this post was submitted on 06 May 2024
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Image is of Stepanakert, essentially the capital of Nagorno-Karabakh. It is now a ghost city, and Azerbaijan has recently torn down the parliament building and various other important places. Sourced from this article.


Despite the predictions and assertions of various NATO-aligned commentators that Russia's influence is waning, the opposite generally appears to be occurring. ASEAN has become more strongly aligned with Russia despite claims to the contrary. In Central Asia, there has been a propaganda push to declare that countries there are "emerging from Russia's shadow", while in reality, as Bhadrakumar analyzes, Russia's significant economic growth and ongoing march towards victory in Ukraine is creating opportunities for further integration, not separation, and there are no major political shifts there in terms of Russian ties. And in Niger, Russian soldiers have now entered an airbase which once hosted American soldiers, now kicked out, and generally Russia's diplomacy and economic deals (nuclear power plant construction, military equipment, grain shipments, etc) have accelerated in Africa.

Where Russia's influence has actually seemed to decrease (outside of the West, of course) is in Armenia. Nagorno-Karabakh's remarkably rapid collapse in late 2023 demonstrated that Russia was not willing to escalate things in defense of Armenia to fend off Azerbaijan. One hundred thousand Armenians - most but not all of them in the region - fled in advance to avoid mass persecution, which received remarkably little attention by a West which calls itself overwhelmingly concerned with borders changing due to military action as in Ukraine. Since then, Armenia seems to be on some kind of self-annihilating bender, allured by the potential of Western military and economic deals. Armenia froze its membership in the CSTO due to its failure to protect them, and the head of NATO, Stoltenberg, visited the region in March. The West has offered up hundreds of millions of dollars in assistance to Armenia and is helping them "modernize their military"; given the poor track record of Western military equipment in Ukraine, one wonders why they're even bothering. RAND has advocated for a balancing act; America should, in their eyes, realize that they can't entirely remove Russia's influence but nonetheless should make inroads to protect Armenia from Azerbaijan (which is an interesting position given that Israel provided arms to Azerbaijan to help them take Nagorno-Karabakh).

A quick look at Armenia's geographical position reveals the folly of trying to create some kind of Western outpost. With a hostile Azerbaijan to their east, a very unfriendly (albeit NATO member) Turkiye to their west, an ascendant Iran to their south, and Russia not far from the action, there is little hope of doing much more than causing a little chaos in the hopes it'll momentarily distract Russia while it makes inroads most everywhere else on the planet. The political situation appears miserable for Pashinyan, but there isn't really a popular alternative to take the reins. A truly cursed situation.


The COTW (Country of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific country every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied nations. If you've wanted to talk about the country or share your experiences, but have never found a relevant place to do so, now is your chance! However, don't worry - this is still a general news megathread where you can post about ongoing events from any country.

The Country of the Week is Armenia! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

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.


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[–] spectre@hexbear.net 53 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Ms USA resigned recently, something that's never happened before. Her resignation letter contained a coded message reading I AM SILENCED HIP.

HIP are the initials of the director of the pageant.

A few months ago, control of the Ms USA Instagram account was taken from her, also atypical.

Something is up, is she anti-zionist?

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[–] Neptium@hexbear.net 53 points 2 years ago (11 children)

The Economist - In South-East Asia, the war in Gaza is roiling emotions

Far more than Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the war in Gaza is rattling public opinion in three key South-East Asian countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. The first two have Muslim-majority populations, and Singapore, largely ethnic-Chinese, has a Muslim minority of 16%. As on campuses in America and in street protests in Europe, the sympathies among those who are concerned about the conflict—and who in Singapore include many young non-Muslims—are for Palestinians suffering from Israel’s heavy-handed prosecution of the war.

Strong feelings have thus made the war a political challenge in ways that are connected, but also vary from country to country. Malaysia’s prime minister, Anwar Ibrahim, is by far the most strident leader in South-East Asia in support of the Palestinians. Mr Anwar has decried what he says was Western pressure to condemn Hamas, the hardline group ruling Gaza that started the war with a brutal raid on Israel.

