, mentions that Adolf Eichmann succeeded in his mission thanks to the cooperation of the Hungarian Jew Rudolf Kastner, who convinced members of the Jewish community in Hungary that the Nazis would relocate them to new places where they would settle, or to vocational training camps for rehabilitation, and not to the concentration camps which were their true destination.
In exchange for this, the Nazi authorities in 1941 allowed over 1,700 Jews from a concentration camp to be sent to Palestine, “Jews of the best biological material,” according to Eichmann."
Casualties fell as a result of friendly fire on October 7, but the IDF believes that beyond the operational investigations of the events, it would not be morally sound to investigate these incidents due to the immense and complex quantity of them that took place in the kibbutzim and southern Israeli communities due to the challenging situations the soldiers were in at the time.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkjqoobip
lmao
Ukraine needs new troops so badly it is taking people's passports and tried to recruit a mentally disabled man
yes, that's the actual headline
Breaking non-surprising news - the IDF is evil and they use Gazans as human shields. But CNN doesn't want to use "human shields" so they say: "Israeli soldiers had taken cover behind the detainees."
Doctor says Gaza hospital staff and patients subject to harsh treatment by IDF
A doctor at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza told CNN on Wednesday that he and dozens of staff were taken from the premises by Israeli soldiers to a military screening center nearby.
The doctor, who declined to be named out of fear for his safety, said in a telephone interview that men at the hospital had complied with an order from the Israel military on Tuesday to form a line outside the hospital.
They were then led about 500 meters away to a what he called a "filtration military camp" in Al-Birawi area on the outskirts of Beit Lahiya.
At that location, he told CNN, they were ordered to remove their clothes and were given blue overalls. They were handcuffed and sorted into groups based on their perceived threat level, the doctor claimed.
He claimed the detainees were physically and verbally abused while handcuffed. At one point, the doctor said, when clashes broke out, Israeli soldiers had taken cover behind the detainees.
The doctor’s claims cannot be verified. CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces for comment on how staff, patients and others at Kamal Adwan were processed after leaving the hospital.
The doctor said that after several hours, the detainees — numbering about 1,000 people —were released and instructed to head toward specific areas in southern Gaza.
Gunfire injured several of the group, he said, as they walked south.
“The IDF continues to act against Hamas strongholds in the north of Gaza, among them the area of Beit Lahia. The IDF takes all feasible precautions to mitigate harm to noncombatants, and is fighting against the Hamas terrorist organization, and not the civilians in Gaza or the medical teams operating there. This while following international law," the IDF said in a statement.
CNN received the same response from the IDF regarding several and separate instances about their operations in Gaza.
Portuguese companies doing four-day week cut hours by 13.7%
More than 70% of the companies have adopted organisational changes, such as reducing the number and duration of meetings, creating work blocks or adopting new software, say the study’s coordinators, which indicates that 95% of the companies rate the test positively.
The four-day week also had an impact on workers’ mental health, with the anxiety index decreasing by 21%, fatigue by 23%, insomnia or sleep problems by 19%, depressive states by 21%, tension by 21% and loneliness by 14%.
Levels of exhaustion from work fell by 19%, and the percentage of workers who found it difficult or very difficult to reconcile work and family fell from 46% to 8%. The majority (65%) of workers spent more time with their families after the start of the reduction in working hours.
The report also indicates that 85% of workers “would only agree to move to a company with five-day working hours if they received a salary increase of more than 20%”.
⚡️| 🌍 BIG SUMMARY of all resistance operations today, December 14, against US-israeli forces
— 🇾🇪 Yemeni Armed Forces:
🔻Carried out a military operation against the container ship "Mercy Gibraltar," headed towards israeli ports, targeting it with a suicide drone, causing a direct hit.
🔻Successfully prevented several ships from heading towards the israeli entity within the past 48 hours.
— 🇵🇸 Al-Qassam Brigades:
🔻(Partially) destroyed 25 Merkava tanks, 8 APCs & 3 military vehicles in various combat axes.
🔻Sniped 4 Zionist soldiers northwest of Gaza City.
🔻Targeted military field command rooms in the southern axis of Gaza City with short-range rockets and heavy-caliber mortars.
🔻Shelled army incursions in the eastern & northern axes of Khan Yunis with heavy-caliber mortars.
🔻Shelled army incursions in the eastern and northwestern axes of Gaza City with mortars.
🔻Targeted an IOF patrol unit with an anti-personnel explosive, causing casualties among them, in the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City.
🔻Killed at least 10 IOF officers/soldiers in an operation on an IOF infantry force in Hassanin Street in Shujaiya area, using powerful explosive devices.
🔻Targeted an IOF infantry force, inside a building with TBG explosives, in the Sheikh Radwan neighborhood.
— 🇵🇸 Al-Quds Brigades:
🔻Shelled military concentrations east of Zaytoun with heavy-caliber mortars.
🔻Shelled military gatherings in the "Natsarim" axis with a barrage of 60mm caliber mortars.
🔻(Partially) destroyed 6 Merkava tanks, 2 APCs & 1 D9-military bulldozer in various combat zones.
🔻Shelled military concentrations in the southwestern axis of "Natsarim" with heavy-caliber mortars.
🔻Sniped a Zionist soldier in the axis of Sheikh Radwan west of Gaza City.
🔻Shelled military concentrations east of the central governorate with a barrage of mortars.
🔻Shelled military concentrations around the Al-Zalal Mosque in the axis east of Khan Yunis with a barrage of 60mm mortars.
🔻In a joint operation with the Al-Qassam Brigades, ambushed a building where IOF forces took refuge, resulting in 6 casualties between dead & injured in the Shujaiya axis east of Gaza.
— 🇵🇸 Martyr Omar Al-Qassem forces:
🔻Clashed & ambushed IOF forces in the axes east of Shujaiya, causing many casualties leading to the IOF admitting its losses after it became too much.
🔻Clashed IOF forces & vehicles on Street 5
— 🇵🇸 Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades
🔻Clashed with IOF forces in various axes
— 🇵🇸 Mujahideen Brigades:
🔻Intense clashes with IOF forces in the Shujaiya axes.
— 🟡 Hezbollah:
🔻Targeted an IOF army gathering near Shomera barracks with appropriate weapons.
🔻Targeted Yiftah barracks and a group of IOF soldiers & militants vehicles in its vicinity with appropriate weapons.
🔻Targeted a group of israeli soldiers near Hunin with appropriate weapons.
— 🇮🇶 Islamic Resistance in Iraq:
🔻Targeted the US base in Shaddadi, south of Al-Hasakah in Syria, with a suicide drone, causing a direct hit.
Read this from a Russian communist channel and the first thought that came to my mind was, I bet half of the news mega users had done something similar:
Now it’s a shame to remember what an idiot I was just a year and a half ago:(((. I went, for example, to wash in the bathroom, turned on the news broadcast at full volume and left the door open - what if I missed the news about the final liberation of Marinka?? Then it seemed that this is a matter of, if not several hours, then several days. Until the Donetsk comrades explained and showed what a modern fortified area is.
Most people are just starting to learn what modern warfare really is in the past 2 years, and why it is almost suicidal to try to rush deeply fortified defense positions.
Ukrainian commander Zaluzhnyi preparing major 2024 counteroffensive
Gee Zaluzhnyi, what are we going to do today?
The same thing we do every night Zelenskyy, try to take over Crimea!
Seen in Oxford today.
The IOF's numbers of killed and wounded are absolutely false. Our fighters' testimonies from the field show exponentially higher numbers just from attacks against infantry forces, to say nothing of those killed and wounded in vehicles that are damaged or destroyed.
Our clashes with enemy have revealed how weak & cowardly their army is, relying not on fighters but technology. When the moment of truth and confrontation arises, you find them running and screaming for help like children, as our fighters hunt them like sitting ducks
The only thing we see disintegrating is the criminal enemy army, not our brigades. And what the enemy is hoping for, they shall discover whether sooner or later, is a but a mirage and a great delusion, by the will and power and support of God
Our fighters are increasingly convinced that the enemy is using mercenaries, in this battle that they claim is an existential battle of national dignity.
Our mujahideen hear enemy soldiers screaming for help after every operation, and see their hysterical reaction, firing bullets and bombs everywhere at random to disguise their fear and to cover for the retrieval of the bodies of the dead and wounded.
"China held its 10th national memorial ceremony on Wednesday to mourn the 300,000 victims of the Nanjing Massacre. During the day, former curator of the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders called for the younger generation to remember the painful memories and dedicate themselves to contributing to the development of the nation. .. The Nanjing Massacre took place when Japanese troops captured the city on December 13, 1937. Over six weeks, they killed approximately 300,000 Chinese civilians and unarmed soldiers in one of the most barbaric episodes of World War II."
Israelis malding that resistance rockets are keeping them up at night
Hope the fascist fucks all develop insomnia
🚨🇮🇱 🇵🇸 DEVELOPING STORY: Israeli media is also now reporting that an Israeli ship has caught fire after Yemeni terrorist Houthis of Hodeidah attacked an Israeli ship with a cruise missile off the Yemeni coast.
Patriots are not in control:
Details have emerged about the destruction of the Patriot air defense system from the Turks. A battery of Patriot air defense systems sent by Germany to Ukraine was destroyed by a Kinzhal missile near Zhitomir, west of Kiev.
There is also a claim that it could have been a battery, partly divided between Kiev and Odessa, and that it was withdrawn to the west after the shelling of the center of Kiev.
Five launchers, one command vehicle, and one air surveillance radar were destroyed.
Also destroyed were 80 ready-to-fire missiles worth $5.5 million and 160 spare missiles in stock. Their value is $1.32 billion.
Over the past eight years, the United States has ordered between 108 and 328 new MIM-104 missiles. In one blow, Russia virtually wiped out a year's production.
During the attacks on Kiev, the air defense system was integrated with the radar of the AEGIS complex and long-range radar detection and control aircraft in Poland and Romania and tried to shoot down the Kinzhals, but was destroyed.
Thus, the number of Patriot air defense systems destroyed in Ukraine has increased to four.
Permanently Deleted
The United States has requested Australia send a warship to the Red Sea in response to Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacking ships passing through the sea lane.
The rebel group has vowed to block ships heading to Israel until the offensive on Gaza is ended, and yesterday fired a missile at a Norwegian tanker travelling through its strait.
The US request would mark a major escalation in Australia's involvement in Israel's war on Hamas, just a day after the nation signed onto a United Nations resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.
Speaking to the ABC, Treasurer Jim Chalmers confirmed the government was considering a US request to send a warship.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-12-14/us-request-australia-warship-red-sea-houthi-rebels/103227056
jerking off noises
"It is important to recognise we already make a contribution to maritime security in that part of the world, often dangerous part of the world. When we get these kinds of requests from time to time, the usual practice would be for the defence minister to consider that," Mr Chalmers said.
A US Pentagon press secretary yesterday said the international community must support a task force to guard ships in the Red Sea.
"The actions that we've seen from these Houthi forces are destabilising, they're dangerous, and clearly a flagrant violation of international law," the official said.
"And so this is an international problem that requires an international solution."
Meanwhile Labor backbencher Josh Burns, who is in Israel with a cross-party delegation, has criticised the UN ceasefire resolution which Australia signed onto.
Mr Burns said he supported the prime minister's statement in support of a ceasefire — on the condition that Hamas releases hostages it took in the October 7 terror attack on Israel.
But the MP was critical of the motion passed by the UN, which did not include a condemnation of Hamas.
"Any ceasefire has to be a two-sided negotiated outcome. Any ceasefire has to be an agreement between two parties. And the foreign minister, and the prime minister in his statement, has reiterated that Hamas cannot be a part of the future governance of Gaza, and they need to be disarmed," Mr Burns said.
Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Simon Birmingham, also speaking from Israel, said Australia should not have signed the resolution.
"We have to face up to the reality: Hamas is a violent terrorist organisation who deliberately targeted individuals, civilians, in their attacks, did so in the most barbaric ways and have said publicly given the chance they would do so again," Senator Birmingham said.
"And so the risk of voting for ceasefire, or calling for ceasefire is that Hamas just uses that time to re-arm, to regroup and to repeat those horrors all over again and so the cycle of violence continues."
Denmark recently passed a law banning the burnings / desecrations of the Quran, in response to noted Danish lunatic and far right activist Rasmus Paludan, who somehow managed to fuck up the swedish NATO ascension by burning a Quran in front of the Turkish embassy. Pretty much anything Paludan does in Sweden is considered an international embarassment, and he has now declared that he intends on forming a street theater group in order to get around the ban on burning Qurans. See, the law includes a 2nd section, which allows you to burn/desecrate a Quran if it is as part of a "broader artistic work". Of course the law does not define what those words actually mean, meaning that Erdogan might get another chance to do a pro-gamer move to the Swedes in about 3 months. Something that Paludan did that massively complicated matters is that he somehow managed to obtain citizenship in Sweden about 10 years ago, and has been a dual citizen of Denmark and Sweden ever since, which means that Sweden is prohibited from banning him from the country, which he has taken advantage of, by going to either Stockholm or Malmö and burning Qurans to his heart's content.
Also his supposed street theater group plans on having their performance solely in front of the Turkish embassy, which I hope Turkey will take as an opportunity for a little extra-judicial assasination, since very few people in Denmark will miss him.
Prices are "liberated" (as if they weren't free enough with 140% annual inflation), direct impact on food. Coming January 1st, subsidies to public transportation and energy are to be eliminated, thus increasing the costs of both. Salaries will remain static, at least the government will most likely not intervene. That's their policy, non intervention, if prices to go up then "people will have to choose not to consume" (Mind you, not to consume food, they said this). There's a lot of uncertainty as to what's going to happen next, some people I know are truly desperate because they don't have the pockets to face the incoming crisis, they just can't, they'll be eaten alive. And this is just the beginning, we're barely three days into the new government.
Unbearable life is about to get even more unbearable, in one day I fell below the poverty line, just like that. It cannot continue like this, it just can't. They can't push everything to it's absolute limit and expect everything to fall in place, eventually it'll explode in their faces. Trust me when I say this: We will not wait for some fucking good for nothing crackers in the West to finally get their shit together and trigger the Revolution when they get tired of exploiting us, making us a "favor", we will do it from here. The Revolution comes from the south, from the places suffering the most excruciating hunger and desperation.
Supermarkets and shops in Argentina see price hikes of up to 50%
Given the end of the price agreement, the heads of big business and corner shops have had rises well above the weekly inflation. They have also warned about shortages on shelves.
Price control agreements signed by Argentina's former economy minister Sergio Massa with suppliers of food and other goods are terminated and the prices of some products at some supermarkets and shops are already increasing by up to 50 percent. Sources in the industry reveal that things are “out of control.” Last week products were hiked massively, even ahead of Tuesday's devaluation of the peso.
“There’s no control, it’s over. A price stampede is coming between 15 and 20 percent,” stated one supermarket chain executive. The president of the FABA Buenos Aires Province Federation of Grocers, Fernando Savore, in turn, points out that up to last weekend hikes of between 30 and 40 percent had already been registered.
“On Tuesday November 21, we started restocking on goods, and they have risen between 25 and 30 percent. Sugar was 900 pesos, now it’s 1,100 pesos, a 32-percent increase. Over the last week, it has climbed to 1,350 pesos,” said the supermarket employee. In parallel, Savore warned about shortages due to economic uncertainty. “Wholesalers have no oil. Before the PASO primaries, sunflower oil was 550 pesos and today it’s above 1,500 pesos. It’s impossible to sell. At today’s prices, people’s pockets won’t be able to cope,” he cautioned.
Following that line, Savore also forecast the discontinuation of certain items with above-average mark-ups which if unsold, expire and bring a loss to corner shops. Local neighbourhood supermarkets (those that aren't chains, locally called 'chinos') are no exception to the rule. Representatives from the sector revealed to this medium that price updates have varied within a range between 12 and 25 percent over the last few days. "There are no goods for various products. They’re being stocked, awaiting the new government’s economic measures,” pointed out a representative in relation to the caution prevailing among many wholesalers and suppliers.
Price controls
Amid the arrival of Javier Milei and his team in the national government, many firms still do not have an official spokesperson to consult and implemented adjustments which seek to offset the delay have been incurred by agreeing on a ceiling under the inflation over the last few months under Precios Justos (Fair Prices) price-control scheme. In late October, Alberto Fernández’s administration extended the programme up to December 31 and, thus, intended to freeze the values of 52,300 mass consumer products. Prior to that, authorised updates were five percent per month. However, the new president revealed that he would free prices to correct delays and distortions and even announced the closedown of the Trade Secretariat, in charge of discussing the value of products on shelves with companies up to December 10.
Alerted by the libertarian’s discourse, thousands of citizens flocked to wholesale and retail supermarkets to stock up before the presidential inauguration. Indeed, there were long queues in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and elsewhere in the country.
Meat soars
At the same time, meat rose by 20 percent the first week of December and rose by a further 15 percent at the Cañuelas cattle market. Thus, so far this month prices havejumped by 35 percent. The price per kilo on the hoof is now 1,500 pesos, which entails that half a carcass is 3,000 pesos and cuts have escalated to up to 6,000 pesos per kilo on average. According to sources from the sector, the increase will begin to affect butchers within 48 hours. On this subject, former president of the Argentine Farming Federation, Eduardo Buzzi, had revealed days ago that “if they let it flow, we’re heading for meat at 20,000 or 25,000 pesos per kilo,” clearly rejecting the policies of La Libertad Avanza.
“They’re international values in dollars or euros. That’s what a kilo of meat is worth on the counter in European countries, and it’s what it would be worth if we want to compare ourselves with Chinese demand. Some cuts are already worth 5,000 or 6,000 pesos. Let’s imagine if that doubles or trebles,” Buzzi stated on the radio.
Tracking the hikes
The LCG consultancy firm measured a 7.4-percent inflation of food and beverages in the first week of December, which translates into a 4.1-percent jump from the previous seven days. Dairy products and eggs topped the rankings of increases with a 20-percent rise, followed by Household beverages and infusions (8.7 percent), Condiments and other food products (6.9 percent) and Meats (6.4 percent).
“The average inflation continued to accelerate, reaching 12.3 percent, +1.8 points compared to the previous week. The point-to-point measurement accelerated over the next few weeks (17.5 percent),” the report stressed. Between January and October this year, food and beverages had a 134.2-percent rise, above the overall 120 percent rate and were the category which grew the most in 2023. Compared to the same month in 2022, it increased by 153.8 percent.
One of the most unintentionally funny paragraphs I've ever seen, courtesy of Bloomberg:
The World’s Fastest-Sinking Megacity Has One Last Chance to Save Itself
Venice is sinking. So are Rotterdam, Bangkok and New York. But no place compares to Jakarta, the fastest-sinking megacity on the planet. Over the past 25 years, the hardest-hit areas of Indonesia’s capital have subsided more than 16 feet. The city has until 2030 to figure out a solution, experts say, or it will be too late to hold back the Java Sea.
Cue Anthoni Salim, the billionaire owner of PT Air Bersih Jakarta, the firm tapped by the government to expand piped water access to the city’s 11 million residents immediately, if not sooner. As of now, one in three Jakartans doesn’t have access to piped water, relying instead on the thousands of illegal wells that dot the city — and deplete the aquifers and weaken the ground, creating prime conditions for further sinking.
If Salim’s ABJ can help deliver on the plan to bring water to every Jakarta household, experts say the city has a chance — and the company will rake in billions of dollars. If it fails, it’s likely that chaos will reign in the world’s second-biggest metropolis. Unabated sinking, combined with intensifying storms and rising sea levels, will be more than Jakarta’s seawalls can withstand, said JanJaap Brinkman, a flood expert at Dutch water research institute Deltares: “There will be so much sea water rushing in, it will never stop. There will be no escape.”