While Palestine maintains an official embassy in Kuala Lumpur, Hamas can boast an unofficial one. Mr Anwar’s government has banned Israeli ships from docking. Politicians join rallies against the West’s backing of Israel.

Mr Anwar’s stance is no surprise. He has long espoused Palestinian independence. Malaysia itself has refused to recognise Israel. Meanwhile his chief challenge comes from PAS, an ultra-conservative Islamic group and the largest party in parliament. He cannot afford to let pas outflank him on religious issues, or he loses power.

comes from PAS, an ultra-conservative Islamic group

If PAS is ultra-conservative then every single Western political party is ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-ultra-conservative.

For now Mr Anwar sees little downside in his pro-Palestinian, anti-American stance. His government, keen on Western investment, says it is open for business. Yet more stridency may make investors wonder. As it is, Malaysia’s religiously tolerant ethnic minorities are growing more uncomfortable with the increased religiosity that the Gaza war has helped feed.

The government has drank the neoliberal Kool-Aid of foreign investments, yes, but seemingly these Western companies continue to keep coming despite the geopolitical positions of the country.

These fake concern for investments acting like the West and particularly the US are their biggest investors when that is not even the case for majority of ASEAN anymore.

In Indonesia feelings also run high. Yet the rhetoric among political leaders is relatively restrained. True, the government of Joko Widodo has condemned Israel’s imminent offensive on Rafah, Hamas’s last stronghold. And, in a recent opinion piece for The Economist that was widely cheered back home, the president-elect, Prabowo Subianto, condemned the West for caring more about Ukrainians’ fate than Palestinians’. Yet that is tame stuff compared with Mr Anwar: unlike Malaysia’s denial of Israel, Mr Prabowo calls for talks and a two-state solution. What factors explain the difference? Indonesia’s ties with Israel are closer than the elites like to let on.

Malaysian official foreign policy stance is still the two-state solution, although that has been obviously not mentioned in the context of the Zionist Regime’s relentless assault against the Palestinian people.

They include purchases of Israeli tech and weaponry. Before the war, secret talks looked likely to establish ties between the two countries, starting with reciprocal trade offices. Although Mr Prabowo denies Islamists’ claims that he is chummy with Israel, he is in little danger of being outflanked by hardliners, having absorbed key Muslim political groupings in his coalition. Domestic considerations count.

This is mostly true and Israeli-Indonesian relations will be mostly off the books by most accounts.

Any public relations, including normalization, despite Western sources stating otherwise, is near impossible. It’s not as likely as they otherwise try to picture.

Squeezed between Indonesia and Malaysia, Singapore has close security ties with Israel—two small states encircled by danger. Yet Gaza greatly complicates the relationship, on account of domestic feeling. As Lawrence Wong, the incoming prime minister, told The Economist this week, even though the war in Ukraine carries economic consequences for Singapore, at an emotional level it resonates little.

encircled by danger

Yeah the two states are similar in their racism against Muslims, with their founders being White supremacists and having disdain of Islam and indigenous people. Surprisingly, they have close relations, I know.

By contrast, though Gaza has had negligible economic effect, it has had “a much higher level of resonance”, given the plight of Palestinians. The concern is that communal tensions might surface in ways that strain Singapore’s famed social and religious harmony. That, says the government, is why pro-Palestinian demonstrations have been banned. Christians, who are generally pro-Israel and account for 19% of the population, would demand their own protests, thereby bringing religious discord into the open. The government also fears that Malaysian stridency could cross the bridge that joins the two countries and foster extremism in Singapore.

communal tensions

A common phrase echoed by the Singaporean establishment to justify their continual interference and authoritarian measures of silencing dissent.

The racial undertones are also perfectly clear to those that aren’t blind. Who are the instigators in the picture they are trying to portray? With whom are they trying to gaud into being against?

This “surrounded by nefarious and scheming Muslims” rhetoric has been the hallmark of Singapore’s post independence psyche because it precisely justifies its own existence.

It is patently false since Malaysia has a larger Chinese population than Singapore’s total population. It ignores the fact that by declaring independence it put the Chinese in neighbouring Malaysia in jeopardy. This is why I say Singapore’s independence has been selfish. It was done to maintain the rule and capital accumulation of the colonial-era anglophone Singaporean bourgeoisie who would lose many of its privileges under a partnership with Malaysia.

This post-hoc justification is nothing but that, fluff that ironically, despite what they say, actually inflames racial and communal divisions more.

Bringing up the 19% Christian population is nothing but a diversionary tactic that ignores the realities of the mass support for Palestine. The Singaporean government simply doesn’t take the step forward because it would anger their monopoly-Capital overlords based in London and New York. It would challenge the long-standing justifications of their existence and bring about a truly progressive and international outlook that they truly despise.

The necessary response, Mr Wong says, is “to go out [and] explain to our people the positions that Singapore has taken”. That includes condemning Israel’s heavy hand, urging for a ceasefire and a two-state solution and providing aid to beleaguered Palestinians. Those steps are surely right in themselves. But in South-East Asia, when dealing with a distant war, never ignore factors that are close-to-hand.

Singapore’s position is closer to that of her European parents, which remains unsurprising as they have been colonised economically and spiritually. Singapore continues to contribute to the “accumulation of waste”, as coined by Ali Kadri, contributing to Israeli’s defense industry to defend against a mythical invasion from those dastardly Muslims.

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[–] Lenins_Cat_Reincarnated@hexbear.net 52 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 children)

Continuation of student protests in The Netherlands:

Amsterdam: Hundreds of Amsterdam students, staff and concerned citizens occupied a university (UVA) building on Tuesday afternoon. Representatives had a conversation with the UVA board on Wednesday with no results. UVA has said that they would meet one of the demands by publishing a list of Israeli institutions they work with, they are legally required to do this and still haven’t. Demands of breaking all ties with Israel and allowing peaceful protest on campus were ignored. Instead the board decided to order the police to remove the protesters from the building. Around 5pm riot police violently infiltrated the building. Some protesters threw rocks at the police and there is a video of a protester spraying the police with fire extinguisher. A few protesters ended up with very serious injuries because of the police beatings.

In The Netherlands it’s common for public transport busses to be used at illegal protests to remove the protesters. While one group of protesters was still occupying the building, another group of protesters went elsewhere to the city for the support protest (support protests consists of those protesters who do not want to risk violent altercations with the police). The support protesters saw empty busses that were probably going to be used to arrest the occupant protesters. So they blocked these busses from getting to the occupied building. With no means to arrest hundreds of people, the riot police at the occupied building decided to only arrest a few protesters while letting the rest run away from their beatings.

The situation in the city was very chaotic that evening, with protest groups emerging and fleeing whenever the police would show up. During the night the protests stopped because the police destroyed all encampments.

Utrecht: Following Amsterdam’s example, Utrecht University students and staff organised a protest on Wednesday against the police violence from the previous day. In the evening they managed to occupy a university building and set up another encampment. The president of the university visited the encampment two times to tell the protesters to leave the building, but refused to talk about the demands of the demonstrators. At 1am the police was instructed to remove the protesters. Riot police entered the building and began violently rounding up the protesters. They used pepper spray on non-violent protesters and caused many injuries. There are reports that there were some undercover police at the encampment as well.

Utrecht University is closing all buildings for the rest of the week to prevent other buildings from getting occupied by protesters.

You can follow the Amsterdam and Utrecht encampments on instagram: @amsterdam.encampment @encampment.uu The Utrecht encampment also has twitter/X account: @UU_encampment

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On Thursday in Amsterdam thousands came to protest against Dutch support of Israel and police violence. In Utrecht hundreds of people came together with the same message.

Amsterdam protest organisers have decided to de-escalate due to increased violence by police and lack of medics in the organisation. They made a gofundme to cover legal help and (medical) supplies for future protests. Protests will continue but less disruptive. Utrecht has made no such statement (yet). A few Amsterdam protesters that were arrested will have hearings today that will be accompanied by a support protest.

An organisation of Dutch scholars for Palestine shared a petition to stop academic support for Israel by Dutch universities and a message to all students and staff at all universities to walk out on Monday at 11am. Huge protests are expected that day in remembrance of the Nakba.