For Salim, who didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story, it’s been a long time coming. He’s amassed more than $10 billion through a handful of industries, including one of the world’s biggest instant-noodle makers, but controlling the capital’s water supply has been a personal priority since a revolution almost dismantled his family’s conglomerate 25 years ago. When the government sought bids to revamp the city’s water infrastructure, Salim’s was one of two companies to raise its hand.
Current war in Palestine made me think of 2021 where the IDF said they destroyed most tunnels, which obviously wasn't the case.
Agreement signed between President Maduro and President Ali in St Vincent and Grenadines yesterday (nitter)
Rough day for reactionaries and blood fetishists who kept pushing invasion narrative
a source familiar with a declassified US intelligence assessment provided to Congress told CNN ... Of the 360,000 troops that entered Ukraine, including contract and conscript personnel, Russia has lost 315,000 on the battlefield
A completely separate reality.
Edit: also, weren't most credible estimates of initial Russian troop strength on the order of ~200,000? Subtle way of playing down Ukraine's initial failures in the south.
U.s judge just gave a former fbi COINTEL officer 50 months prison for violating sanctions in helping some Russian capitalist launder money I think, and he's getting the book thrown at him probably because of the Ukraine War where his ilk would probably get out of trouble after paying a fine
First off lol get fucked you damn ghoul, second off fuck you judge and legal system: 50 months for "helping enemies of the United states" is less punishment than the average sentence for drug possession on federal charges which is approximately 81 months.
You literally get punished harder for doing drugs than you do for committing treason, further proof of the sham nature of the capitalist justice system.
My fiancee's parents yesterday told me that we shouldn't relocate to the US (we weren't planning to) because black people will try to kill her for being Asian. I find it a little funny that they think Guatemala is safer than the US for her. We've been to the US as well to visit my family and the worst that happened were dudes relentlessly hitting on her every time I wasn't around.
Israel has announced its worst combat losses in more than a month after an ambush in the ruins of Gaza.
Israel said on Wednesday that 10 of its soldiers had been killed over the past 24 hours, including a colonel commanding a forward base and a lieutenant colonel commanding a regiment, Reuters reports.
The toll was an increase of one on the military’s earlier figure and is the worst one-day loss since 15 soldiers were killed on 31 October.
Most of the deaths came in the Shejaia district of Gaza City in the north, where troops were ambushed trying to rescue another group of soldiers who had attacked Hamas fighters in a building, the military said.
Hamas said the episode showed that Israeli forces could never subdue Gaza.
In a televised address, Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said any future arrangement in Gaza without Hamas was a “delusion”.
- The Guardian
NSFL crime on humanity committed by the occupation
[NSFL] the IDF ran over a hospital with refugees inside using a bulldozer, the video doesn't contain the bulldozer running them over, but it has the aftermath, with the dead bodies
https://twitter.com/QudsNen/status/1736042867418661194?t=7vb_rwCNxcyEKNC6zd77bg
https://nitter.cz/QudsNen/status/1736042867418661194?t=7vb_rwCNxcyEKNC6zd77bg
Demand today for PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s resignation stands at 81% in the Gaza Strip and 92% in the West Bank.
Press Release: Public Opinion Poll No (90) | PCPSR
92% of Palestinians in West Bank want Abbas to resign: Poll
The survey also found that demand today for PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s resignation stands at 81 percent in the Gaza Strip. We reported earlier about a survey by prominent pollster Khalil Shikaki, who found that support for the Palestinian Authority was waning.
- Al Jazeera
The EU ended it's policy of needing unanimous decisions by asking Orban to leave the room so that the remaining PM's could vote yes on moving ahead with negotiations for ukraine accession into the EU.
I was under the impression that nobody really wants Ukraine, and that it won't be easy to integrate or even beneficial for the EU to do so, so I guess those negotiations sure will be something I guess
As the resident combat footage poster, new Hamas vid just dropped. Hope that guy who flipped down the hill is ok (cw:corpses, no gore)
The "Visible Streets National Plan" includes initiatives related to health, food, education, employment, and housing.
On Monday, Brazilian President Lula da Silva received dozens of homeless people at the Government headquarters and announced an extensive support plan for them.
"Through this palace, princes, queens, presidents, and businessmen have passed, but it has seldom been open for the participation of the most suffering people, who don't even have a place to sleep," Lula said, referring to a situation that affects around 236,000 people.
He attributed "the blame" for this reality to "a State that has not dedicated itself to taking care of the poorest."
The Workers' Party leader pledged to address this issue and added that it is also necessary to "change the mentality" of those who "walk far away or look the other way when they see homeless people."
The homeless population program includes various initiatives in the areas of health, food security, education, employment, and, above all, housing, considered one of the most challenging issues to be solved in the short term.
Father Julio Lancellotti was moved and gave a beautiful speech: 'You are our President, you look at us and defend us. When the homeless people look at you, sir President, they say: that is our president. He thinks of us, loves us, and defends us."
Endowed with around US$204 million, the plan proposes collaborative efforts with regional and municipal governments, universities, and social movements already dedicated to assisting the homeless.
In the case of housing, the plan aims to facilitate access to popular residence programs that the Federal government already executes, but initially, there will be support to expand the number of municipal shelters.
The event included the participation of Catholic priest Julio Lancellotti, who cares for people living on the streets in Sao Paulo, a city that houses almost a quarter of the country's homeless population.
In homage to the decades-long work he has been doing, Congress named a law after him that prohibits "hostile" architecture to the homeless throughout Brazil. The law was regulated by the government in the same ceremony where the new assistance program was announced.
After ships sailing for European companies (yet somehow the ships are registered in Liberia - curious, huh?) were attacked by Yemen, German fash-libs start clamoring for sending German navy ships to the Red sea. The faction is increasingly called "Strazi" in German, after their Nazi-liberal Führer-Woman Strach-Zimmerman (think a dumber, even more aggressive anti-Russian von der Leyen)
Please make it happen
I mainly wish for the lathe here because these German navy frigates are utter crap. Rather large ships without a clear doctrine, and bewildering weapons assortment. You've got 5000-ton air-defense "destroyers" equipped for anti-pirate stuff, with the odd harpoon missile launcher thrown in for good measure. I wouldn't be surprised if the Houthis manage to launch like 3 ballistic missiles at them without the ships even noticing, because the European radar systems had a software "issue" at the time or something so their claimed 350-mile range was impaired. And of course those crap frigates cost like 50% more than comparable French ships.
Please Mr. Houthi your mission is clear here! You may launch the Al-Farrah when ready.
Outcry as Brazil Congress overrides president to revive anti-Indigenous law
- Brazil’s Congress has pushed through a new law that includes several anti-Indigenous measures that strip back land rights and open traditional territories to mining and agribusiness.
- It includes the controversial time frame thesis, requiring Indigenous populations to prove they physically occupied their land on Oct. 5 1988, the day of the promulgation of the Federal Constitution; failure to provide such evidence will nullify demarcated land. The decision provoked outrage among activists, who say the new law is the biggest setback for Indigenous rights in Brazil in decades.
- Both President Lula and the Supreme Court have previously called the measures in the bill unconstitutional and against public interests, and Indigenous organizations announced they will challenge the law.
- Brazil’s Congress has pushed through a new law containing a series of anti-Indigenous and anti-environmental clauses, overruling President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s previous veto of some of the bill’s most harmful passages. Activists have lambasted the decision, saying it drastically strips back Indigenous rights and poses a threat to the future of the Amazon Rainforest and other Brazilian biomes.
Indigenous advocates reject Chile’s new draft constitution ahead of vote :chile-cool:
Sunday’s referendum will be the second time in as many years that Chileans have voted for a revised constitution.
For more than a decade, architect Julio Ñanco Antilef has campaigned to rewrite Chile’s constitution, a relic from when General Augusto Pinochet ruled the country as a military dictator.
But now, as Chile prepares to vote on a new draft, Ñanco Antilef finds himself in a paradoxical position: hoping to keep the old version in place. “It’s not that we are defending Pinochet’s constitution. It’s just that this proposal is worse,” he told Al Jazeera in a recent interview.
A member of the Democratic Revolution party, Ñanco Antilef was one of the few left-wing representatives to participate in the Constitutional Council that drafted the new version, which is set to go before voters on Sunday. Rather, it was Chile’s far-right Republican Party that led the drafting process, holding 22 of the council’s 50 seats.
The result, critics say, is a draft that favours right-wing priorities at the expense of historically marginalised groups, including Chile’s Indigenous peoples. “It is tied to a business model and favours individual interests rather than collective ones,” said Ñanco Antilef, himself of Indigenous Mapuche descent.
Now, he and other Indigenous Chileans are pushing for voters to reject the draft constitution, even if that means the country will be stuck with the Pinochet-era version for the foreseeable future.
“We are 13 percent of the population,” said Alihuén Antileo Navarrete, a Mapuche lawyer elected to represent Chile’s Indigenous peoples on the council. He argues the draft constitution deliberately “excludes” Indigenous voices from government.
milei gives up after two days and sends a letter to Xi asking him to intervene directly in the currency swap that was signed mere months ago. The same milei who said that "he won't deal with Communists".
In an attempt to quickly rebuild ties with the Asian giant and obtain the US$5 billion renewal of the current currency swap with China, President Javier Milei sent a letter hours ago to Chinese President Xi Jinping, in which he requests his support to accelerate the process and obtain the funds to face urgent expirations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
Before and after that meeting, in which Foreign Minister Diana Mondino participated, the short circuits that still separate China from the Milei government became clear, whose statements regarding “not having ties with communist countries” made during the electoral campaign, upset the Chinese government.
Milei's urgency to rebuild ties with China was reflected during the meeting, in which, as LA NACION learned, the President showed himself willing to have a phone call with the Chinese president. Previous loans, such as those obtained by President Alberto Fernández with Sergio Massa as Minister of Economy, were unblocked after direct communication with the Chinese president. The delegation of that country left the President an invitation to visit the Asian giant as soon as possible.
Among the demands that the Chinese delegation brought to Buenos Aires is to replace, or at least announce, the successor of Sabino Vaca Narvaja at the head of the embassy, taking into account that other destinations have already been announced or confirmed, such as the United States (Gerardo Werthein), Brazil (Daniel Scioli will continue) and Israel (they will appoint Milei's rabbi and spiritual guide, Axel Wahnish). Currently, and after the resignation of Vaca Narvaja, Marcela Barone, a diplomat with the rank of secretary, was in charge of the embassy, in one of her first diplomatic assignments. Mondino's announcements to “transparent” the agreements with China also caused discomfort, in reference to the currency swap and other economic agreements for current public and private works.
Unlike the Milei government, Alberto Fernández received the delegation led by Wu Weihua on Saturday at 11 in the morning at the Casa Rosada in a meeting in which Vaca Narvaja participated on his last day as ambassador, the then foreign minister Santiago Cafiero and the general secretary of the outgoing Presidency, Julio Vitobello. Sources from the previous administration affirm that the sending of a “high-ranking” diplomat could help unblock the link and complement the letter sent by the President.
On the other hand, and with his now classic leather jacket and boots, President Milei arrived minutes before 8 at the Casa Rosada. On his second business day as President, the president led a cabinet meeting held for the imminent economic measures that will be announced today afternoon, and special presences. The former head of the Central Bank Federico Sturzenegger, a supporter of economic “shock” policies, participated in the meeting, along with the Minister of Economy, Luis Caputo, the head of the Central Bank, Santiago Bausili, and the other ministers. Caputo and Bausili, as it turned out, seek to accelerate verbal and factual reconciliation with China, and asked the Foreign Ministry for clear and forceful gestures in that regard.
The former Minister of Justice and proposed as the next Treasury Attorney, Rodolfo Barra, was also seen entering the Casa Rosada, questioned for his participation in the Tacuara philonazi group in the sixties.
Turns out being in power makes you a pragmatic eh?
Another massive win for XI JINPING THOUGHT.
Nearly half of the Israeli munitions dropped on Gaza are imprecise ‘dumb bombs,’
about 40-45% of the 29,000 air-to-ground munitions Israel has used have been unguided. The rest have been precision-guided munitions, the assessment says.
A US official told CNN that the US believes that the Israeli military is using the dumb bombs in conjunction with a tactic called “dive bombing,” or dropping a bomb while diving steeply in a fighter jet, which the official said makes the bombs more precise because it gets it closer to its target. The official said the US believes that an unguided munition dropped via dive-bombing is similarly precise to a guided munition.
I don't know if we had this one already, F16 this time
US fighter jet crashes over Yellow Sea
An F-16 fighter jet belonging to the US forces in South Korea crashed during a training flight over the sea between the Korean Peninsula and China. The US armed forces said on Monday that the pilot was able to escape using the ejection seat. He was rescued from the Yellow Sea by the South Korean Navy and is in stable condition. The plane took off from the US air base in Gunsan in the morning (local time) before an in-flight emergency occurred, it said. The cause of this is being investigated.In Germany, only genocidal settlers are allowed to make hyperbolic comparisons to the Holocaust:
Full text
Berlin prosecutors say that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s comments on the Holocaust during a visit last year amounted to inciting racial hatred, but they won’t pursue a criminal case due to his diplomatic immunity.
Police in Berlin launched a probe “on suspicion of inciting hatred” in August 2022 on the basis of two complaints accusing Abbas of “relativizing the Holocaust” during a joint press conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
The Berlin prosecutor’s office says in a statement it reached the conclusion that “Abbas had committed the crime of inciting racial hatred” but enjoyed “immunity so that there is an obstacle to him being tried.”
At the press conference with Scholz, which predated the current war between Israel and Hamas by more than a year, Abbas accused Israel of committing “50 Holocausts” against Palestinians since 1947.
Scholz did not immediately challenge Abbas on his comments but, following widespread criticism, tweeted the next day that he was “disgusted by the outrageous remarks” made by the Palestinian leader.
In Israel, Abbas’s remarks drew a hail of condemnation from then prime minister Yair Lapid, who called them “not only a moral disgrace, but a monstrous lie.”
The Berlin prosecutor’s office stressed that while Abbas was covered by immunity, his comments were a clear violation of German law.
Liberal civility trumps calling out propaganda that pushes for an existential threat to humanity. But Beehaw is totally a friendly place to leftists! LMFAO.
EDIT: BTW, the removed comment was mostly just this quote of a section of an article from the Union of Concerned Scientists:
The partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
The fallout from atmospheric tests created a global health crisis. A 1961 study revealed that strontium-90, a radioactive isotope, was building up in the teeth of children living in the St. Louis, Missouri area, hundreds of miles away from the nearest nuclear test site in the Nevada desert. Efforts by thousands of scientists and the international public raised the alarm about contamination from atmospheric nuclear tests and urged global leaders to act.
By 1963, the international community had negotiated the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which prohibits carrying out nuclear tests in any environment that would allow radioactive material to spread across a country’s borders, including atmospheric tests, underwater tests, and tests in outer space.
The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty dramatically reduced and eventually ended atmospheric nuclear testing. But nuclear testing did not slow down. Instead, countries with nuclear weapons shifted to underground test sites.
in response to that one user's statements like:
As for environment, the US nuked themselves over a thousand times, mostly on the Nevada desert. People in the 1950s used to go to Las Vegas to watch the explosions, nowadays they still go for the casinos, and that’s after many of the old dirtier bombs got exploded above ground.
In modern nuclear weapons, the yield and area affected (both by the explosion, and by the fallout) can be controlled with high precision, starting at a level comparable to that of largest conventional weapons. The US honed that skill by turning nukes into a tourist attraction for its own citizens over 60 years ago.
The Next Stage in Ukraine - NYT archive.is
After a disappointing second half of 2023 for Ukraine’s war effort, the U.S. and Ukraine don’t fully agree about what to do next. Ukraine’s leaders would prefer to be aggressive and continue trying to retake territory that Russia holds. U.S. officials worry that approach is unrealistic.
someday i hope to read the new york times style guide for reporting about the ukraine war, this paragraph is amazing.
Israeli Diaper Force
Teacher goes on violent rant and gets arrested for terroristic threat
All over a flag too
Salutes to the yemeni heroes
They are trying to destroy Lebanon through different means than bombs. (articlein arabic)
"26% of families residing on Lebanese territory do not send their school-age children to school, while 52% of displaced Syrian families reported that they have school-age children who do not attend school. ...
"The situation of children is not good," according to the report, as mental illnesses associated with the crisis in the country have exhausted even those of school age, with 38% of families reporting that their children suffer from anxiety, and 24% from depression. But in the south, the figures become more serious, where the proportion of children suffering from anxiety reached 46%, and the proportion of those suffering from depression reached 29%. As for the level of Palestine refugee children, about half of them suffer from anxiety, and 30% from depression. ... In a related context, the economic crisis has left deep scars on the material situation of families, and made them "on the edge of the abyss". 84% of the households residing on the Lebanese territory borrow money to buy basic items from grocery stores and foodstuffs, 79% of which are from Lebanese households. The percentage of families sending their children to work has reached 16%, compared to 11% last April, while a third of families among displaced Syrians send their school-age children to work."
https://al-akhbar.com/Community/374169/ربع-الأطفال-في-لبنان-لا-يذهبون-إلى-المدار
Videos of Israeli soldier misbehavior in Gaza create a headache for army | AP News
The videos seem to have been uploaded by soldiers themselves during their time in Gaza.
[...]
A video posted by conservative Israeli media personality Yinon Magal on X, formerly Twitter, shows dozens of soldiers dancing in a circle, apparently in Gaza, and singing a song that includes the words, "Gaza we have come to conquer. … We know our slogan – there are no people who are uninvolved."
---
The entire article
Videos of Israeli soldier misbehavior in Gaza create a headache for army | AP News
By MELANIE LIDMAN
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli soldiers rummaging through private homes in Gaza. Forces destroying plastic figurines in a toy store, or trying to burn food and water supplies in the back of an abandoned truck. Troops with their arms slung around each other, chanting racist slogans as they dance in a circle.
Several viral videos and photos of Israeli soldiers behaving in a derogatory manner in Gaza have emerged in recent days, creating a headache for the Israeli military as it faces an international outcry over its tactics and the rising civilian death toll in its punishing war against Hamas.
The Israeli army has pledged to take disciplinary action in what it says are a handful of isolated cases.
Such videos are not a new or unique phenomenon. Over the years, Israeli soldiers — and members of the U.S. and other militaries — have been caught on camera acting inappropriately or maliciously in conflict zones.
But critics say the new videos, largely shrugged off in Israel, reflect a national mood that is highly supportive of the war in Gaza, with little empathy for the plight of Gaza's civilians.
"The dehumanization from the top is very much sinking down to the soldiers," said Dror Sadot, a spokeswoman for the Israeli human rights group B'Tselem, which has long documented Israeli abuses against Palestinians.
Israel has been embroiled in fierce combat in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas militants raided southern Israel and killed about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took about 240 hostages.
More than 18,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, around two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-controlled territory. About 90% of Gaza's 2.3 million people have been displaced within the besieged territory.
The videos seem to have been uploaded by soldiers themselves during their time in Gaza.
In one, soldiers ride bicycles through rubble. In another, a soldier has moved Muslim prayer rugs into a bathroom. In another, a soldier films boxes of lingerie found in a Gaza home. Yet another shows a soldier trying to set fire to food and water supplies that are scarce in Gaza.
In a photo, an Israeli soldier sits in front of a room under the graffiti "Khan Younis Rabbinical Court." Israeli forces have battled Hamas militants in and around the southern city, where the military opened a new line of attack last week.
In another photo, a soldier poses next to words spray-painted in red on a pink building that read, "instead of erasing graffiti, let's erase Gaza."
A video posted by conservative Israeli media personality Yinon Magal on X, formerly Twitter, shows dozens of soldiers dancing in a circle, apparently in Gaza, and singing a song that includes the words, "Gaza we have come to conquer. … We know our slogan – there are no people who are uninvolved." The Israeli military blames Hamas for the civilian death toll, saying the group operates in crowded neighborhoods and uses residents as human shields.
The video, which Magal took from Facebook, has been viewed almost 200,000 times on his account and widely shared on other accounts.
Magal said he did not know the soldiers involved. But the AP has verified backgrounds, uniforms and language heard in the videos and found them to be consistent with independent reporting.
Magal said the video struck a chord among Israelis because of the popular tune and because Israelis need to see pictures of a strong military. It is based on the fight song of the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team, whose hard-core fans have a history of racist chants against Arabs and rowdy behavior.
"These are my fighters, they're fighting against brutal murderers, and after what they did to us, I don't have to defend myself to anyone," Magal told The Associated Press.
He condemned some of the other videos that have surfaced, including the ransacking of the toy store, apparently in the northern area of Jebaliya, in which a soldier smashes toys and decapitates a plastic figurine, as destruction that is unnecessary for Israel's security objectives.
On Sunday, the Israeli military's spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, condemned some of the actions seen in the recent videos. "In any event that does not align with IDF values, command and disciplinary steps will be taken," he said.
The videos emerged just days after leaked photos and video of detained Palestinians in Gaza, stripped to their underwear, in some cases blindfolded and handcuffed, also drew international attention. The army says it did not release those images, but Hagari said this week that soldiers have undressed Palestinian detainees to ensure they are not wearing explosive vests.
Osama Hamdan, a top Hamas official, aired the video of the soldier in the toy shop at a news conference in Beirut. He called the footage "disgusting."
Hamas has come under heavy criticism for releasing a series of videos of Israeli hostages, clearly under duress. Hamas militants also wore bodycams during their Oct. 7 rampage, capturing violent images of deadly attacks on families in their homes and revelers at a dance party.
Ghassan Khatib, a former Palestinian Cabinet minister and peace negotiator, said he can't remember a time when each side was so unwilling to consider the pain of the other.
"Previously, there are people that are interested in seeing from the two perspectives," said Khatib, who teaches international relations at Beir Zeit University in the West Bank. "Now, each side is closed to its own narrative, its own information, rules, and perspective."
Eran Halperin, a professor with Hebrew University's psychology department who studies communal emotional responses to conflict, said that in previous wars between Israel and Hamas, there may have been more condemnation of these types of photos and videos from within Israeli society.
But he said the Oct. 7 attack, which exposed deep weaknesses and failures by the army, caused trauma and humiliation for Israelis in a way that hasn't happened before.
"When people feel they were humiliated, hurting the source of this humiliation doesn't feel as morally problematic," Halperin said. "When people feel like their individual and collective existence is under threat, they don't have the mental capacity to empathize or apply the moral rulings when thinking about the enemy."
Medical staff shot and killed inside Kamal Adwan Hospital
Hani Mahmoud Reporting from Rafah, southern Gaza
Israeli forces stormed the hospital under heavy gunfire and artillery shelling.
Tanks pushed deeper at the gates and the entire facility is under heavy bombardment. There are confirmed reports from a source on the ground that some of the medical staff inside the hospital were shot and killed inside the hospital.
Some patients with severe injuries inside the hospital have died due to the constant power outages and a severe shortage of medical supplies.
Loudspeakers are being used to call anyone aged above 15 to come out of the building with their hands in the air.
From what we understood from our source, Israeli forces will blindfold them, strip them of their clothes and take them to undisclosed areas for interrogation.
This is very similar to what happened in Khalifa school and the other two UNRWA schools in the past few days where all males were blindfolded and taken to undisclosed areas for interrogation.
♪ i can drink beerly now the wife is gone ♪
Things are going great;
3 high quality pollsters have Michigan presidential race at
NYT Siena 🟥 Trump 48-43 Biden
EPIC-MRA 🟥 Trump 46-41 Biden
CNN/SSRS 🟥 Trump 50-40 Biden
China’s running away with production in strategic industries as US, G7 suffer rapid declines
China’s efforts and investment in advanced industries has paid off as it continues to gain market share from the rest of the world in sectors including computers and electronics, chemicals, basic metals and motor vehicles, according to a report by a US-based technology group.
As of 2020, China was the world’s leading producer in seven of the 10 industries covered by the Information Technology Innovation Foundation (ITIF) report released on Wednesday. According to the “China Is Running Away With Strategic Industries” report, China was the world’s leading producer in computers and electronics; chemicals; machinery and equipment; motor vehicles; basic metals; fabricated metals; and electrical equipment. The United States, meanwhile, was the world’s leading producer in pharmaceuticals, IT and information technology services and other transportation.
"Other transportation" is basically aircraft, which figures I suppose. One wonders how much of the AI and blockchain boondoggles are contributing to US IT services, versus how much is actually meaningful. I also wonder how much pharmaceuticals being hilariously overpriced is inflating US figures there too.
But while the rest of the world outperformed China in just pharmaceuticals and IT and information technology services, the report said, the dominance might not be sustainable as the Chinese government has targeted biopharmaceuticals and artificial intelligence as key industries for development. “China now dominates the strategically important industries in ITIF’s Hamilton Index, producing more than any other nation in absolute terms and more than all but a few others in relative terms,” the ITIF said.
To match the advanced-industry share of China’s economy, US output would have to expand by US$1.5 trillion, or by 69 per cent, which would require doubling output from all 10 industries except for IT and information technology services. “China’s rapid growth in market share across the 10 industries in the Hamilton Index mirrored rapid declines for the United States and for G7 and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nations as blocs,” the ITIF said.
“But notwithstanding the passage of the Chips Act, the political will in the United States to implement and fully fund such an agenda appears to be relatively low, especially as neither political party wants to address the massive budget deficit to free up needed funding for such a strategy,” the ITIF said.
Pretty good al-Mayadeen overview
Who is Yahya al-Sinwar, the artist behind Operation Al-Aqsa Flood?
"...In 1988, aged 25, al-Sinwar was arrested for the third time and sentenced to life in prison for foiling Israeli espionage and subversive measures in Gaza.
Al-Sinwar's 23-year sentence in Israeli prisons
Forcefully separated from the praxis of the liberation movement, Yahya al-Sinwar spent the prime days of his adulthood in Israeli prisons.
...
From Liberated Prisoner to Liberator of Prisoners
In 2011, al-Sinwar was liberated with a batch of 1,027 others in a prisoner exchange deal between the Palestinian Resistance and the Israeli occupation.
During his homecoming celebrations in Gaza City, al-Sinwar expressed his wishes that the Resistance would liberate all remaining prisoners in Israeli jails.
After joining Hamas, he rose quickly within the ranks, replacing Ismail Haniyeh as the Political Chief of Gaza in 2017.
Yahya al-Sinwar, one of the longest-serving Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons, today spearheads the revolutionary efforts to liberate his kinswomen and kinsmen."
In a transcarpathian village a rep (reportedly ex soldier who got disabled in the war) walked in and casually threw three grenades in the middle of the room on a council meeting, there's video of it, it's harrowing shit.
Cradle News has images of how the Iraqis are wrecking the American occupiers: https://new.thecradle.co/articles/exclusive-images-show-damage-to-us-base-in-iraq-from-drone-attacks
Follow up from the post 3 days ago
"New footage surfaced showing Israeli soldiers in Gaza using Palestinian civilians as human shields to advance into built-up areas. ◾️Several survivors stated that they were used by the Israeli army as human shields to advance into areas in Jabalia."
The monstrous zionist occupation soldiers are singing songs during it too...
Patricia Bullrich, Argentina's Security Minister, has announced the country's new public order protocols. (spanish only)
Some of them are:
-The state will send the charge for security operations to the group that called the demonstration.
- Severe penalties for road closures;
- The country's four security forces will be involved, as will the security forces of the provinces in their respective territories;
- When minors are involved, the child protection agencies will be called in;
- Cases that occur in flagrante will be monitored for crimes.
New laws will be sent to the country's Congress to apply these new protocols
IIRC, Patricia Bullrich is the same person who was minister during the De La Rúa government and who was there aggravating the economic crisis and ordering the police to beat up the demonstrators.
These laws are very similar to those being applied in Peru. It's a very strange coincidence.
https://nitter.net/davidrkadler/status/1734578875802194294#m
President Javier Milei — after vowing to break economic relations with China because of his hatred for “shithead communists” — has officially requested the renewal of its currency swap with Argentina as one of the very first acts of his Presidency.
Viewpoint: Norwegian tanker attack signals new threat to global trade
It seems there’s a global lack of understanding just how connected the world of trade is. Trade is made possible through a web of companies around the world. Ocean carriers and tankers move the world of trade on vessel routes. So while your container may not have a destination of Israel, the vessel that it’s on could be bound for Israel on its route at some point. Nearly every major ocean carrier serves Israel. The fact that Houthi rebels have expanded their targets of Israeli-connected vessels is one that has changed the logistics security game. Some logistics managers have told me they have shippers asking if their cargo can be placed on a vessel that is not calling Israel.
found this shipping news youtuber as well just now interesting has a bunch of details . (as expected, hes lib coping on "Sanktions beeing illegal" ,"Houthies cant do this )
The US is going a step further with their strongly written condemnation and now imposing Visa restrictions to members of the Guatemalan congress and private sector, along with their families.
Further proof to me that Arevalo is not an Arbenz and is someone the US wants because he toes their foreign policy more than the current President does. Guatemala getting universal healthcare isn't as threatening as land reform would be. Really annoyed by Guatemalan-Americans writing think pieces about this guy like he's going to turn us into Costa Rica over night.
You know Israel is a country of morons when they've pissed off their masters this much: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/world-middle-east-67732895
(France calling for an immediate ceasefire, UK and Germany also calling for one but not immediately)
Stupidest most unhinged genocidal maniacs in the planet, jesus christ.
So, I went and lurked on the Canada politics sub since it's our country of the week.
And it seems the libs on that subreddit called a provincial MP a conspiracy theorist for mentioning a Zionist lobby? LIke it obviously exists and even some orgs mention they are Zionist.
Like someone said a while back, it seems there's more puchback on Zionism in the US and the UK than in Canada.
Breaking news: I've just made kasha for the first time. It's sill hot so I haven't tried it yet. As it's my first time I've gone completely plain outside of taking a few minutes to dry toast the seeds before cooking.
Also some side news, I'm hearing through thr grapevine that national guard units around the country are being activated to be sent to the horn of Africa to support USAFRICOM. Sounds like it'll be a few Brigade Combat Team Kampfgruppes getting sent to dick around near Yemen as a show of force.
Edit: I should've added more water and let the kasha cook longer. Kinda soft crunchy. Also kinda savory. Edit 2: I should make a gravy for this next time, maybe mushroom
Maduro: "Imperialism grabbed him poof and threw him in a trash heap in Miami": https://nitter.cz/upholdreality/status/1734709433677017263
Maduro's pretty funny lmao
Health ministry: Gaza death toll tops 18,000
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry has released its daily update on casualties since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on 7 October, stating that 18,205 Palestinians have been killed, and 49,645 injured. The reported death toll has risen by more than 500 in the two days from Saturday, when it stood at 17,700, the ministry said.
- The Guardian
Really powerful article "Between Weapons and Words"
"... Just because Resistance is not a football match does not mean that everyone must bear arms and participate, nor is it one’s personal duty to plan or anticipate resistance. Rather, it means that it is one’s duty to genuinely understand the actual resistance on the ground as it is, within its context and challenges—not just as you view it through your “supportive” lens. Otherwise, your support or lack thereof is futile (and in our current situation, it is enough of a good deed to sit on the sidelines and not engage in the campaign against the resistance). Hence, radicalism does not arise from empty boasting and the voices of those —often in diaspora or from normalized countries—who continuously call upon resistors to prove their seriousness at the cost of suicide.
There are patterns of boasting: there are “harmless” boasts (like asking someone or an organization to be more honest or humble… or encouragement and advice coming from an ally who participates with you in the battlefield), and then there are foolish boasts, and there are malicious boasts. As Asaad Abu Khalil says, those who infiltrated the ranks of revolutionary organizations in the United States in the ’60s, on behalf of intelligence agencies and the police, were not members pushing within the group for moderate or reconciliatatory positions with authority; they were the ones advocating consistently for crazy, extremist, and confrontational actions against law enforcement. Some demand specific and dangerous actions, such as striking Israel or showering it with rockets, but without providing any alternative plan or a comprehensive strategic vision. “Strike to prove you’re a man,” “Strike back, whatever the consequences, so that we respect you.” Such advice comes from the illusion that the resistance has reached where it is today by following the tactics of “neighborhood kids’ brawls.”
One day, quite literally, I found myself staring into the face of a visitor to Beirut who came from Europe, angrily and earnestly saying to me: “They have missiles in Lebanon, why don’t they strike Israel? What are they waiting for?” This was around 2014 or 2015, at the peak of the war on Syria. I asked for specific details: strike what, for what purpose, and what would be the next step? He responded with the same certainty: “It doesn’t matter, they should strike and that’s it. Everyone will stand with them.” I, on the sidelines, am accustomed to such requests, especially from people far removed from our context: one would hand me a letter to deliver to Mr. Hassan Nasrallah; another would treat me as a representative of all the Shias in the world (when Hezbollah officially entered the war in Syria, one “friend” summoned me to warn me—threaten me—about the consequences of that decision).
The first issue here is that these “football coach-like behaviors” are the offspring of the romanticized, oversimplified theory of “liberation,” which believes that reclaiming Palestine is nothing but a courageous decision, a “heroic moment” we endlessly await, that will dismantle Israel and Zionism in one fell swoop. This culture is the product of decades of departure from action, reality, and impact, crafted for the masses by the propaganda of the Arab regime and the dialogues of generations from TV shows and series. Liberation is available at the push of a button, and it will happen in one major decisive battle where the curtain of history will fly open and return to us our first pre-colonial state Andalusia, I mean Palestine. The problem with this culture is not just its simplification or its lack of realism, but primarily, because it is a “comfortable” and “suitable” narrative for those who want to believe that liberation can happen without profound changes in the structure of the region, its systems, and its culture; that liberation can happen without sacrifices, tough choices, and confrontations with those who hold power and money around you. ..."
In Gaza 12 premature babies crawl out of a bombed hospital waving tiny white flags. The IDF murders them all. Later an IDF spokesman says "We neutralized the threat. Preliminary reports suggest they were armed. And they might have been wearing suicide vests in their nappies."
Oil-reliant Azerbaijan chosen to host Cop29 climate talks
Because of conflict in the region, the group took much longer than usual to come to a decision. On Thursday, Armenia dropped its opposition to Azerbaijan’s bid as part of peace talks between the two.
Russia blocked any European Union member from hosting, which scuppered a Bulgarian bid. Serbia, Moldova and Armenia were also in contention.
Azerbaijan gets two-thirds of its revenue from oil and gas, one of the highest percentages in the world and more than the Cop28 host – the United Arab Emirates.
Very funny, honestly. The sooner that these global institutions pull their masks off, the sooner the reality that reform is impossible will sink in for everybody.
Had a dream that the Palestinian diaspora started calling themselves Chelazinians because of the discrimination they face.
I’m going to an Arabic coffee place today that is probably Palestinian owned.
Mearsk and Hapag Lloyd have paused all their red see transists until Monday , when a decicion will be made on how to proceed.
Latest John Helmer via naked capitalism about Russian involvement in palestine or lack thereof https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2023/12/russia-and-gaza-one-war-one-election-at-a-time-one-step-forward-for-national-liberation-two-steps-back.html
Basically, Russia is focused on ukraine and the upcoming reelection of Putin, and a long war in palestine that continues to erode US interests is in Russia's interest. Also a statement that russia won't help run the naval blockade with aid, and some legalistic nerd shit about how Russia responds to state requests for help, not liberation movements.
Palestinians displaced by Israeli strikes in Gaza are forced to burn solid waste in attempts to cook and stay warm, in turn prompting health concerns as a result of air pollution.
The Guardian’s Kaamil Ahmed reports:
Wherever trees have been left standing in Gaza, they are being chopped down for fuel. When wood – furniture and doors included – cannot be found, Gaza’s residents burn waste. To cook or heat themselves, people in the Palestinian enclave are burning what they can find in crude stoves they have made of clay, scrap metal or loose bricks to replace kitchen cookers or gas stoves. Israel’s siege means it is no longer possible for people to find gas.
But finding fuel is a difficult task – it can take hours to find a tree to cut and transport home – and comes with health concerns about the smoke released, especially as so many are living in overcrowded conditions. According to the World Food Progamme, 70% of displaced people in southern Gaza rely on firewood for fuel, but the number of those with no fuel at all has doubled over the past two weeks to 15%.
- The Guardian
The article - In Gaza, the fuel has gone - and now the trees are running out
Russian aluminum producers warn of crisis
Russia’s Aluminium Association has issued a grim warning for the industry as it faces Western sanctions, tariffs and a drop in prices for one of the world’s most widely used metals.
In its latest overview of the current state of the industry, the association has warned that the entire sector is on the verge of a serious crisis, adding that several enterprises of Russian aluminum giant Rusal are at risk of closure.
“A number of Rusal enterprises are already operating on the verge of zero or even negative profitability,” the association said on Monday, adding that further deterioration of the economic situation or an increase in the fiscal burden may lead to the need to shut them down.
It warned that the crisis could affect 5,000 jobs in the sector, while up to 30,000 jobs in related sectors may also be lost. The union highlighted that aluminum prices had dropped to their lowest level since March 2021, while the US and EU markets have been almost entirely closed to Russian exporters.
Oh no! It looks like the state may have to step in and nationalize it! What a tragedy!
Danish police has arrested three individuals who has been charged with planning what authorities call a "terrorist action". According to information in the media the arrestees have connections to organised crime as well as to pro-Palestinian charities and protests. The police is not telling any specifics about the alleged plans but claims to exercise "increased vigilance" around Jewish localities. Recently Danish secret police has intervened to cancel a pro-zionist rally in Copenhagen as well as a channukah event at the Copenhagen city hall.
The "prime minister's" office of the zionist entity has made a press release claiming that the alleged "terrorist action" is connected to Hamas. Danish authorities has not made any such claims.
Al-Qaeda apparently spend 20+ minutes malding over the ASS: https://nitter.cz/african_stream/status/1735737888246030697
In a 22-minute video published this week, the leader of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, Iyad Ag Ghaly, branded the countries’ new military leaders ‘treacherous.’ He then called for their citizens to join his ranks and fight against them.
US Homeland Security staff accuse leadership of turning ‘blind eye’ to Gaza
God I don't want to mock them since they're doing the right thing and all but c'mon. Even the little Eichmanns at DHS can't stomach what Israel and the US is doing anymore. The imperial bureaucracy is getting soft folks, Cheney must be furious
“I’ve been very dedicated to the federal government,” one anonymous DHS official said. “I’ve served in different capacities. I very much believed in our mission. And then, after October 7, I feel like there has just been a drastic shift in this expectation of what we’re supposed to do when there’s a humanitarian crisis and what we’re actually doing when there’s politics involved, and that has a very, very scary, chilling impact.”
“There have been a lot of serious systemic and programmatic obstacles driven purely by politics"
Inaction has levied a steep toll on employees’ mental health, one described how colleagues with family in Gaza had received no support from DHS leadership as they tried to bring their relatives to safety.
A senior staff member who has spent more than a decade working for the federal government described having nightmares of losing his own children. He wakes up “with the knowledge that we’re not actually doing all that we can to provide programmes and relief for the Palestinians”.