Important instagram accounts for information: @amsterdam.encampment @encampent.uu @dutchscholarsforpalestine

[–] mkultrawide@hexbear.net 52 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (7 children)

Good read here if you want to be cheered up a bit. Tweet thread from a zionist blob ghoul who does Middle East policy and analysis for Breaking Defense, the Jerusalem Post, the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.

https://twitter.com/sfrantzman/status/1788623358097068147

TLDR - Zionists blob member admits Hamas is not weakened in any meaningful way and is basically holding all of the cards. They have shown back up in areas previously cleared by Israel because Israel is not willing to commit to an extended military occupation of Gaza. Or rather, as probably all of us could have imagined, Israel is actually being held back by Joe Biden and not being allowed to "take the gloves off" in Gaza. It's so funny that they are going to try and deal with the internal contradictions of this war by doing the "stabbed in the back" routine to Biden, after all he did for them. Serves you right, Genocide Joe.

Select quote:

Hamas is not weakened. There is no evidence that it is. It hasn't lost control of parts of Gaza and seen other polities rise in its place. It's true that it doesn't have the "infrastructure" it had before. But it can rebuild this. Labor costs are cheap in Gaza, that is how Hamas built the tunnels before.

pflp-octoplushie hamas-base the-boys-are-back-in-town

spoiler

One of the greatest misconceptions of the war, in my view, is that Hamas has taken heavy losses and is somehow on the ropes.

It is not. Hamas has returned to 90 percent of Gaza, mostly because Israel left every place it "cleared." The evidence for this is that Israel has gone repeatedly back into areas like Zaytun to fight Hamas again...it literally returns immediately after Israel leaves.

There is zero evidence that Hamas is under pressure. Hamas feels it is winning. Hamas may have lost thousands of its fighters, including senior commanders. But Hamas has ALWAYS been willing to take losses. It's entire history is full of it losing men, and having them detained and eliminated.

If Hamas was under pressure we would be seeing concessions. Israel claimed in November during the first hostage deal that pressure brings hostage released. Well...there is NO EVIDENCE that pressure was maintained and Hamas learned immediately that Israel was going to leave most of Gaza, all it had to do was wait.

How did Hamas know this? Probably the same way it knew on Oct 6 that Israel had been lured into believing Hamas is "deterred." Hamas passes messages to its leadership in Doha, and they talk to Doha and Doha is a major non-NATO ally and Doha and the US talk to Israel. So Hamas understood, either through channels or public details, that Israel was being asked to move to a "low intensity" conflict in December/January.

Who encouraged the US to pressure Israel to move to "low intensity" when Israel's own defense minister was saying that pressure would bring more hostage deals. Clearly Israel was asked to shift gears and probably told that if it did so then Hamas would make concessions. Israel shifted, Hamas didn't.

Then what happened? Israel withdrew from northern Gaza. Hamas rapidly returned, for instance 1,000 suspected terrorists went to Shifa hospital and were rounded up in a raid in March. But that raid also ended and Hamas returned again. We know that Israel was told by the US to basically do a de facto ceasefire for Ramadan in March. Probably Israel was told that if it did this then Hamas would also make concessions. But Hamas didn't make any concessions. Instead Israel got played again.

Then came April and by this time the US was moving to build the pier off of Gaza and the IDF withdrew from Khan Younis. Hamas returned to Khan Younis. Once again it seems Israel was told that if it held off on a Rafah op, then Hamas would make concessions in the hostage talks. Israel held off for a month. Hamas didn't make concessions. Israel got played again.

Each time Hamas was likely consulting its backers and handlers. For instance, its leadership went to Ankara, a NATO ally, in April. They were probably told "just wait a little more, pressure will build in the West and the war will end, you can keep the hostages and get the ceasefire and get the IDF to leave."

So Hamas held on. The campus protests began. Hamas rebuilt its positions and its forces. Hamas returned to most of Gaza and began coordinating attacks with PIJ, PFLP, DFLP and the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades to target Netzarim. Hamas felt it was winning and in the driver's seat and dictating the tempo of the war. It had the initiative.

Hamas knew it didn't need to make any conessions in the hostage talks because its two hosts (western allies) were getting the US and the West to raise the pressure on Israel. Then comes late April and discussions begin about munitions deliveries. Hamas may have been informed about this before the leak to media on May 3-4.