“It’s definitely distressing and dispiriting to feel like, for political considerations, we’re not addressing [the conflict] in the same way that we would other previous, recent humanitarian crises, for instance, like Ukraine.”
slava palestine
Republicans Vote to Authorize Impeachment Inquiry Into Biden
Less than a year ahead of the 2024 election, President Biden will be fighting an impeachment bid while his son Hunter struggles to avoid prison.
On Wednesday, U.S. House Republicans voted to authorize impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden, in a 221-212 vote along party lines.
"The impeachment power resides solely with the House of Representatives," Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, a hardliner within the Republican party, told reporters.
"If a majority of the House now says we're in an official impeachment inquiry as part of our constitutional duty to do oversight, that carries weight. That's going to help us get these witnesses in," said the Ohio Republican, one of the leaders of the impeachment push.
Republicans hope that the impeachment inquiry vote would give them better legal standing to hold the president's son Hunter Biden in contempt of Congress should he fail to show.
Hunter Biden, the first child of a sitting president to be criminally indicted, appeared at a news conference outside the Capitol Wednesday morning, when he again offered to testify in a public hearing, after refusing to appear at a closed-door deposition Republicans demanded.
As of now, no substantiated evidence has surfaced to demonstrate that Joe Biden, in his current or past official capacities, engaged in the misuse of his position or accepted illicit payments. However, ethical concerns have been raised regarding the international business dealings of the Biden family.
Less than a year ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the U.S. president will be fighting a Republican impeachment bid while his son Hunter Biden struggles to avoid prison in tax and gun-related cases.
This year has seen President Biden's popularity fall amid still elevated inflation and intensifying Israel-Palestine conflict, among other factors.
An NBC poll last month found that Biden's popularity stood at its lowest in his presidency, with most voters viewing him in a "negative" light.
"It is the widespread disillusionment that any government operating under the current inept rules will accomplish nothing of use to the average citizen that I find most worrisome," Greg Cusack, a former member of the Iowa House of Representatives and a longtime Democrat, told Xinhua.
"It is this sentiment that I think is behind the reported serious erosion of support for Biden among not only people of color but also of the young," Cusack said.
On the Republican side, the race has been dominated by former President Donald Trump, who is only bolstered among his voting base by the four criminal indictments he faces.
With Trump taking a wide lead, former Vice President Mike Pence and U.S. Senator from South Carolina Tim Scott, among others, recently dropped out of the 2024 Republican presidential campaign.
Clarissa Ward was just on CNN and the chyron mentioned that the IDF granted her "independent access" to Gaza. I don't wish her ill but if the IDF had fucked up and dropped on a bomb on her vehicles and injured or killed her - that could have a greater effect on weakening US support than hundreds of protests in the US.
This is from before...
7m
Watch Clarissa Ward report from inside Gaza for the first time since war began | CNN
CNN's Clarissa Ward witnessed the horror and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza during a visit to a field hospital in Rafah operated by the United Arab Emirates. Watch the full report.
So far 56% to reject the far right constitution in Chile
This is not real news, but this story of libertarian fascists trying to do a nonfungible city on the hill is the greatest story of bazingabrain garbage I've read in years. It touches on many themes of the news mega, including bullshit growth, neoliberalism and well capitalized teams where "nobody seems to have a definable skillset" . Truly an all timer.
Discussing the Palestine issue in Taiwan is just as exhausting as it is in the US. There's support for Palestine and just as much for Israel. Not as vicious as what I've seen coming out of the US but comparing Hamas to Al-Qaeda comes up all the time. The Jewish community in Taipei as well as the Palestinian community are doing a lot of local events to raise money for charity and awareness.
The Venezuelan president has repeatedly advocated dialogue for the resolution of the historic dispute.
A meeting between the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and his Guyanese counterpart, Irfaan Ali, concluded this Thursday at 16:00 local time in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Both presidents expressed their willingness to continue the dialogue to solve the conflict over the Essequibo territory.
After concluding the high-level meeting, both leaders stood up and shook hands, sealing the willingness of both nations to continue the dialogue to resolve the dispute peacefully.
The Venezuelan Minister of Communication, Freddy Ñáñez, said through the social network X that the occasion demonstrated that the only way to resolve the territorial dispute is through dialogue, with understanding and respect, free of interventionist interventions, prioritizing the welfare of the region.
The meeting took place in Kingstown, the capital of the Caribbean island promoted by the president of Brazil, Lula da Silva, the Community of Caribbean States (Caricom) and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).
The meeting was attended by the Prime Ministers of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Ralph Gonsalves, Dominica, Roosevelt Skerrit, and Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley.
For its part, the Venezuelan delegation is made up of Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Foreign Minister Yván Gil, Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Ñáñez, among other officials.
Previously, Maduro and Alí held separate meetings with representatives of Caricom and Celac, who have acted as mediators, with the aim of guaranteeing peace in the region.
The Venezuelan president has repeatedly advocated dialogue for the resolution of the historic dispute. Maduro maintains that the only way to resolve the dispute is based on the Geneva Agreement.
Last December 3, the Venezuelan people voted overwhelmingly in support of a consultative referendum in defense of the Essequibo territory, which Caracas claims as part of its historical territorial heritage.
Democrat libs are complaining that the Biden indictments are a political witch hunt after the guy effectively declared his guilt by accepting a sweetheart plea deal, a deal which collapsed because the judge found it to be unconscionably lenient and giving Hunter broad immunity for all sorts of crimes.
Bullrich clamps down on protest rights with new anti-picket protocol
spoiler
Security minister delivers press conference outlining government’s harsh approach to protests cutting traffic; Outlining host of measures, including severe punishments she warns "there will be consequences" for those attempting to seize control of the street.
Security Minister Patricia Bullrich has presented a new hard-line anti-picket protocol assuring that the President Javier Milei’s government will make it stick. “Law enforcement is not a halfway house – you either do or you don’t,” declared the 67-year-old at a press conference at the Security Ministry’s headquarters in Recoleta, Buenos Aires. Bullrich, seen as a “hawk” with a firm hand, detailed the new procedures for security forces when faced with disturbances of the public order. “The aim of this protocol is to enforce the law and as the President says, 'Those who disturb the peace will pay for it,'” began Bullrich, adding: "On the other hand, looking after those who look after us by establishing in the protocol protection for the actions of the federal security forces.”
The minister made known "the protocol for maintaining public order" in the face of traffic cuts, detailing the sanctions for the groups making such demonstrations. "Organisations who destroy will have to pay for the damage, overturning the garantista [soft] protocol of [earlier minister] Nilda Garré," she said at the end of her announcements, citing former president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner’s former security minister. Garré served from 2010 to 2013 and since her time in office, two governments have served full terms in office. Bullrich herself previously served as security minister between 2015 and 2019. She did not explain why the protocol was not changed earlier, not least during her period leading the portfolio.
Social leaders speak out
Following Tuesday’s announcements of emergency measures by Economy Minister Luis Caputo, several leaders of high-profile social organisations or picket groups had affirmed that they would stage street demonstrations. "The forces will employ the minimum force necessary, which will be upgraded in proportion to the resistance," assured Bullrich at the start of the press conference. In that context she said that the four security forces, [the Border Guard, the Coast Guard, the Airport Police and the Federal Police] together with Penitentiary Service personnel would be the ones to intervene in cases of flagrant breaches of the law.
She further revealed that federal forces would be acting in federal zones with the objective of freeing up traffic completely, adding that vehicles participating in pickets and not complying with certain norms (which the minister did not detail) would be confiscated. Polo Obrero leader Eduardo Belliboni told Perfil that he had been expecting such announcements but warned: "What is certain is that the right to demonstrate cannot be overturned by a protocol or a decree, it is a constitutional right," adding: "Either they declare a state of siege, which also has to go through Congress or they undertake a constitutional reform."
"State of Siege" (Estado de Sitio) is basically an state of emergency with an "exception regime", it is considered equal or almost equal to being in a state of war. This allows the Armed Forces to act against riots or manifestations, constitutional guarantees are suspended. It was invoked in December of 2001 by the then-president De La Rua and soon after his government was done for, the police did kill about 30 or so people during the riots, but the Army did not intervene. The name "State of Siege" is kinda weird, it must be some leftover law from the Spanish colonial period or something, gotta check.
The announcements:
The four federal forces and the Federal Penitentiary Service will intervene against roadblocks and pickets, whether partial or total. "The law is not half fulfilled. It is fulfilled or it is not fulfilled and we will."
"The forces may intervene in accordance with the extant procedural codes or in the case of flagrant crimes."
"It is very important to understand that the federal forces will act in federal zones with the provincial forces obliged to act in their areas of jurisdiction, working jointly."
"We are not going to take into account alternative traffic routes being provided. This means that if a main road is cut, that main road will be freed up."
"Action will be pursued until traffic is totally freed, employing the minimum force necessary, which will be upgraded in proportion to the resistance."
This last point is interesting, because pigs are known to infiltrate in protests and stir shit up.
"The authors, accomplices and instigators of this type of crime will be identified, as will vehicles and their registered drivers. All administrative infractions will be registered, proceeding to confiscate all vehicles not heeding traffic norms and whose drivers do not have the documentation they should."
"The data of the authors, accomplices or partícipants will be remitted to the corresponding authorities and to the Inspección General de Justicia to see if those blocking roads have a social plan."
"In the case of the participation of children and adolescents, the authorities competent for their protection will be notified, proceeding to sanction those who take children to demonstrations when they should be in school."
"The costs of the security operations will be invoiced to the organisations or individuals responsible. The state will not be paying for the use of security forces, the organisations or persons responsible will have to pay."
"The Immigration Department will be informed of any foreign participants."
"A register of the organisations who participate in these protests and those who systematically act as spokespersons for this type of demonstrations will be made."
They are preparing to fight the streets while they still can. These measures will lead them to nowhere but their own destruction. It is almost a guaranteed that soon the average argentinian will not be able to put food in their table or feed their children, and when hungry families roam the dark streets asking for food, what will they do? Send the Army? They don't seem to remember the last time this was tried the president had to leave Casa Rosada by helicopter...
I have this feeling that this government will not complete it's four year mandate, not like this. And I think they know this too, the situation is already unsustainable and in four days there will be the first demonstration against the austerity measures. With this in mind, I think they're going to rush as many austerity measures as they possibly can before it will be finally over, for example, just yesterday they nationalized some private debts, now the Central Bank owes an extra 30,000 million dollars, this is still very shady and more information is required. But at some point, if they don't do anything, the situation will be completely out of their control. Remember: french peasants (some very religious folks) beheaded their own King, he who had a DIVINE MANDATE upon them, because they couldn't get bread. Do they think the average argentinian will stop because some pigs are in their way?
An IDF spokesman: "During the fighting in Shegaia, the IDF force accidentally identified a number of hostages - the force fired at them and they were killed."
one of the ones shot was a Bedouin worker (not IDF)
translateion
The late Samer Talalka !!!!News from the field The late Yotam Haim The abducted Yotam Haim, the late Samer Talalka The deceased and another abductee whose name was not allowed to be published, escaped from captivity. The abductees were identified by mistake as terrorists and they were shot. may them rest in peace
Could the historic case of a trans sex worker end Malawi’s anti-LGBTIQ law?
Imprisoned in December 2021, Gonani, a 29-year-old Malawian trans woman, is currently serving an eight-year sentence at Chichiri men’s prison in Blantyre City for two counts of “false pretence” – for presenting as a woman – and one count of “unnatural offence” – both crimes under the country’s colonial era penal law.
In February 2022, with the help of Nyasa rainbow Alliance (NRA), a Malawian LGBTIQ organisation, Gonani filed an appeal in the High Court to challenge the constitutionality of Section 153 of this law pertaining to “unnatural offences”, a British colonial legal term for sodomy or homosexual sex.
...
This is the first time the “unnatural offence” law – Malawi’s only anti-homosexuality legislation – has been legally challenged on its constitutionality, making Gonani’s case a significant one in the fight for LGBTIQ rights.
Unlike other countries such as Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, there haven’t been efforts by the Malawian parliament to introduce new anti-gay laws, though a group of Malawian MPs did visit the Ugandan parliament in July where they praised its Anti-Homosexuality law passed this year.
Speaking to openDemocracy, Ousman Kennedy, a lawyer with NRA, said the organisation’s support for Gonani’s case was driven by the belief that: “[A] law that criminalises same sex relations between two consenting adults in private serves no useful purpose other than fueling the harassment and discrimination of LGBTI persons in Malawi.”
George Hopkins Kachimanga, executive director of the LGBTIQ-focused Social Justice Foundation, told openDemocracy homosexuality being criminalised in Malawi has made queer advocacy difficult.
Good news, the Germans will be gone from Mali pretty soon:
The Federal Ministry of Defense is sticking to its goal of completing the withdrawal of the Bundeswehr from Mali in West Africa by mid-December.
“We are on schedule,” assured a ministry spokesman in Berlin on Monday. According to him, there are currently around 280 soldiers on site: 160 in Gao, Mali, and 120 at the Niamey air transport base in neighboring Niger.New communiqué today from the exact same French frigate (Languedoc) as last time (here for the text, in French); saying a drone attack from Yemen targeted a Norwegian oil tanker, the Strinda, and the frigate intervened to protect it "successfully".
The tanker was nevertheless hit and a fire occurred on board, apparently. Ansar Allah also confirmed they hit it, saying it was carrying crude oil to Israel.
The CNN correspondent is reporting from Sderot and for some reason he decided to stream from a place outside where there's faint music in the background. It's very hard to hear. I assume it's (very) loud live music from a distance. I can't even make out the vocals enough to know what language it's in but it sounds like smooth jazz. It gives the situation a dystopia vibe.
Emphasis mine.
"Both initiatives — recording interviews with survivors of the October 7 attacks and the ongoing collection of Holocaust testimony — seek to fulfill our promise to survivors: that their stories would be recorded and shared in the effort to preserve history and to work toward a world without antisemitism or hate of any kind. We must remain united and steadfast in these efforts."
— Steven Spielberg
I'm going to go out on a limb and say Steven Spielberg surely hasn't said anything righteous or even substantial about what's happening in Gaza.
Is this just saber rattling?
Gallant warns Hezbollah: Israel can do in Beirut what it is doing in Gaza. The defense minister told reservists that Israel can "copy and paste" what it is doing to Hamas in Gaza onto Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Every time somebody at the White House uses the word "concerned" - they should get a heavy electric shock.
White House 'concerned' by reports Israel military is using white phosphorus
The White House says it is “concerned” over new reports that Israel used US-supplied white phosphorus in a bombing attack in Lebanon that injured civilians and burned down houses.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, has just been briefing reporters aboard Air Force One, and was asked about the allegations. Israel has previously denied it uses white phosphorus, which critics say put civilians at risk of serious and long-term injury, and is banned from use in civilian areas.
Kirby said the Biden administration would be raising the issue with Israel’s government:
We’ve seen the reports, we’re certainly concerned about that. We’ll be asking questions and trying to learn a little bit more. It’s important to remind that white phosphorus does have a legitimate military utility in terms of illumination and reducing smoke to conceal movements. And obviously any time that we provide items like white phosphorus to another military, it is with full expectation that it’ll be used for legitimate purposes and in keeping with the law of armed conflict.
Israel drops leaflets in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army has warned residents of southern Lebanon not to help Hezbollah.
“Early Friday morning, a drone dropped leaflets over the village that landed between the houses,” a resident of Kfarshuba told AFP on the condition of anonymity due to safety concerns.
Another resident said leaflets were dropped twice after the wind blew many from the initial batch away.
“To the residents of south Lebanon, we inform you that the terrorist Hezbollah is infiltrating into your homes and your lands,” read a copy of a leaflet seen by the news agency.
“You must stop this terrorism for your own security,” the text added, warning the population that assisting Hezbollah would expose them “to danger”.
Since October 7, Israel and Hezbollah have been engaged in nearly daily cross-border exchanges of fire.
A photojournalist took the photo in Gaza.
[CW: A photo that includes a corpse]
I believe he was peacefully making a cup of tea before the Israeli warplanes bombed the house. Israel must be proud about their speed to kill, they can do it before the cup of tea is ready, especially if the target is Palestinians. I don't want to imagine, I don't want to photograph more of this. Please take action to end this before the next cup of tea ! (you know what I mean)
I wanna go back to the "Al Shifa proof" for a second. Even though all of it never really seemed to even sway Libs (even major lib places like CNN/BBC/NYT) never concluded it was a "command center".
I still find it weird that some of their proof was Hamas uniforms and some people believed them, when it seems that Hamas doesn't wear uniforms in Gaza. They only wear them for stuff like parades, the hostage exchanges and stuff like Oct 7.
Impossible to prevent spread of disease, Gaza doctor warns
Adnan El-Bursh - BBC Arabic correspondent in Rafah
Disease is continuing to spread across the Gaza Strip, especially in overcrowded shelters. I sat down with Dr Marwan al-Hams, the director of the Martyr Mohammed Yusuf al-Najjar Hospital, in the southern city of Rafah. The hospital has 63 beds, and is caring for 145 patients, some of whom lay on the hospital floor as we spoke. Rafah is now home to around one million displaced Palestinians, on top of the pre-war population of 300,000.
“The medical situation across Gaza but especially in Rafah is catastrophic,” Dr al-Hams tells me. He says hospitals are receiving patients with severe diarrhoea, fatigue and high temperature. There are also high rates of bacterial infections and skin diseases. Medicine to treat such conditions is hard to find. Food poisoning is another concern, linked to the lack of fresh drinking water and spread of water contaminated with sewage around displacement camps.
“People are resorting to eating old bread. They wash it, dry it in in front of a fire or over a heater and then eat it.”
- BBC
Your Friday Briefing
The EU has agreed to open membership talks with Ukraine, bypassing objections from Hungary. This doesn't mean that Ukraine will join any time soon - if Ukraine even exists at all in the coming years - just that the formal process towards that "eventuality" is beginning. This comes after a statement from Zelensky that Putin would have a "satisfied smile" if this didn't go through.
In addition, the EU has agreed on the 12th sanctions package, involving a ban on Russian non-industrial diamond imports and from third countries, starting next year, as well as an attempt to tighten the oil price cap and the ability of Russia to obtain dual-use goods from EU companies.
80% of Kazakhstan's infrastructure is ageing and in an advanced state of deterioration, with only a small percentage being upgraded, which is causing more and more technical problems - including a recent incident two days ago where a gas pipeline was damaged by cold, leaving many homes without gas heating.
China has mediated a ceasefire in northern Myanmar between the junta and an alliance of rebels, which has caused hundreds of thousands of refugees to flee. The rebel alliance still maintains its commitment to defeating the junta.
Guyana and Venezuela have agreed to avoid any escalation of conflict amid a recent heightening of tensions over the Esequbio area.
Haaretz Reporting 13 Israeli soldiers killed, mistakenly identified as Khamas.
Your Saturday Briefing
The Eurozone remains in recession, with the composite PMI falling from 47.6 to 47 despite expectations that it would rise slightly, marking 7 consecutive month below 50, or stagnation. In the UK, the services PMI rising might stop them from technically being in a recession, but it's not looking much better for them overall either.
As Pakistan continues to deport 1.7 million Afghanis back to Afghanistan - most of who were living in Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa provinces - their absence is causing labor shortages in agriculture and mining. The lack of migrant remittances heading from Pakistan to Afghanistan will also hurt Afghanistan, which is already among the poorest countries on the planet following the US's mission to bring freedom and democracy there.
Putin has stated that the coming decade will see a massive expansion of infrastructure, especially in railroads, linking Russia to south and east Asia.
China's Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, has stated that the Middle East should no longer be a geopolitical arena of great powers, after a meeting with Iran and Saudi Arabia, which is kind of a hilarious statement to make with US aircraft carriers circling it like sharks.
The ruling emir of Kuwait, Sheikh-Nawaf Al Ahmed Al Sabah, has died at the age of 86. He took power in 2020 after the old emir died, and will be succeeded by Sheik Meshal Al Ahmad Al Jaber, who is 83 years old.
China is experiencing a cold snap, leading to yellow alerts for cold temperatures. It is predicted that in northern regions, daily low or average temperatures would approach or break records. Authorities are setting up relief supplies, and roads, railways, and schools are being closed, especially after a railway accident in Beijing after a train was unable to brake in time due to icy rails and collided with another train, injuring 515 people.
Somalia has received $4.5 billion in debt relief from the IMF and World Bank due to their implementation of a poverty reduction strategy and sound macroeconomic management. Citizens seem generally pleased.
The German Defense Minister, Pistorius, told the German troops that have been kicked out of Mali that they fulfilled their mission and their achievements were not in vain, which I suppose is technically true, if the objective of the mission was to not stop rebel groups and keep the country in a state of chaos to maintain extractive industries.
Eight million Chadians will vote in a referendum for a new constitution tomorrow; the yes side seems certain to win as the government has been waging a campaign for it. The referendum is the final step towards elections promised by the military government.
Two unidentified men had sex in the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in a Senate hearing room. Dudes rock.
Argentina's Presidential Spokesman has confirmed that the country is going through hyperflation, with inflation rising at 1% per day, or nearly 4000% per year. The government has simultaneously ordered protests to be made effectively illegal, promising harsh resistance in the face of any blockades.
Zelensky held a council with generals and the Minister of Defense, they say without Zaluzhny, where he instructed to build defense lines from Kupyansk to Ugledar in the east, and in the north of Ukraine - along the borders with Belarus and the Russian Bryansk and Kursk regions.
But that’s not all, the “Zelensky line” will be created in the Nikolaev region and in sections of the Zaporozhye and Kherson regions.
The total length of the defensive lines that should be created by order of Zelensky can be from 2.8 thousand km.
It is estimated that to make fortified areas for 2.8 thousand kilometers it will be necessary to spend at least 10 billion dollars.
Death and Destruction in Gaza - John Mearsheimer
[..]As I watch this catastrophe for the Palestinians unfold, I am left with one simple question for Israel’s leaders, their American defenders, and the Biden administration: have you no decency?
"Extremely serious"? Are they trying to be funny?
US official to address reducing harm to civilians during visit to Israel. | CNN
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan will conduct “extremely serious conversations” with Israeli officials during his visit this week, the White House said, as the US looks to press Israel to conduct a more “surgical” campaign against Hamas. Sullivan is expected to meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu along with the Israeli war cabinet during the trip, which begins Thursday. He also plans to meet Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The visit comes as the White House struggles to square President Joe Biden’s comments about Israel's "indiscriminate bombing" in Gaza with the administration’s insistence that Israel’s “intent” is to limit civilian casualties. Sullivan also held talks in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday.
[Continues]
It's a summary so there's lots of stuff plus a hospital map.
Milei
YPF and Axion, oil companies in Argentina, have announced that they will increase fuel prices by 37%. They will join the other oil companies in the country, which have already announced this readjustment.
This readjustment is due to the strong devaluation of the peso as a result of the new economic measures announced on Monday by the government.
The spokesman for the Argentine Presidency, Manuel Adorni, said that today, December 14, the Argentine Minister of Security, Patricia Bullrich, will announce a new public order protocol.
This comes at a time when tough economic measures are being taken, and criticism from the unions is growing, with strike threats beginning to circulate.
Milei announces 'severe sanctions' for those who block streets to protest in Argentina. The new president has issued a warning to the so-called 'picketers', who have scheduled an action for the 20th
https://www.easternangle.com/the-one-woman-men-in-power-cant-seem-to-escape/
"I wanted to do a classic damage control strategy for RFK Jr but turns out he had the same idea"
Why are people so convinced this demonic old man can do no wrong? What the hell?
Emphasis mine.
"It can barely be described as living conditions anymore," aid official says of situation in Gaza hospital
There are barely “living conditions” for the people of the Gaza Strip, the emergency coordinator of operations for Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), said Tuesday.
“Living conditions…I mean it can barely be described as living conditions anymore. People are displaced once, twice, sometimes more. They just don’t know where to go anymore,” Marie-Aure Perreaut, who is based in the Al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, told CNN’s Isa Soares in an interview.
People sheltering in hospitals in Gaza are living in “horrendous conditions” without access to health care, she said. While Gazans traveled to hospitals in search of safety, Perreaut said, they know that “this is just not the case.” She described a lack of food and water, cold temperatures, overcrowding, and widespread diseases in hospitals, saying that the situation is “very, very tough.”
Many people are suffering from respiratory tract infections, diarrhea, and skin diseases such as scabies, she said. "All of these are clear illustrations of the extremely tough and precarious living conditions,” Perreaut said, adding that, since health care centers were ordered to evacuate, people “just don’t have access to health care anymore.”
Half of the patients that MSF was treating were children under the age of five, she said.
“All those children are still living in those conditions, facing multiple evacuation orders in the south, and now, just do not have access to health care on top of it," Perreaut said. Several hospitals in northern Gaza have ceased operations in recent weeks, saying they received orders from the Israeli military to evacuate. The Israeli military disputes issuing such an order.
Fuel shortages have forced several hospitals in Gaza to close, while others have shut down due to airstrike damage, the World Health Organization has reported. The Israeli military says it only carries out operations in and around hospitals where they are being used by Hamas and other armed groups.
A poem from 2012 by the late Dr. Refaat Alareer - murdered by Israel on Wednesday, 6 December 2023, titled "I am you"
Two steps: one, two.
Look in the mirror:
The horror, the horror!
The butt of your M-16 on my cheekbone
The yellow patch it left
The bullet-shaped scar expanding
Like a swastika,
Snaking across my face,
The heartache flowing
Out of my eyes dripping
Out of my nostrils piercing
My ears flooding
The place.
Like it did to you
70 years ago
Or so.I am just you.
I am your past haunting
Your present and your future.
I strive like you did.
I fight like you did.
I resist like you resisted
And for a moment,
I’d take your tenacity
As a model,
Were you not holding
The barrel of the gun
Between my bleeding
Eyes.One. Two.
The very same gun
The very same bullet
That had killed your Mom
And killed your Dad
Is being used,
Against me,
By you.Mark this bullet and mark in your gun.
If you sniff it, it has your and my blood.
It has my present and your past.
It has my present.
It has your future.
That’s why we are twins,
Same life track
Same weapon
Same suffering
Same facial expressions drawn
On the face of the killer,
Same everything
Except that in your case
The victim has evolved, backward,
Into a victimizer.
I tell you.
I am you.
Except that I am not the you of now.I do not hate you.
I want to help you stop hating
And killing me.
I tell you:
The noise of your machine gun
Renders you deaf
The smell of the powder
Beats that of my blood.
The sparks disfigure
My facial expressions.
Would you stop shooting?
For a moment?
Would you?All you have to do
Is close your eyes
(Seeing these days
Blinds our hearts.)
Close your eyes, tightly
So that you can see
In your mind’s eye.
Then look into the mirror.
One. Two.
I am you.
I am your past.
And killing me,
You kill you.
Genocide Justin really showing his entire ass here with the other colonial castoffs from down under. All three countries voted for the unga ceasefire motion today and then released the following joint statementWe want to see this pause resumed and support urgent international efforts towards a sustainable ceasefire. This cannot be one-sided. Hamas must release all hostages, stop using Palestinian civilians as human shields, and lay down its arms.
There is no role for Hamas in the future governance of Gaza.
The pre-requisite for a ceasefire is unconditional surrender. This is what people mean when they refer to states being agreement incapable. These are the same talking points against a ceasefire as earlier in the Russia-Ukraine war, and look at how that's gone since spring 2022.
If you want to do mental self harm here is a bullshit "left critique" of leftists who have grown addicted to caring about palestine. This is only worth reading if you plan to engage in posting battles against Zionists using crybully idpol language otherwise it is entirely drivel for babies
https://leftrenewal.net/ ( highly astroturfed domain too)
Summoning Salt music
...and then, after the two speedrunners at the top of the leaderboard - Russia and China - took a short break, five new runners decided to enter the race to see who could collapse US global hegemony the fastest. Palestine brought new strategies to the field, such as extensive tunnel networks, regional non-state military power alliances, and inexpensive mass-produced weaponry. Meanwhile, Venezuela threatened a war in a rainforest, which the United States has a -33% combat bonus inside as proven by Vietnam. Last but not least, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso discovered an obscure technique from decades ago called federation, and though this takes a long time to execute, it pays off later on in the speedrun...
Attacks on journalists ‘a failed attempt to obscure the truth’
The media office of Gaza’s government says the “targeting” of Wael Dahdouh and Samer Abudaqa in Khan Younis “comes within the framework of intimidation and intimidation of journalists”.
It called it “a failed attempt to obscure the truth and prevent them from blatant media coverage of the crimes of the occupation against children, women and civilians”, according to a statement posted on Telegram.
Jodie Ginsberg, the president of the Committee to Protect Journalists, says the Gaza war is “the deadliest conflicts for journalists” that the media watchdog has documented in the past 30 years.
“The role of journalists in such a situation is absolutely vital, particularly in Gaza where we’ve seen the kinds of institutions that traditionally also help with the kinds of documentation about the impact, like the UN officials, have left – so we’re really only left with the Gazan journalists doing this very important documentation work,” she told Al Jazeera.
“The international governments’ failure to push for an end to this conflict is increasingly creating a real sense of abandonment amongst the community and particularly amongst the journalist community in Palestine and the region,” Ginsberg said.
Caribbean Mediation Was Decisive for Venezuela-Guyana Meeting
Roosevelt Skerrit and Ralph Gonsalves made intensive efforts to facilitate dialogue between these countries.
On Thursday, St. Vincent & the Grenadines Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves is hosting a regional meeting in which the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and the Guyanese President Irfaan Ali will hold a direct dialogue on the Essequibo region.
"PM Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica is poised to join the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) in crucial discussions surrounding the ongoing territorial dispute between Guyana and Venezuela," BBN reported.
In the week prior to this meeting, Skerrit, Gonsalves and other regional leaders were making intense efforts to bring Guyana and Venezuela closer together with the aim of avoiding an escalation of the diplomatic conflict between these nations.
"In a world often marred by conflict, the role of these organizations in promoting diplomatic dialogue and peaceful resolution can't be overstated. The participation of leaders like PM Skerrit is an embodiment of the region's collaborative spirit in addressing such disagreements," BBN commented .
The mediation efforts of the Presidency of Brazil, CELAC, and CARICOM were also significant in achieving a direct bilateral meeting between Maduro and Ali, which seemed somewhat difficult at the height of the diplomatic conflict.
On Thursday, before their face-to-face dialogue, Maduro and Ali spoke separately with the CARICOM leaders who attended the meeting in Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
The Guyanese president Ali took the first turn in these previous conversations with representatives of the Caribbean countries, among whom was former Foreign Minister of Belize Lisa Shoman, who is currently an advisor to CARICOM.
Then, the Venezuelan president Maduro went to the meeting room accompanied by Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, who has been leading the defense of Venezuelan sovereignty over the Essequibo at the international level.
Israeli troops are inside Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza and interrogating staff. "Interrogating"? The maternity ward was hit which killed two women and two women had their legs amputated.
Hamas-controlled health ministry claims Israeli troops are inside Gaza hospital and interrogating staff
The Israeli military is now inside Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza, according to the spokesperson for the Hamas-controlled health ministry in the enclave, Ashraf Al-Qidra.
Al-Qidra alleged that the hospital director, Dr. Ahmed Al-Kahlot, and all medical staff, including female staff, were being held in the emergency department and being subjected to interrogation.
CNN has asked the Israel Defense Forces whether its troops are indeed now inside the hospital.
Dr. Al-Kahlot told CNN on Monday that Kamal Adwan was surrounded by Israeli forces.
In one recent tank shelling, Dr. Al-Kahlot said the maternity ward was hit, killing two women and leaving two more so badly wounded their legs required amputation.
"The hospital has no water, no food, no fuel. I make an appeal to lift this siege and bring in water and fuel," he said.
On Friday, the IDF said clashes near Kamal Adwan hospital were "in response to Hamas' barbaric attacks.”
The Israeli military says it only carries out operations in and around hospitals where they are being used by Hamas and other armed groups.
- CNN
Permanently Deleted
Ever make propaganda so bad that you are marked for death?
Context: https://streamable.com/dyrw56
Head Zionist pig gets ratioed with red triangles: https://nitter.cz/itamarbengvir/status/1734851282693726498
"Tonal Shift" sounds like a guitar pedal.
UK and Germany call for 'sustainable' ceasefire in significant tonal shift
UK foreign minister David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock have published a joint article calling for a “sustainable” ceasefire, saying the goal must be peace lasting “generations”. In a significant shift in tone by the UK government, the article reads: “Our goal cannot simply be an end to fighting today. It must be peace lasting for days, years, generations. We therefore support a ceasefire, but only if it is sustainable.
We know many in the region and beyond have been calling for an immediate ceasefire. We recognise what motivates these heartfelt calls. It is an understandable reaction to such intense suffering, and we share the view that this conflict cannot drag on and on. That is why we supported the recent humanitarian pauses.
The article was published in The Sunday Times and Welt am Sonntag in Germany. It further said: “Israel will not win this war if their operations destroy the prospect of peaceful coexistence with Palestinians. They have a right to eliminate the threat posed by Hamas. But too many civilians have been killed.”
Following Biden’s comments last week that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”, US officials have also told Israel that its window for conducting major combat operations in Gaza is fast closing.
- The Guardian
Yahya Saree leaving a stage rally in a scooter, Ansarallah say fuck cars
Ancap Update:
The Deputy Minister for Human Capital, Eleonora Urrutia, the ministry that brings together education, labor and social development, resigned without giving any reasons.
Things don't seem to be going well in the Milei government.
what happed to @LargePenis@hexbear.net ?
Brazil's Electoral Prosecutor's Office calls for Sergio Moro's impeachment
In an opinion sent on Thursday (14) to the Electoral Court of Parana, prosecutors Marcelo Godoy and Eloisa Helena Machado defended the impeachment of Senator Sergio Moro (Brazil Union) for abuse of economic power.
Brazil Union succeeded the ARENA, the governing party of Brazil’s military dictatorship.
The opinion asks the court to recognize the "practice of abuse of economic power, with the consequent annulment of the slate elected to the majority position of Senator of the Republic and decree the ineligibility of Mr. Sergio Fernando Moro and Mr. Luís Felipe Cunha", his first deputy.
This is the judge who arrested Lula on false corruption charges. The same man who went to the US, inside the CIA building, to receive a round of applause for arresting Lula and trying to destroy Brazil's construction, engineering, chemical and petrochemical industries.
This man supported Bolsonaro, was the justice minister in his government, and later tried to be a presidential candidate, but backed down to support Bolsonaro instead. He literally stole his political party's money for his own use, much like George Santos.
But for the average lib, Lula's arrest was totally normal and not politically motivated.
EU Commission: Green light for RWE compensation
The energy company RWE can collect several billion euros from the federal government for its coal phase-out. The EU Commission announced on Monday that the funding of 2.6 billion euros did not constitute a violation of EU state aid rules. Although the compensation payment is state aid, it is necessary so that RWE can phase out its lignite-fired power plants. The commission found that the current net value of lost profits was greater than the value of compensation. As a result of the decision, the compensation can now be paid out staggered as planned until 2030.Paying them 2.6 billion, so they stop digging coal. Hilarious. And this is only for the plants in west Germany, if the commission accepts the compensation for the plants in the east that would be an additional 1.75 billion.
Btw RWE made 2.7 billion euros in profits last year. Without taxes and stuff they made 6.3 billion, 751 million of which are down to their coal/nuclear branch.
Interestingly enough I also looked at some older annual reports of theirs, for example in 2019 their coal/nuclear profits were only 306 million. So compared to the 621 million they now will get guaranteed from the government each year until 2030, when they have to close their coal plants, this doesn't look too shabby for them if you're asking me.
Theory question: Can the paroxyisms of Western Zionists (the non-cynical ones at least) in seeing in every scarf, watermelon & placard the start of a new Holocaust be considered an effect of the contradiction of the base (Imperialism) & the superstructure (We are morally superior for not abetting genocide) being forced into a personal sharp opposition by current events?
CNN says
House set to vote on formalizing impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden with floor vote
House Republicans are expected to vote Wednesday on their resolution to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden as their investigation reaches a critical juncture and right-wing pressure grows.
The vote comes as a potential showdown between House Republicans and Hunter Biden is also expected to come to a head on Wednesday, as the president’s son has been subpoenaed to appear for a closed-door deposition and is in Washington, DC. It is not yet clear if Hunter Biden is going to sit down and answer questions from lawmakers who want to interview him as part of their escalated impeachment inquiry.
Up until this point, House Republicans have not had enough votes to legitimize their ongoing inquiry with a full chamber vote. The probe has struggled to uncover wrongdoing by the president, which is why it hasn’t garnered the unified support of the full GOP conference.
Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally launched the inquiry in September, even though he had previously criticized Democrats for taking the same step in 2019 when they launched the first impeachment probe of then-President Donald Trump without taking a vote at the beginning.
But House Speaker Mike Johnson and his leadership team are now confident they have enough support to pass the vote when it comes to the floor on Wednesday.
That is in part because when the White House told the trio of GOP-led congressional committees leading the investigation that its subpoenas were illegitimate without a formal House vote to authorize the inquiry, reluctant, more moderate Republican lawmakers started to get on board with their party’s investigative efforts. The Trump administration made a similar argument against House Democrats at the start of his 2019 impeachment.
The argument from Republican proponents of the effort, according to multiple GOP lawmakers and aides, is that a floor vote will strengthen their legal standing against the White House and fortify their subpoenas to secure key witness testimony.
“The inquiry will help us be more informed,” GOP Rep. Nick LaLota, who represents a swing district in New York, told CNN. Potentially bolstering the GOP inquiry: Last week’s tax indictment against Hunter Biden, which overlapped with many of the alleged financial imports and overseas business deals that Republicans have intensely scrutinized with their own probes.
In response to allegations they have stonewalled the inquiry, a recent White House memo touted that Republicans have accessed more than 35,000 pages of private financial records, more than 2,000 pages of Treasury Department financial reports, at least 36 hours of witness interviews, and just this week began receiving 62,000 more pages from the National Archives including much of Joe Biden’s communications as vice president.
At least one Republican lawmaker though is not solidly behind the vote to formalize the inquiry. GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado, who has been an outspoken critic of his party’s inquiry into the president, said Tuesday, “I’m leaning no.”
But even as the majority of House Republicans rally around the inquiry vote, GOP leadership has made a point to indicate that formalizing the inquiry does not mean impeaching the president is inevitable, even as pressure within the party and among the Republican base grows.
“We’re not going to prejudge the outcome of this because we can’t,” Johnson told reporters Tuesday. “It’s not a political calculation. We’re following the law and we are the rule of law team and I’m going to hold to that.”
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer, a Minnesota Republican, echoed Johnson’s sentiment by telling reporters, “Voting in favor of an impeachment inquiry does not equal impeachment.”
GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who has been pushing Republicans to impeach the president, told CNN the reason he sees his party’s leaders signaling caution is because House Republicans do not have the votes to actually impeach the president, particularly in their shrinking, narrow majority.
“I think it’s a realistic approach,” Gaetz said. “I don’t think we have the votes to impeach anyone.”
Indeed, moderate GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska, who supports authorizing an impeachment inquiry, said that “more likely than not,” Republicans will not end up bringing articles of impeachment against the president because the evidence will not raise to the bar of high crimes and misdemeanors, the standard for impeachment.