After the story about the munitions pause appears, Hamas targets Kerem Shalom. It now feels it has Israel in checkmate. It can target IDF troops who were staging for an eventual Rafah op, it may have even planned to lure Israel in, or create chaos between Israel and the US.

Hamas also knows that Ankara has sought to cut off trade and Doha is calling for international intervention to stop the Rafah Op. Now Hamas also lies on May 6 about accepting a hostage deal, which it changes at the last minute, apparently with knowledge of the "mediators."

Empowered by its sense that Israel has been given a red line against an operation, Hamas feels it now has a de facto ceasefire in most of Gaza, and Israel as de facto withdrawn from most of Gaza except the Netzarim corridor. Hamas increases attacks on the corridor. Israel goes into Zaytun on the night of May 8-9.

There is a narrative also in Israeli media that "Hamas cannot be defeated" and "it was unrealistic to think the hostages will return"...but that "Israel is winning" because Hamas has lost an estimated 10-14,000 fighters. I think this number is likely exaggerated and even if it isn't, Hamas has recruited half this number in 7 months of war. It is replenishing its ranks.

Hamas is not weakened. There is no evidence that it is. It hasn't lost control of parts of Gaza and seen other polities rise in its place. It's true that it doesn't have the "infrastructure" it had before. But it can rebuild this. Labor costs are cheap in Gaza, that is how Hamas built the tunnels before.

I don't doubt that we will be fed stories about how "Israel is winning" and "take the win" and we even were fed stories about a "picture of victory" when tanks rolled into Rafah. This is all designed to lure Israel into another trap, just like before Oct. 7 Israel was told Hamas was "deterred." This conflict has been stage-managed by Hamas backers and Israel has often been played.

We've seen this before. In other rounds of fighting with Hamas, Israel "took the win" and Hamas got stronger each time, exponentially stronger. Israel Israel decides to claim it "kind of won" now...then Hamas will return easily to Gaza and rebuild and then take over the West Bank.

What's shocking is how the int'l community and NGOs don't mind Hamas running Gaza, despite it murdering a 1,000 people. Despite it parading dead bodies in Gaza to crowds. Despite its crimes against humanity. A lot of the international community is taken in by Hamas somehow, probably due to the connections it has via its backers.

Hamas is also capable of lying, via the backers, and claiming it has suffered high losses and letting Israel "take the win" while Hamas prepares the next step. Beware of stories about this, unless they can be verified. And by verified, I mean Hamas being thrown out of power.

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[–] AssortedBiscuits@hexbear.net 52 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Zionist businessman with Mossad connections after getting owned by a new Egyptian resistance group:
https://twitter.com/revolutionaryem/status/1787965717188427901

Shalom from the children of Gaza

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[–] GlueBear@hexbear.net 51 points 2 years ago (9 children)
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[–] aaaaaaadjsf@hexbear.net 51 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

In today's edition of wtf are the DA (white liberal political party in South Africa, the official opposition to the ANC) doing in South African elections, the DA had an advertisement which depicted the burning of the South African flag 🇿🇦. This is extremely inflammatory as the flag 🇿🇦 is a symbol of national unity and healing post apartheid. It's a symbol of freedom from oppression and racism. Given senior DA officials recent racist statements, such as Hellen Zille saying that colonialism had positives, burning the flag of post apartheid South Africa did not go down well. As a result, the public broadcaster in the SABC has removed the advert from it's channels.

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[–] HarryLime@hexbear.net 50 points 2 years ago (1 children)

So is Macron actually starting World War 3?

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[–] companero@hexbear.net 50 points 2 years ago (10 children)
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[–] InevitableSwing@hexbear.net 50 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Call me crazy but a pointless purely performative "red line" is ridiculous. Biden might as well call it the pointless purely performative pline. The "p" is silent. Or not.

The White House thinks the Israeli operation to capture the Rafah crossing doesn't cross President Biden's "red line" that could lead to a shift in U.S. policy towards the Gaza war.

https://www.axios.com/2024/05/07/us-israel-rafah-red-line

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[–] Torenico@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (2 children)

Destroying the energy sector, your research and losing energetic sovereignty to own the commies ancaptain

Argentina’s pioneering nuclear research threatened by huge budget cuts

President Javier Milei is making moves to partially privatize the sector, but in the meantime, projects have paused.