While Republican leaders are emphasizing caution, others in the party are ready to go full steam ahead.
“I think we start the inquiry and I wouldn’t be surprised if the next thing is impeachment,” GOP Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas told CNN.
At every stage, House Democrats and the White House have refuted and sometimes even debunked the accusations leveled by Republicans, who have tried to connect Joe Biden to his son’s million-dollar overseas deals.
That he could have made by himself, of course.
Rep. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, attacked Republican efforts to open an impeachment inquiry, and argued that House Republicans are trying to create a “dark cloud” that will follow the president into the election next year.
Pot meet kettle
“That of course is the whole purpose of the impeachment inquiry,” he said Monday. “There is not one particle linking Joe Biden to a crime, and yet they insist that there is going to be a Senate trial for impeachment of Joe Biden in the fall during the presidential campaign,” Raskin said.
Lol
Since McCarthy launched the inquiry in September, the trio of committees leading the investigation have interviewed various officials from the Justice Department and Internal Revenue Service while also obtaining a mountain of documents and new bank records, including from Biden family members.
Even as Republicans issue new subpoenas and schedule more depositions, including with the president’s brother and son, they still have not uncovered credible evidence that backs up their loftiest claims against Biden. There has only been one hearing related to the inquiry since its launch, where the expert witnesses called by Republicans acknowledged GOP investigators hadn’t yet presented enough evidence to prove the accusations they were leveling.
In the lead-up to Wednesday’s vote, each of the three committees, leading a different portion of the inquiry had sought to build momentum.
EU-China relations: European firms are reluctant to speak up on China as Brussels seeks to de-risk
As the European Union moves forward with plans to de-risk ties with China, it is encountering a familiar problem: getting businesses to go on the record with their gripes about the world’s second largest economy. Fear of retaliation from Beijing and a reluctance to air what could be highly sensitive trade secrets among competitors are combining to give officials a headache when gathering evidence to support Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s economic security strategy.
...
Executives see huge risks in speaking out for fear of falling foul of opaque new anti-espionage and foreign relations laws in Beijing. Reports abound of Western companies being raided in China for flouting laws that Western business groups believe are vague and ill-explained. Nor do businesses want to put their heads above the parapet when discussing their own de-risking plans – shorthand for not having all your production and sourcing eggs in a single Chinese basket – lest it endanger their operations in China.
...
Some firms that continue to bank big profits in China simply do not see the point in complying with Brussels’ efforts. As the world becomes increasingly bifurcated and supply chain risks proliferate, a common refrain among some corporate executives is: “What’s in it for us?” The chilling effect makes building legislation difficult – but not impossible. Plenty of other companies see what is coming down the road in terms of Chinese industrial overcapacity and are willing to cooperate – but often under certain circumstances.
Survey data suggests that some businesses – perhaps sensing the rocky road ahead – are not waiting around for EU legislation and are autonomously de-risking their own operations. According to a report by Deloitte and the Federation of German Industries this month, around one-fifth of 100 German multinationals plan to “friendshore” their production lines out of China and into other Asian countries. In the words of one major company’s chief executive: “We are de-risking without too much noise”.
But with persistent inflation, recessionary winds and stiff competition from American and Chinese state support, the survey also showed that few of those firms were likely to come back to Europe. “Almost half of responding companies expect the attractiveness of Germany, compared with other industrial locations, to decline from slightly to significantly over the next three years,” read the report.
So, if I'm not out of the loop,
Uni presidents used legal language to not incriminate themselves and were asked questions about antisemitism by MAGA people who obviously dont care about it?
That and some Billionaires are pushing for this criticism?
Trying to make sure I have all the info.
Edit : Can anyone confirm if I missed something? Also it seems some Lib media is focusing on this more than what's going on in Gaza per what I have seen.
Milei modified a Macri's decree so that his
wifesister Karina could take a position in his government (spanish only)The president-elect made his decision official in the Official Gazette presented this Monday, in one of the first decisions he made as head of state.
Decree 93/2018, which had been approved by Mauricio Macri during his term of office between 2015 and 2019 to limit appointments in the State of direct relatives of officials, was repealed by President Javier Milei and replaced by another one, as reported in the Official Gazette. Thus, with this modification, the new President was able to appoint his sister Karina as Secretary General of the Presidency.
The decree of the former president and leader of the PRO sought to guarantee transparency in the public function. "I know that with this measure we are going to lose very valuable collaborators of the team. That makes me very sad. But we always said that we wanted a more transparent country," Macri assured in January 2018.
Milei, in Decree 12/2023 published today, repeals that prohibition. Although it maintains the limitation for the hiring of direct relatives in the State, it raises exceptions to the appointments made by the President. Among the arguments, it details that it is the power of the President "to appoint and remove ambassadors, ministers plenipotentiary and chargés d'affaires with the agreement of the Senate".
"He alone appoints and removes the head of the cabinet of ministers and the other ministers of the office, the officers of his secretariat, the consular agents and the employees whose appointment is not otherwise regulated by this Constitution", it is mentioned.
In this regard, it stated that "it is necessary to limit the prohibition established by Decree No. 93/18 to those appointments or hires made within the framework of Laws Nos. 20,744 and 25,164 and Decree No. 1109/17, thus exempting the appointments made by the President of the Nation by virtue of the powers conferred upon him".
Once this decree was signed, yesterday, Javier Milei proceeded with the swearing in of his cabinet in a ceremony behind closed doors and without official transmission. One of the protagonists was his sister, whom he himself explicitly chose as "his right hand", or "The Boss", since the beginning of his political campaign. At the moment of presenting his position and reciting the appropriate words for the oath, he could not hold back the tears, and even paused to take a breath and continue.
????
"Karina Elizabeth Milei, do you swear by God and the Fatherland, on these Holy Gospels, to perform with loyalty and patriotism the duties of Secretary General of the Presidency of the Nation to which you have been appointed, fulfilling and enforcing the Constitution of the Argentine Nation as far as you are concerned?", read Milei between nerves and emotion.
In her turn, Karina Milei answered: "Yes, I swear". "If you do not do so, God and the Nation will demand it," Milei ended.
I've read about the general idea behind warrant canaries before, but I've never actually looked at one in action so I don't know what an issue is supposed to look like.
In the sidebar of the /c/feedback community, there's a link to the "Hexbear Warrant Canary". I've never looked at this before, but I was curious so I clicked it, and I can't get anything to load other than "Connection timed out Error code 522". Does this indicate that the canary is dead, or is this a purely technical error?
United Nations Relief and Works Agency says it's the deadliest year for Palestinians killed in West Bank.
🔺 West Bank 271 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli Security Forces, including 69 children - deadliest year for Palestinians killed in West Bank since UN began recording casualties.
🔺 Gaza At least 288 people in UNRWA shelters have been killed.
https://www.pravda.com.ua/eng/news/2023/12/17/7433465/
A wiretapping device was found in the office of Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine’s Armed Forces.
Source: Ukrainska Pravda sources in the Ukrainian military
Details: Sources told Ukrainska Pravda that a wiretapping device was found on Sunday, 17 December, during a routine inspection.
Similar devices were also planted in the offices of Zaluzhnyii’s colleagues.
Argentine Government Announces a Total Crackdown On Protests
The new "Security Protocol" precedes potential widespread discontent in a country where nearly 45 percent of the population is poor.
On Friday, social and political groups in Argentina rejected the "Security Protocol" announced by Security Minister Bullrich, labeling it as unconstitutional.
"If the streets are taken, there will be consequences," Bullrich declared in anticipation of street protests following the economic policies promoted by the far-right President Javier Milei.
"The four federal forces and the penitentiary service will intervene in the face of blockades whether partial or total. The law is not fulfilled halfway. The law is either fulfilled or not," she said.
In the case of blatant crimes being committed, Argentine security forces will intervene immediately, using force progressively in proportion to the resistance people pose.
"Streets are not to be taken. We will restore order to the country so that people can live in peace," Bullrich affirmed, warning that the Milei administration will penalize those who make, organize, instigate, or are accomplices to blockades.
It will also inspect the facilities of organizations suspected of promoting protests, establish a ban on marching with covered faces, or bringing children to protests. If participants are foreigners with temporary residence, they will be reported to the Immigration Directorate.
The far-right regime also threatened to make groups related to the organization of protests pay for the costs of the deployment of federal security forces.
These repressive measures precede potential widespread discontent in a country where nearly 45 percent of the population is poor.
In the short term, Argentinians will have to cope with a year-on-year inflation rate of 161 percent, which could escalate to hyperinflation of 15,000 percent in the coming years, as acknowledged by Milei himself.
Leaders of workers' organizations such as Vanina Biasi, Gabriel Solano, and Eduardo Belliboni upheld the constitutional right to protest, emphasizing that the Milei regime "lacks legal authority" to prevent it.
"What bothers them is that people protest against the measures of their government," said legislator Myriam Bregman from the Left Front and Workers (FIT), who recalled that far-right activists previously blocked roads to protest against progressive governments.
The leader of the Public Workers' Association (ATE), Rodolfo Aguiar, emphasized that social conflicts should not be resolved by the police or the judiciary but by those who govern because that's why they were elected.
"The measure announced by the minister aims to address the consequences and not the causes of the protests. If they don't want conflicts, then the government should stop economic adjustments and increase salaries."
John Helmer on material materialism for uranium reactor fuel.
The clowns in Congress are at it again, passing a ban on Russian reactor fuel with many loopholes for power plants and the pentagon. I doubt much comes of this in practice beyond higher fuel costs that are passed on to ratepayers, but still JH brings up some interesting data and observations about the long term nature of fuel supply. This is another one of those commodity sectors where the US absolutely could and has done this domestically before, but hollowed itself out in favour of putting addictive pharmaceuticals on the blockchain. Money printing alone won't bring that capacity back, so no one should be holding their breath.
Venezuela and Guyana agree not to use force in Essequibo dispute
Brazil to host more negotiations between Guyana and Venezuela.
Leaders hold tense talks after Venezuela organised referendum to claim oil-rich territory that makes up two-thirds of Guyana.
Nicolas Maduro and Irfaan Ali, the rulers of Venezuela and Guyana respectively, have agreed to continue the dialogue on the Esequibo.
Both recognize Brazil's role in the medications, and in the possible solution of "incidents"
The declaration recognizes dialogue, and also says that any incident should be reported through CELAC, CARICOM, and through the President of Brazil.
Both pledge not to use military force in the conflict, and agree to resolve it "through international law".
Venezuela and Guyana have agreed not to resort to force to settle a territorial dispute over the oil-rich Essequibo region after a tense meeting between the two countries’ leaders in the Caribbean.
Guyanese President Irfaan Ali and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro agreed to “not threaten or use force against one another in any circumstances, including those consequential to any existing controversies between the two states” and to “refrain, whether by words or deeds, from escalating any conflict,” in an 11-point declaration that was read out at a press conference after the meeting.
The two men were unable to make progress in resolving the long-running dispute over the territory, however, with a joint commission composed of the foreign ministers of both countries and other officials asked to address the issue and report within three months.
No questions were allowed at the press conference.
Essequibo amounts to more than two-thirds of the territory of Guyana and is home to 125,000 of its 800,000 citizens.
Tension has been rising in recent weeks after Venezuela held a referendum earlier this month on whether to establish a Venezuelan state there in a move Guyana feared was a pretext for a land grab.
Venezuela insists Essequibo should be under its control because it was within its borders during the Spanish colonial period while Guyana says a border drawn by international arbitrators in 1899 means it is part of Guyana.
The hours-long meeting between Ali and Maduro took place at the main international airport in the eastern Caribbean island of St Vincent following mediation efforts by the regional groupings of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) and the Caribbean Community (CARICOM).
The declaration noted the impasse between the two men, who clasped hands before their talks.
Guyana argues the controversy should be resolved by the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands while Venezuela says the court does not have jurisdiction.
Earlier in the day, Guyana’s government issued a statement saying that Essequibo was “not up for discussion, negotiation or deliberation”. Ali echoed those comments during a news conference he held during a break in his talks with Maduro.
“All of this belongs to Guyana,” Ali said, pointing to a thick leather bracelet on his right wrist featuring the outline of Guyana. “No narrative propaganda [or] decree can change this. This is Guyana.”
Ali noted that while both parties were committed to keeping peace in the region, Guyana “is not the aggressor”.
“Guyana is not seeking war, but Guyana reserves the right to work with all of our partners to ensure the defence of our country,” he said.
Maduro said ahead of the meeting that “we will make the most of it so that our Latin America and the Caribbean remains a zone of peace”.
White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that the United States was monitoring the situation closely. “We don’t want to see this come to blows,” Kirby said. “There’s no reason for it to, and our diplomats are engaged in real-time.”
Maduro has ordered state-owned companies to explore and exploit the oil, gas and mines in Essequibo. Both sides have put their militaries on alert.
Brazil’s Senate approves Lula ally as new Supreme Court justice
Brazil’s Senate approved the appointment of Justice Minister Flávio Dino on Wednesday to take a seat on the country’s Supreme Court.
Dino, a former leftist state governor who cracked down on supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro after they rampaged through government buildings last January, was approved for the court of 11 justics on a vote of 47-31.
The vote, which came after a full day of speeches by senators in a divisive hearing, underscored that the opposition led by the rightist Bolsonaro is not strong enough to block the agenda of his leftist successor, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
Dino will replace former Chief Justice Rosa Maria Weber, who stepped down in September after turning 75, the age limit for the nation’s Supreme Court justices.
Dino, who was a federal judge for 12 years before starting his political career, governed Brazil’s northeastern state of Maranhao in 2015-2023. His decisions to impose curfews and movement restrictions during the pandemic made him an antagonist of Bolsonaro, who argued against strict measures against COVID-19.
“He is one of the few Brazilians who has had jobs in the executive, the legislative and the judiciary,” Sen. Weverton Rocha said before the vote. “He clearly suits the supreme court well. He knows how to behave in every role he has had.”
Sen. Magno Malta, an evangelical leader and staunch Bolsonaro supporter, voted against the appointment over Dino’s past in the country’s communist party and as a member of the Brazilian Socialist Party.
“He has never hidden he is a communist, a marxist,” Malta said. “We are taking a communist to the Supreme Court. His team is the left, it is against everything I believe in.”
Dino is the second Supreme Court justice appointed by Lula, who is in his third term as president, who also was in the top post in 2003-2010. Cristiano Zanin, once Lula’s lawyer, was approved to join the court in July on a 58-18 vote in the Senate.
Feminist activists have criticized Lula for not naming a woman to replace Weber on the high court. Its only female member now is Justice Carmen Lúcia.
Senators also approved Paulo Gonet as Brazil’s prosecutor-general on a 65-11 vote. He will replace Bolsonaro-appointee Augusto Aras.
Lula says his government managed to put a "communist" on the Supreme Court.
"You don't know how happy I am today. For the first time in the history of this country, we've managed to put a communist on the Supreme Court, a comrade of the quality of Flávio Dino," said the President of the Republic.
Dino is due to be sworn in as a Supreme Court minister officially on February 22. Until then, the former governor of Maranhão and senator will remain in charge of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. He will take over the position vacated by Rosa Weber, who retired at the end of September.
A few good Canada news/media sites:
Thenarwhal.ca - enviromental, resource sector stories with a fair amount of focus on indigenous perspectives. Great photography too
Readthemaple.com - Canada geopolitical news and analysis
Thetyee.ca - West Coast progressive liberalism, libs but good on most topics
Alberta advantage podcast https://albertaadvantagepod.com/ - I'm not sure if they are explicitly communists but they are definitely good, lots of Canadian labour history
https://www.thecanadafiles.com/ - more Canadian foreign policy/geopolitics news
https://pvonline.ca/ - media outlet of Canada's cool CPC, the communist party of Canada
The Biden administration "Red light! Green light!" shtick rolls on.
White House walks back Biden remarks that Israel was losing international support over Gaza bombing
The White House went on the defensive Wednesday afternoon over Joe Biden’s eye-raising comments to Benjamin Netanyahu that Israel was losing international support because of its “indiscriminate bombing”, and that Netanyahu should change his hard-right dominated government.
John Kirby, strategic communications coordinator for the National Security Council, attempted to downplay the remarks of the US president at a lunchtime press briefing from the White House.
Biden’s comments were the sharpest public disagreement yet between the allies over the conduct and future of the war against Hamas.
Kirby was evasive when asked if it was the official US government position that Israel was indiscriminately bombing civilians:
The president was expressing concerns about the civilian casualties that we’ve seen. It’s reflective of our constant efforts to urge the Israelis to be as precise and careful as possible. We know they’ve stated their intent to reduce the casualties and they have acted on that. They are making efforts and they are taking steps, but we want to see, of course, more results in that regard. That’s what he’s referring to.
Similarly, Kirby avoided a question about what specific changes in the Israeli government Biden wanted to see:
It’s not for us to to dictate terms to a foreign sovereign government. Israel is a democracy. And the Israeli people get to decide what that government looks like and they did. And we respect that. That’s what democracy is all about. We’re not dictating terms to the Israelis one way or the other.
- The Guardian
Anyone know about the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation? Recently discovered their existence through the posting of garbage articles such as this:
https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/51112/against-the-logic-of-violence
warning: weapons grade both sides nonsense
The horrific images of murder, hostage-taking, and destruction in Israel and Palestine bear witness to an inhuman brutality that deeply disturbs us. We are shocked by the attacks of Hamas on innocent civilians in Israel. We are also shocked by the closure and bombardment of the Gaza Strip, which primarily affects a defenceless civilian population. More death, suffering, and a humanitarian catastrophe are the consequences.
The Rosa Luxemburg Foundation mourns all the victims of the massacres, bombings, and acts of violence. Our thoughts are with the families and friends of the victims.
The renewed escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine is an expression of the political failure to find a just and lasting peace solution to the conflict that has lasted for decades. This political failure is also a failure of the international community. If the escalation of violence cannot be contained quickly, the conflict threatens to become internationalized with unforeseeable consequences.
Together with our colleagues in the offices in Tel Aviv and Ramallah as well as numerous partner organizations, we have camnpaigned on the ground for years for an end to the logic of violence. The people on both sides of the barriers and checkpoints need peace, social justice, full democratic participation, equal rights, and solidarity. For this to happen, an end to Israel’s occupation policy, which violates international law, and the construction of settlements in the West Bank is just as indispensable as the strengthening of a secular and democratic civil society, towards which we work in both Israel and Palestine.
Also this:
https://www.rosalux.de/en/news/id/51361/mandela-forever
warning: weapons grade ultra leftism:
The first formal talks between the ANC and the apartheid state began in the weeks that followed Mandela’s release, taking the form of a series of personal meetings between South African President Frederik Willem de Klerk and Mandela. This sent a clear signal that much of the early negotiations would be dominated by personalized engagement between the two “big men”, as opposed to a more democratic, collective process — a trend that continued until a final political agreement was reached over three years later.
Even if it did not appear as such at the time, the personalized nature of the negotiations was hugely important for two reasons: it cemented Mandela’s almost supernatural status outside and beyond the democratic collective of the ANC and its allies, the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the Communist Party (SACP), and laid the foundations for what were later to become a series of secret negotiations around post-apartheid economic policy involving a select group of ANC leaders and representatives of domestic and foreign capital.
Around the same time, Mandela set off on the first of many foreign trips, during which, as the political and moral symbol of South African’s liberation struggle, he was feted as a hero wherever he went and fawned over by heads of state. While this was to be expected given Mandela’s personal sacrifices and disarming humility, it opened up organizational and ideological space for him to walk back long-held and popular ANC policies such as nationalizing the mines, the financial institutions, and the commanding heights of the economy. It also facilitated his hypocritical and unapologetic acceptance of large amounts of funding for the ANC from the likes of the Suharto military dictatorship in Indonesia and the autocratic monarchy of Saudi Arabia.
I was very confused just now. I got a notification on my phone that just said PFLP. I guess I set a reminder that today is the anniversary of the founding of the PFLP.
RIP to Rudy G (pictured here at 29 years old) at the hands of New Jersey loan sharks.
There are generous basic salaries totaling four million euros for the board members last year, company cars for professional and private use, rental subsidies for second homes and other extras. But no one wants to miss out on the bonuses.
The bosses define goals that can be easily achieved or exceeded, which compensate for the rather poor performance in the areas of route renovation, punctuality and customer satisfaction.
If goals such as customer satisfaction and punctuality are not achieved, employee satisfaction, the number of ICE trains provided or increasing the proportion of female managers take effect. So it doesn't matter to the management team that they claim zero percent target achievement in terms of punctuality and customer satisfaction.
full article
It's worth being a member of the seven-member board of Deutsche Bahn AG: the bosses of the ailing state-owned company will receive a total of almost five million euros in bonuses for 2022.
There are generous basic salaries totaling four million euros for the board members last year, company cars for professional and private use, rental subsidies for second homes and other extras. But no one wants to miss out on the bonuses. Due to the electricity price cap introduced in 2022, they were not allowed to be paid out in the meantime because the state-owned company took advantage of the subsidy. With their cancellation, the bonuses will subsequently flow in full, as NDR, WDR and Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) reported on Monday.
Since bonuses are usually linked to particularly good performance, the question arose as to how the railway board justified the distribution. It's simple: The bosses define goals that can be easily achieved or exceeded, which compensate for the rather poor performance in the areas of route renovation, punctuality and customer satisfaction. In this way, each of the seven board members benefits from the well-filled bonus cornucopia. CEO Richard Lutz receives the largest share of this, around 1.3 million euros. Of this, he approved 384,000 euros for the “particularly satisfied” employees in 2022 and a higher proportion of female managers. This internal goal was only slightly exceeded, the three media reported. But the bonus for this area has increased significantly to 175 percent. All seven board members will benefit from the overachievement of the economic result for 2022, each with a double bonus. And each of them receives further extra payments for achieving individual goals. For example, for the railway boss, this is the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. Berthold Huber, responsible for long-distance transport at Bahn AG, received a special bonus because he was able to have 284 ICE trains put into service ready for use instead of the minimum of 278. Ronald Pofalla (CDU), former head of the Chancellery under Angela Merkel, moved to the railway board eight years ago and, according to NDR, WDR and SZ, is said to have exceeded his task of maintaining the existing network in good quality by 200 percent. He has no longer been a member of the railway board since the end of April 2022.
However, how one can come to such assessments in view of regularly breaking power lines, dilapidated tracks and collapsing signaling technology remains the board's secret. Because they did not answer the request from NDR, WDR and SZ. But according to the internal documents that the research team was able to view, it is primarily the calculation bases that help every board member to receive the generous bonuses. If goals such as customer satisfaction and punctuality are not achieved, employee satisfaction, the number of ICE trains provided or increasing the proportion of female managers take effect. So it doesn't matter to the management team that they claim zero percent target achievement in terms of punctuality and customer satisfaction. In 2022, the satisfaction of passengers and clients for freight transport was far from the company's own targets - most notably in long-distance transport, where the target was missed by more than six percent.
The compensation system for the railway board is to be changed next year. The decision must be made by the supervisory board of Bahn AG, which includes state secretaries from the federal ministries of finance, economics and transport. Allegedly, the board members will receive a higher proportion of their remuneration as a fixed salary in the future. The bonus portion is to be reduced from around two thirds of the salary to fifty percent. However, the company did not want to comment on this when asked.
The revelations are also explosive against the background of the ongoing GDL labor dispute at the railway. Union boss Claus Weselsky had already criticized the DB bosses on Friday, who "serve themselves millions in salaries and offer employees to tighten their belts."
It must be so easy being one of those ghouls running the Deutsche Bahn into the ground.
Ignatius op-ed may indicate a shift in the CIA's view on US policy towards Israel:
In the West Bank, I saw how peace will require confrontation with Israel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/12/16/west-bank-settlers-violence-peace/
HELL yeah!
This MUST be shared far and wide. If you consider yourself anti-zionist, whether you are Jewish or Christian or Muslim or any person of conscience, religious or not, you will heed the words of this truly anti-zionist, anti-occupation Jewish comrade.
Your Thursday Briefing
The World Bank has warned that debt servicing costs are set to soar to crisis levels as high interest rates damage developing economies. If only there was some organization who could do something about this!
COP28 has ended with nearly 200 countries agreeing to transition away from fossil fuels and to triple renewable energy and double energy efficiency. Is it binding or non-binding? You already know the answer to that question. Onwards to a global warming of 2C!
The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that Poland must offer legal recognition of same-sex marriages. The ECHR cannot force countries to change their laws, but can induce monetary pressure. Under the recently-departed PiS party, they probably would have ignored this, but Donald Tusk's coalition has promised to introduce recognition for same-sex partnerships and has created a position of Minister for Equality in the cabinet; she has welcomed the ECHR's decision.
Xi Jinping has finished up his visit to Vietnam. In September, the US and Vietnam entered into a comprehensive strategic partnership (which China also has with Vietnam, by the way), which prompted western analysts to proclaim that Vietnam was being drawn into the US's orbit. On the contrary, China and Vietnam have just signed 30 agreements covering defense, trade, infrastructure, public security, joint maritime patrols, and supporting each others' path to socialism. In addition, Vietnam signed onto further cooperation in the Belt and Road Initiative, and the Two Corridors, One Belt program. It seems to me that Vietnam is - gasp - following its material interests by not cutting off either of its two single largest trading partners (exporting 28% of total exports to the US and 16% to China; importing 39% of total imports from China and 3% from the US).
China continues to be suffering from success, with overcapacity in the fields of electric vehicles and solar panels being a major challenge to tackle in 2024, and Chinese corporations are trying to sell their excess cheap EVs overseas. China dominates 80% of global supply chains of photovoltaic products and automotive batteries, and over 60% of the world's EVs were made in China. The US has kept these EVs solar panels at bay with tariffs and protectionism, disguised as the whole "democracy vs autocracy" thing. The EU is also unhappy, launching investigations into the EV sector. India has tariffs on Chinese photovoltaics and Turkey has tariffs on Chinese EVs too.
A Chinese banker has been jailed for life in the country's largest ever corruption case in the banking sector; it involved nearly $500 million from 1993 to 2001. The banker had been on the run for 20 years before being extradited from the US in 2021.
Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary has resigned as the political fundraising scandal escalates, in which he was embroiled. He is suspected of receiving the yen equivalent of $70,000 from kickbacks from fundraising events hosted by his party faction. The whole of the LDP has been under heavy scrutiny after its largest faction, Seiwaken, led by the late doohickeyified Shinzo Abe, failed to declare hundreds of millions of yen in fundraising events revenue, possibly pooling secret funds. Several other ministers have resigned, leading to the party's largest faction having no representatives within the Cabinet.
I am always kinda curious about what makes politicians resign. If I heard that a major UK politician or even ex-PM had been embroiled in some scandal - such as one to do with a particular disease - then not only would I not expect them to resign, I would expect them to fail upwards and be promoted.
The Niger-Benin crude pipeline, operated by the China National Petroleum Corporation and launched in November, will enable Niger to sell its crude oil internationally for the first time, hopefully beginning at the start of 2024. Niger will export 90,000 barrels per day and will get 25% of the revenue. Niger produces 110,000 barrels per day, and has a refinery capacity of 20,000 barrels per day. Tchiani plans to build a second refinery with the help of "external partners" to be refine more oil and not rely on crude oil.
The Mississippi river is having to be constantly dredged, removing the sediment to keep the river deep enough for barges to move down it, as 60% of America's exported grain travels the river by barge. This is becoming increasingly difficult as the regional climate swings wildly between rainstorms and droughts as climate change accelerates, and these swings cause sudden deposits of sediment in various chokepoints. All these millions of tons of sandy sediment has to go somewhere, and decades-long agreements on where to put it are running their course, and people don't tend to want a mountain of sand dumped on their farms, so there is growing difficulty in finding new storage.
Kadyrov has said that the Ukraine conflict will end by the spring or summer of 2024. It most definitely will not. He also mused that if Russia had been allowed by Putin to do what Israel has done to Gaza, the war would have been over in three months.
This profile in failure on zelensky history is worth if you want a long form read https://gordonhahn.com/2023/12/11/sad-clown-with-the-circus-closed-down-zelenskiys-demise/
I think it significantly over states how much of his failure is his compared to more systemic forces and issues, but it is nevertheless worth reading as part of the denouement of the political faction that the zelensky regime represents. Certainly some of the failures are specifically his, but a lot are more a reflection of the constraints on the historical moment in ukraine, pushed and pulled by so many foreign interests.
Argentine Economy Minister Luis Caputo begins the announcement of the government's economic measures.
"We are starting with the worst inheritance in history". "The beginning of all problems is the public deficit".
Luis Caputo, Argentina's Economy Minister, says that Argentina's economic problems are due to the fact that Argentinians are addicted to deficits.
He says they are going to do things differently from previous administrations by eliminating the problem of "debt addiction". Argentina's Economy Minister, Luis Caputo, announced the first measures of Javier Milei's government.
Some of them are:
- Government contracts of less than one year will be canceled.
- An end to the government's news agencies.
- Reduction of ministries from 18 to 9.
- Reduction of resources (to a minimum) for the country's provinces (Milei's party have no elected governor).
- No more public works in the country, and cancellation of those that have not yet begun.
- Reduction of subsidies for energy and public transport, freeing up the price.
- Keep only the benefits received directly.
- The exchange rate for the official Argentine dollar will be 800 pesos, up from 430 today.
Caputo also says that the coming months will be difficult.
He says that inflation could rise in the coming months, even more than it is now, because an uncomfortable truth is preferable to a comfortable lie. The low-income child benefit plan will be doubled, and the food card will be increased by 50%.
There will be no public works, and those that have been tendered but not started will be canceled. And those that have been started will be sold to the private sector.
Caputo is literally Macri's economy minister, the one responsible for making this whole economic crisis worse.
Peru: The Magistrate declared null the resolution of the Constitutional Court that allowed former dictator Alberto Fujimori's release from prison last Wednesday, in a ruling that was rejected by the majority of the country's population
Grover Norquist ...
Every government should look to Argentina.
so the US is sending a general and his staff to more directly command and control the Ukrainian war effort. this makes me think of gylippus, the spartan general who was sent to sicily to help syracuse against the athenian invasion. he either was integral to syracusean victory, helped, or at least didn't derail their victory. I can't off the top of my head think of high profile examples of individual generals sent to help allies/proxies that have fucked things up or otherwise lost spectacularly. I can think of proxy wars like this like vietnam, afghanistan (soviets and americans), but I don't know of specific generals that were defeated and left with a reputation for failure in the same way that gylippus' place in history is the opposite. Are there any like this?
New Israeli airstrike on Syrian capital injures two soldiers
"The new Israeli act of aggression came a week after a similar strike on areas near Damascus, which only caused limited material losses."
Milei government confirms massive devaluation of peso
spoiler
First measures announced by Economy Minister Luis Caputo; Official dollar moves from around 400 to 800 pesos per greenback, among host of other measures.
President Javier Milei's government launched a major devaluation of the peso on Tuesday and a host of other measures as it attempts to head off a major economic crisis.
Economy Minister Luis Caputo, speaking in a delayed pre-recorded message, said that the peso would pass to 800 per United States dollar – a devaluation of more than 50 percent.
"The official exchange rate will go to 800 pesos" to the US dollar, up from 391 pesos earlier in the day, Caputo announced as part of a raft of "shock" measures to tackle triple-digit-inflation and cut spending. He also announced a reduction in the state's generous subsidies of fuel and transport, without saying by how much.
Caputo announced around 10 measures in total, with most dedicated to slashing government spending. They included pre-announced steps like halving the number of government ministries and slashing secretariats. Money transfers to provincial governments (“discretionary transfers”) will also be trashed while all ongoing public works projects without external financing will be immediately suspended. “State employment contracts which have been in force for less than a year will not be renewed," said Caputo.
Other spending cuts he announced include the suspension of all state advertising for a year – which, he said, had cost 34 billion pesos in 2023. Subsidies for transport and energy services – huge expenditure for Argentina's government – will also be slashed, he said, without providing further details. “This is the correct path,” declared Caputo, warning that continuing the status quo would lead Argentina into an even deeper crisis.
“We have to avoid catastrophe,” he said, due to “the worst inheritance” in the nation’s history. Echoing the line Milei used often on the campaign trail and in his inaugural speech, the minister declared: "There is no money." Moments before the announcement, the new Central Bank Governor Santiago Bausili summoned representatives from all the nation’s banks to a meeting scheduled for 9am Wednesday.
This is an important bit. Milei's last efforts during the campaign were to coin the phrase "No hay más plata" (There's no more money). According to him, and to the libertarians, the state's treasury is completely dry and there's no cash for anything other than "the essentials". This means, for example, all public works are to be halted and taken over by the private sector. This might also serve as the basis for future massive privatizations, since the state "must get money", therefore it will be "necessary" to privatize as many state services as possible...
IMF approval
In an attempt to compensate for the loss of purchasing-power, Caputo said the government would raise child benefit and food stamp payments by 50 percent. There was no word on any measures to protect the retired and elderly, a sector of the population which will be hit hard by the new measures.
While Caputo announced the exchange rate would slide to 800 pesos to the dollar, from about 391 in recent days, there was no immediate mention of the lifting of strict currency controls which have birthed a multitude of dollar exchanges and a thriving black-market where the dollar has sold for up to three times the official rate at times. Argentina’s government has for years strictly controlled the exchange rate of the peso to the dollar, which analysts have derided as an expensive fiction. The announcements won the immediate approval of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which said the austerity was "aimed at improving public finances."
“IMF staff welcome the measures announced earlier today by Argentina’s new Economy Minister Luis Caputo. These bold initial actions aim to significantly improve public finances in a manner that protects the most vulnerable in society and strengthens the foreign exchange regime. Their decisive implementation will help stabilise the economy and set the basis for more sustainable and private-sector led growth," read a statement signed by IMF Communications Director Julie Kozack. "IMF staff and the new Argentine authorities will work expeditiously in the period ahead. Following serious policy setbacks over the past few months, this new package provides a good foundation for further discussions to bring the existing Fund-supported programme back on track," it concluded.
'Economic disaster'
In his recorded message – which included a lengthy opening section in which Caputo tried to explain the rationale for the measures – the minister attempted to underline the severity of the “economic disaster” facing Argentina. The minister said the country had an "addiction" to spending to more than it earns, and had posted a fiscal deficit for 113 of the past 123 years.
Consumer prices have risen by more than 140 percent over the last 12 months and more than 40 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. “The fiscal deficit exceeds 5.5 points of gross domestic product with a Central Bank with an absolutely deteriorated balance sheet, without dollars in its assets and printing money of more than 20 points of GDP, thus causing inflation to currently sail at 300 percent per year and punish Argentines every day,” claimed Caputo.
He assured that the genesis of the problem "has always been the fiscal deficit," as he outlined the package of economic measures. "If we continue as we are, we are inevitably heading towards hyperinflation," he declared. "What we come to do is the opposite of what has always been done... to solve this problem at root, precisely so that we do not have to suffer these consequences anymore," said Caputo. In relation to discretionary transfers from the National State to the provinces, Caputo maintained that they will be reduced "to a minimum" and added that these are "funds which, unfortunately, in our recent history have been used as a bargaining-chip to exchange political favours".
With regard to public works, Caputo announced that "the National State will not tender any more new public works and will cancel the approved tenders whose development has not yet begun."
"The reality is that there is no money to pay for more public works which, as all Argentines know, often end up in the pockets of politicians or businessmen on duty." Presidential Spokesman Manuel Adorni had attempted to highlight the inheritance received by the Milei administration in his daily press conference and anticipated some of the announcements, such as a complete suspension of state advertising in media outlets.
"The measures will be in line with a strong fiscal cut, with some expansion in social items and this package will be accompanied by the removal of privileges," trailed the spokesman. Caputo's presentation was made after markets closed. Reaction is likely to come thick and fast on Wednesday morning. Local reporting said a first take at the video had been rejected by Caputo and others in Milei's government. The video was reportedly re-recorded and eventually released two hours after initially planned.
Milei's vow
Upon taking office last Sunday, Milei vowed to introduce a set of emergency measures he argued would save the country from “hyperinflation.” The 53-year-old libertarian and self-described "anarcho-capitalist" took office on Sunday vowing to slash public spending, warning the situation was likely to get a lot worse before it gets better. Annual inflation is currently at 140 percent and poverty levels at 40 percent in Latin-America's third-biggest economy. Milei has vowed to cut spending by five percent of gross domestic product and has already streamlined the government from 18 ministries to nine. Recent governments have been heavy on intervention in prices and currency controls, welfare handouts and subsidies of fuel and transport – bus tickets cost only a few dollar cents.
During his campaign Milei's main vow was to ditch the peso for the US dollar and shut down the Central Bank. However, with little power in Congress he has been forced to ally with members from the right-wing PRO party and has watered down some of his more fiery stances. Milei and his government have doubled down on the message that inflation, and the general economic situation, will worsen significantly before they get better. "We are going to be in poverty, and the situation is going to be much harder," said teacher Gabriel Álvarez, 57, reacting to the announcements.
The left-wing members of Peru's Congress have tabled a motion for a vacancy against the country's President, Dina Boluarte.
The motion is based on the fact that the President dispatched from abroad, which she was not authorized to do.
In Peru, for a President to be able to leave the country for any reason, he or she must ask Congress for authorization, and Congress must expressly authorize the President's departure and return days.
Failure to do so is grounds for a vacancy petition.
(Additional words of satire have been grafted onto the article by me.)
Slimes of Isra-hell say
Army in response to white phosphorus report: IDF only uses legal weaponry
By herr EMANUEL von FABIAN
In response to a report by the Washington Post earlier today, which says the IDF used white phosphorus shells during an attack in southern Lebanon, the military says, “The IDF only uses legal weaponry.”
So did the nazis
“The main smoke shells used by the IDF do not contain white phosphorus. Similar to many Western armies, the IDF also has smoke shells that contain white phosphorus, which are legal according to international law, and the choice to use them is influenced by operational considerations and availability compared to alternatives,” the IDF says.
We don't use whisky pete, but we have a shitton of it and it's totally legal to use. But we don't use it, of course.
“These shells are intended for smokescreens, and not for an attack or ignition, and they are not legally defined as incendiary weapons,” it continues.
Smokescreen for burning civilians alive
The IDF says that under its existing procedures, white phosphorus shells are not to be used in urban areas, “except in certain exceptional cases.”
Which means they're totally used in urban areas
“These restrictions are in line with international law, and are even stricter than [the latter],” the IDF says.
Strictly pencil-whipping the legal mumbo-jumbo so it's in compliance on paper
The Washington Post report wrongly claims Israel pledged in 2013 to stop using white phosphorus, while in fact the military said it would limit the use, largely moving to use other means to create smokescreens for troops. However, it has reserved the right to use such shells in certain, undisclosed cases that have been approved by the Supreme Court (the uses were not detailed to the public for reasons of security).
The zionists do not lie except when they're caught mid-lie, then it is the whistle-blower that's lying. Zionists are always on the right side of history no matter what the truth is.
Europeans Negotiate the Conflict Behind Ukraine's Back: Lavrov
The Russian foreign affairs minister described the situation as an act of hypocrisy and cunning.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that several European leaders have attempted over the past six months to negotiate with Moscow regarding the Ukrainian conflict without involving Kiev.
"Certain well-known Western leaders, particularly one, through three different channels, have sent signals for us to meet and discuss what to do about Ukraine and European security," he said during a press conference alongside his Belarusian counterpart, Sergey Aleinik.
Lavrov, who stated he neither wanted nor had the right to "mention names," described this situation as an act of hypocrisy and cunning.
Western politicians "have five Fridays every week and lie shamelessly. When they declared and continue to declare by inertia that they will not negotiate anything about Ukraine without Ukraine, this is nothing but hypocrisy," he noted.
The Russian diplomat indicated that the contacts were not direct leader-to-leader, despite politicians having "direct access" to their Moscow counterparts. "But these are the tricks we have observed over the last six months," he added.
"If someone is interested in ending attempts to ensure their security at the expense of others' security, ending attempts to restrict Russia's legitimate interests and the legitimate interests of Russians living in many countries on our continent, then welcome. We are always ready to seriously discuss these issues," Lavrov affirmed.
However, he ruled out Moscow being willing to negotiate with those who condition future contacts on Russia's defeat in Ukraine.
Russia has declared multiple times that it is open to negotiations with Ukraine and blames Kiev for rejecting dialogue under the decree of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, prohibiting any dialogue with President Vladimir Putin.
Lavrov also accuses the West, particularly the United Kingdom, of persuading Zelensky to reject the Istanbul Agreements reached between Russia and Ukraine in April 2022.
Your Tuesday Briefing
Either my standards have gone up or there really isn't much going on right now.
French lawmakers have rejected an immigration bill that would facilitate the deportation of migrants "who pose a serious threat to the public order", increase resources to combat smuggling networks, and grant one-year work visas to irregular migrants working off-the-books in sectors with labour shortages. The right rejected it for being too friendly to migrants - they wanted even greater tools to get rid of them. The left rejected it for being not friendly enough to migrants - they wanted irregular migrants to be given an unconditional right to stay and work in France.
After the PiS party in Poland refused to go gently into that good night after losing a majority in parliament, they tried to rule as a minority government and have now been forced out due to a vote of no confidence, and Donald Tusk has been elected the new Prime Minister, ending the two-term rule of the radical right-wing party.
Iran is launching a joint venture with Chinese tech companies to employ AI to digitalize production in oil and gas fields, hoping for a 20% improvement in efficiency. This is probably just gonna be some kind of advanced algorithm that for some reason is being called "AI" because that's the mandatory buzzword to attract funding. I love that the image that the author chose for this article is something from like, a futuristic citybuilding game. Anyway.
South Korea's President has kicked off a visit to the Netherlands to forge a chip alliance between the two chip powerhouses, visiting, in particular, ASML, which makes the cutting edge chipmaking equipment that the world relies on. I assume that the entire point of this meeting will be to try and find ways to make the sanctions on China actually work, and they will obviously fail, as western sanctions are increasingly meaningless.
Due to a union dispute, 400 miners were underground for four days in South Africa, eventually forced to leave due to hunger and thirst. There was a similar event in October. To be honest, I've read several articles covering this and I have no idea what's going on with South African miners right now.
The UN mission in Mali, MINUSMA, lowered the UN flag at its headquarters in Bamako, closing ten years of deployment after the government ordered them out due to their ineffectiveness in solving the crisis.
The US has hit companies in Turkiye, the UAE, and China with more sanctions to try and stop Russia from obtaining "high priority" goods like microchips. Why are we still doing this? What's the definition of insanity again?
The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, likened Gaza to "hell on earth".
Back in Gaza, endless deepening tragedy. People are everywhere, live in the street, need everything. They plead for safety & for an end to this hell on earth. Our colleagues are asked to do the impossible in what is an impossible situation.
He must have gotten exhausted by the hostility.
Who can reply?
Accounts @UNLazzarini follows or mentioned can reply
The UK government has suggested it is preparing to follow the United States in imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers responsible for attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.
Andrew Mitchell, the senior Foreign Minister, told MPs the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron, had discussed the proposal last week with his US counterpart, Antony Blinken.
The US announced last week that Israeli settlers responsible for what it called extremist violence would be subject to a visa ban and would be unable to travel to America.
Mitchell was responding to a question from the Shadow Foreign Secretary David Lammy who asked if the government agreed that settlers involved in “attacks, serious criminal activity and fostering hatred” should be subject to travel bans.
Mitchell replied by saying that targeted killings of civilians in the West Bank were “completely abhorrent” and the UK was pushing for those responsible to be prosecuted and punished.
He added: "In terms of his comment about travel bans, I can tell him that planning is going on. The Foreign Secretary discussed this with his US counterpart last week and I hope it may be possible to say something about that shortly."
- BBC
Mauricio Macri rejected dollarization and called for a common currency with Brazil
The former president participated in an economic forum in the neighboring country where he ruled out a plan to dollarize the economy and strongly defended Javier Milei's fiscal adjustment program.
After attending Javier Milei's inauguration ceremony, former President Mauricio Macri participated in an economic forum in Sao Paulo, where he ruled out an eventual dollarization of the Argentine economy and, instead, proposed the creation of a common currency with Brazil.
According to Brazilian media, Macri took part in a meeting organized by the XP stock exchange agency and reinforced the idea of bilateralism with the neighboring country: "We have to move forward in a monetary unification. The single currency would strengthen Argentina more initially, but both countries in the long term".
Mauricio Macri discarded an eventual dollarization In this sense, the former head of state rejected the possibility of changing the monetary sign and gave the Ecuadorian model as an example. "I understand the symbolic advantages of dollarization, but Ecuador had a fiscal deficit again", he pointed out.
Regarding the application of an alternative economic policy that binds the economic destinies of the countries of the region, the founder of Pro insisted that "if Mercosur is serious, we need to have the same rules and the same currency, like the Euro zone".
"Having fiscal seriousness, there may come a time when what we talked about with (former Minister of Economy Paulo) Guedes and (former President Jair) Bolsonaro will make a lot of sense", he judged.
Mauricio Macri defended Milei's adjustment plan
On the other hand, the portal Valor Económico reported Mauricio Macri's statements on the deep fiscal adjustment postulated by Javier Milei. "We have an unprecedented opportunity in 100 years. If this man (Milei) imposes the change, we will see something unprecedented. The show is about to begin", he enthused.
On the libertarian's plan to abruptly reduce the deficit of the national State, Macri stressed that the incoming government will have to apply a "freezing of all possible public expenditures to generate balance".
Milei cannot spend more than what is coming in and that is what he is going to do in the next 90 days. And he has public acceptance for that. He said that yesterday and everyone present applauded. The common Argentinean perceived that the story that the State solves everything is a lie", he asserted.
And he continued: "He won the elections saying that he would make the adjustment, so he has the authority to make the necessary adjustments, something that was forbidden to do in Argentina. Today he himself said that the adjustment has a better image than him as president".
Following this line of argument, the former president again praised the inaugural speech of the leader of La Libertad Avanza by stating that he would not change "not even a comma". "It was perfect, especially from the liberal point of view. The ideas he defends are the ones I always defended", he identified himself.
When asked about the harsh criticism that the new president launched against his Brazilian peer Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, whom he had called "corrupt" and "communist", the Boca Juniors vice-presidential candidate tried to lower his tone: "He is very pragmatic, he learns fast".
The now-deleted page on Kan’s website was headlined, “Love sanctified by blood: The children of the Gaza envelope re-record The Friendship Song.”
It is unclear why Kan removed the video, but it is possible that someone there was concerned that it could make the channel complicit in genocide.
That’s a lot of storytelling in two sentences.
Market in Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp turned into gravesite
A video posted on social media by Al Jazeera Arabic shows how people in Gaza have been forced to convert a bombed-out market area into a makeshift gravesite for the many killed by Israel’s bombardments.
Some of the graves are marked with signs in Arabic; others with rocks and broken concrete.
Video - Nitter
[Translation: The Israeli siege of the northern outskirts of the Gaza Strip forced residents of the Jabalia refugee camp to turn the market’s courtyard into a site for a mass grave.]
- Al Jazeera
The weekly update is here on the website.
The Country of the Week is Canada!
As mentioned in the preamble, feel free to post or recommend any material related to Canada, whether from a thousand years ago or yesterday. You can post it anywhere in the thread, but you can also reply to this comment if you wish.
If you're feeling particularly ambitious and want homework, you could take on any or all of these questions (no reward, but I'll be very proud of you):
- Who are the main political actors? Are they compradors, nationalists, international socialists, something else?
- What are the most salient domestic political issues; those issues that repeatedly shape elections over the last 10, 20 years. Every country has its quirks that complicate analysis - for example, Brexit in the UK.
- What is the country's history? You don't have to go back a thousand years if that's not relevant, and I'm counting "history" as basically anything that has happened over a year ago.
- What factions exist, historically and currently? If there is an electoral system, what are the major parties and their demographic bases? Are there any minor parties with large amounts of influence? Independence movements? Religious groups?
- How socially progressive or conservative are they? Is there equality for different ethnic groups, or are some persecuted? Do they have LGBTQIA+ rights? Have they improved over time, or gotten worse?
- What role do foreign powers play in the country’s politics and economy? Is there a particular country nearby or far away that is nearly inseparable from them, for good or bad reasons? Is their trade dominated by exports/imports to one place? Are they exploited, exploiters, or something in between?
- If applicable, what is the influence of former colonial relationships on the modern economy and politics?
- Is the country generally stable? Do you think there will be a coup at some point in the future, and if so, what faction might replace them?
The previous country was Laos.
This is our Geopolitics Reading List so far! Please chime in with suggestions!
General Theory:
- Super Imperialism, by Michael Hudson.
- Imperialism in the Twenty-First Century: Globalization, Super-Exploitation, and Capitalism’s Final Crisis, by John Smith.
- Superexploitation and the Imperialist Drive of Capitalism: How Marini's 'Dialectics of Dependency' Goes beyond Marx's 'Capital', by Andy Higginbottom.
- Capital Volume 3 Lecture Series, 32 videos, 10-15 minutes each, by Andy Higginbottom.
- World-Systems Analysis: An Introduction, by Immanuel Wallerstein.
- Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire, by Radhika Desai.
- Capitalism, Coronavirus and War: A Geopolitical Economy, by Radhika Desai.
Canada:
- Canada in the World: Settler Capitalism and the Colonial Imagination, by Tyler Shipley.
Chile:
- 1000 Days of Revolution: Chilean Communists on the Lessons of Popular Unity (I cannot personally find an online version).
- Santiago Boys Podcast, analyzing Allende's government and Cybersyn.
Lebanon:
- A History of Modern Lebanon, by Fawwaz Traboulsi.
United States:
- Drug Cartels Do Not Exist: Narcotrafficking in US and Mexican Culture, by Oswaldo Zavala.
Venezuela:
- Objective Conditions in Venezuela: Maduro’s Defensive Strategy and Contradictions Among the People, a longform article by Steve Ellner.
Congress approves bill barring presidents from unilaterally exiting NATO
Congress this week approved a measure aimed at preventing any U.S. president from unilaterally withdrawing the United States from NATO without congressional approval. Passage came amid long-standing concerns that Donald Trump may try to exit the alliance if he returns to office.
The provision was included in the National Defense Authorization Act, an annual bill detailing defense policy, which was passed by the House on Thursday and is awaiting the signature of President Biden.
Under the measure, advocated by Sens. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), the president would be prohibited from withdrawing from NATO without the approval of two-thirds of the Senate or separate legislation passed by Congress.
Kaine and Rubio had tried to advance similar measures since 2021. Passage of the defense policy bill this week marked the first time the House had embraced the tactic.
The Republican-led House Armed Services Committee did not respond to questions about why the chamber accepted the provision. The office of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) declined to comment.
The bipartisan attempt to add checks and balances highlights the lengths Congress is willing to go to protect the U.S.-NATO relationship amid ongoing Russian aggression and following years of criticism of the military alliance during Trump’s presidential tenure.
President Biden has sought to reassert the leadership role of the United States in global diplomacy, helping galvanize NATO member countries in support of Ukraine following Russia’s invasion and encouraging efforts to expand the alliance to include Finland and Sweden.
During his presidency, Trump frequently lambasted the alliance, accusing its members of being “delinquents” and questioning the wisdom of NATO’s collective defense clause.
Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which formed the legal basis for NATO, states that an armed attack on one member of the alliance will be viewed as an attack on all of them, and that they will defend one other.
In 2018, Trump publicly mused about why the United States might come to the aid of NATO member Montenegro, saying that sending troops from the alliance to defend an “aggressive” ally could result in World War III.
Former Trump aides, including former national security adviser John Bolton, have said they feared at times that Trump could pull the United States out of the alliance. But Trump and his allies argue that his tough approach to NATO pushed member states to boost their defense spending obligations and strengthened the alliance.
Kaine, in a statement, said that the provision in the defense policy bill affirmed “U.S. support for this crucial alliance” and sent “a strong message to authoritarians around the world that the free world remains united.”
Rubio said in a statement: “The Senate should maintain oversight on whether or not our nation withdraws from NATO. We must ensure we are protecting our national interests and protecting the security of our democratic allies.”
While the defense policy bill is set to be signed into law by Biden, it’s unclear how exactly a scenario might play out in which the president and Congress are at odds over NATO membership.
Michael E. O’Hanlon, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, pointed out that there is precedent for presidents withdrawing unilaterally from treaties without consulting Congress. A chief executive conceivably could push back on efforts to restrict that — particularly if the treaty addresses the United States’ defense posture abroad.
A “future president might challenge such an effort and invoke the president’s authorities as commander in chief under Article 2 of the Constitution,” O’Hanlon said in an email. “It would, I think, be uncharted territory if this issue were forced to a confrontation.”
A Kaine aide said that while the Constitution is clear about the process to enter a treaty — including ratification by the Senate — it is silent on withdrawal. The provision offered by Kaine and Rubio was an attempt to offer specific guidance about the process, said the aide, who was not authorized to speak publicly on the legislation and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
If a president violates the law, Congress can seek recourse in the courts, the aide said.
Peru: Congress to Debate Dismissal of National Justice Council
For the removal of the JNJ members to proceed, the motion must receive a minimum vote of 87 out of 130 legislators.
On Friday, the Peruvian Congress will decide whether to remove the members of the National Council of Justice (JNJ), the highest body in the Judiciary.
"The removal of the seven members of the National Council of Justice is nothing but its liquidation. Unfortunately, it implies impunity," JNJ Vice President Aldo Vasquez denounced.
The motion is driven by legislators Jorge Montoya and Alejandro Muñante of the Renewal Popular party. These far-right politicians accuse the JNJ of "blatantly committing acts contrary to the law" for suspending magistrate Patricia Benavides as attorney general.
This measure was taken by the JNJ after a special team of anti-corruption prosecutors and the National Police (PNP) opened an investigation into an alleged network of influence trafficking within the Public Ministry.
The investigation targets an alleged network accused of illicitly influencing "decisions of congressmen" for the removal of JNJ members, the appointment of the current ombudsman, Josue Gutierrez, and the disqualification of former attorney general Zoraida Avalos.
Jaime Villanueva, who was one of the chief advisors to the prosecutor, was released last week after agreeing to cooperate with justice and acknowledging the truth of the chats that led to the investigation into the coordination he carried out on behalf of Benavides.
However, Montoya and Muñante claim that the JNJ violated norms by suspending the attorney general directly without prior authorization from Congress, as she held immunity from the position. Therefore, they request the immediate removal of the JNJ members.
On Thursday, Muñante stated that it is necessary to give the magistrates a "restraining order" after they left open the possibility of not appearing before the Congress.
The investigation targets an alleged network accused of illicitly influencing "decisions of congressmen" for the removal of JNJ members, the appointment of the current ombudsman, Josue Gutierrez, and the disqualification of former attorney general Zoraida Avalos.
Jaime Villanueva, who was one of the chief advisors to the prosecutor, was released last week after agreeing to cooperate with justice and acknowledging the truth of the chats that led to the investigation into the coordination he carried out on behalf of Benavides.
However, Montoya and Muñante claim that the JNJ violated norms by suspending the attorney general directly without prior authorization from Congress, as she held immunity from the position. Therefore, they request the immediate removal of the JNJ members.
On Thursday, Muñante stated that it is necessary to give the magistrates a "restraining order" after they left open the possibility of not appearing before the Congress.
Guatemala: Arevalo's Investiture Continues Under Legal Threats
On Sept.1, President-elect Bernardo Arevalo warned that Attorney General Porras was trying to carry out a coup d'état.
On Monday, the Prosecutor's Office and Criminal Judge Fredy Orellana pushed cases that might prevent Bernardo Arevalo from taking office as the President of Guatemala in January.
The Prosecutor's Office submitted a report of an investigation into alleged anomalies to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), deeming the elections won by Arevalo as "null and void." It asserted that irregularities had been detected in the first round's final records.
Despite these accusations, TSE President Blanca Alfaro reaffirmed that the election results are "unchangeable," pointing out that Arevalo must assume power on January 14.
Meanwhile, Judge Orellana sentenced an electoral official to 30 months in prison for alleged fake signatures used in the constitution of the Seed Movement, Arevalo's political party.
According to experts and Arevalo himself, the case of alleged fake signatures is part of the Public Prosecutor's attempts to prevent the elected president from taking office.
In the "fake signatures" case, Judge Orellana accuses also Arevalo, who enjoys double immunity since he is a legislator and president elect.
On Sept.1, Arevalo warned that Attorney General Consuelo Porras was trying to carry out a coup d'état through the manipulation of judicial processes.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-67748605
BP pauses all Red Sea shipments after rebel attacks
MNSBC anchor: "Let's move on to George Santos he was off cameo and in court today..."
I was watching speed chess listening to MSNBC in the background and my brain was in legal mode and the Latin phrase "in camera" flashed in my head. For a sec - I somehow thought "off cameo" was a legal term. Then I realized she had actually said "off Cameo".
Interesting article about the conflict
I reviewed my speed chess game. I missed checkmate in 7. I can only dream I could see that far. But It wasn't a big failure though. My opponent panicked and gave me checkmate in 3.
Apparently usaf is dispatching to Japan F-15EX planes to replace F-22 and f-35 planes to replace F-15 C/D planes.
Guatemalan Constitutional Court Backs Arevalo's Inauguration
The judges also called on outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei to promote national unity.
On Thursday, Guatemala's Constitutional Court ensured that the elected authorities from this year's general elections must take office in January, as mandated by the law.
The Court made this determination in response to a request from a group of lawyers who had filed a legal motion to safeguard democracy, given the attempts by the Prosecutor's Office to overturn the victory of President-elected Bernardo Arevalo.
The judges said that their decision is in line with the Court's ultimate goal of preserving the Rule of Law and pointed out that their ruling is timely to "safeguard the Constitutional order."
Nevertheless, the Constitutional Court specified that its decision "is without prejudice" to any investigation that the Prosecutor's Office may wish to carry out or to the "the Supreme Electoral Tribunal regarding serious evidence" related to the elections.
The Constitutional Court also urged the Congress to "guarantee" the scheduled inauguration on January 14, which was at risk after the the Prosecutor's Office requested on Dec. 8 to annul the elections due to alleged administrative irregularities by the electoral tribunal.
The judges of the Constitutional Court also called on outgoing President Alejandro Giammattei to promote national unity.
Since July, the Prosecutor's Office has sought to overturn Arevalo's victory. He is set to assume office with a strong anticorruption stance.
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Okay gamers, I've got my big interview today. Did a lot of prep for it yesterday, I guess we'll see how much that helps
Also they sent me an email near the end of the work day saying they would be "pursuing other candidates" but the person I'm interviewing confirmed it was an error, so that was interesting
My biggest hater is my own brain. I'll be minding my own business and then my brain goes "hey, kill yourself"
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