Owing to massive budget cuts and lay-offs of government employees, Argentina’s nuclear sector — which includes power plants and research facilities — is at risk, scientists say. The country was the first in Latin America to adopt nuclear energy, has three operating plants that provide about 5–10% of the nation’s electrical energy and runs numerous reactors used for research.

But because Argentina’s current administration, led by far-right president Javier Milei, has held the federal budget flat compared with that in 2023, the sector is facing a financial crisis. Inflation reached more than 200% last year — meaning that, in real terms, a stagnant budget is equivalent to a funding drop of at least 50%. Milei, who took office in December after pledging to diminish the role of government in Argentina and bring the country’s debts under control, has also laid off 15,000 federal employees in the past five months.

With its current budget, the National Atomic Energy Commission (CNEA) will be able to carry out its activities only “until May or June”, according to a statement published in March and signed by the agency’s leaders. The CNEA has been operating since 1950; it sets the country’s nuclear policy and carries out research to improve “the quality of life for society”, among other responsibilities.

“All these [activities] could be in danger,” Adriana Serquis, former head of the CNEA, tells Nature. On Friday, the Milei administration at last accepted Serquis’s resignation, which she had submitted before the president took office in December.

“We cannot operate with this budget,” she says. The agency has taken out loans with private firms in the past few months to keep working, she adds. CNEA authorities stressed to the Milei administration that the agency would need a 2024 budget of US$270 million to operate at a minimal level. The government guaranteed the CNEA only $100 million.

Milei has made moves towards at least partially privatizing Argentina’s nuclear sector. Yesterday, he appointed Germán Guido Lavalle, founder of candoit, an engineering and technology consulting firm based in Buenos Aires, to lead the CNEA — a move that aligns with that push.

The agency has had to pause construction on two projects that could have brought even more renown to Argentina’s nuclear sector: one is a ‘small modular reactor’ prototype that is among the first in the world to be built for electricity generation, and the other is a research reactor that might have produced enough of the radioisotope molybdenum-99, commonly used in medical diagnostic imaging, to meet 20% of global demand.

If this continues, Serquis says, “Argentina will lose its place in the ‘nuclear club’” — referring to the country’s prowess in nuclear research, a global status it has maintained among wealthy nations.

Projects stagnate

One of the stalled nuclear projects is the small modular reactor CAREM, intended to supply low-carbon electricity to rural areas where large power plants can’t be built. Nuclear scientists have been working for decades to create this type of reactor, and countries, including Argentina, have been in a race to get theirs fired up quickly. CAREM, a prototype, would use uranium fission to supply around 30 megawatts of electrical power. If successful, it could be scaled up to larger, commercial versions supplying 300 megawatts of electric power. More than $600 million has been invested into CAREM since construction began in 2014, but another $200 million to $300 million is needed to finish it.

“It has less electrical production capacity than a nuclear power plant, but it’s also cheaper and safer,” says Tomás Avallone, a chemist and nuclear-reactors operator at the CNEA. It could be installed anywhere, be used for high-energy-consumption activities such as water desalinization and bring power to 300,000 people, he says.

Another stagnating project is RA-10, a 30-megawatt reactor that would use neutron beams to produce medical radioisotopes. Scientists could also use RA-10 to conduct materials research. “It is a multipurpose reactor,” says Rodolfo Kempf, nuclear-waste manager at the CNEA. The main construction on RA-10 has been completed, Kempf says, but its instruments haven’t been installed.

Argentina has so far invested more than $400 million in building the reactor, and another $80 million is needed. The commercial sale of the reactor design should provide a significant return on investment, say researchers who spoke to Nature.

Privatization push

The Milei administration has been advocating for the privatization of science and education in Argentina. In April, it sent a bill to Congress that includes a list of state companies to be fully or partially privatized. Nucleoeléctrica Argentina, a state-run firm based in Buenos Aires that oversees the country’s three nuclear plants, is on the list to be partially privatized. If this comes to pass, the government would maintain the majority of Nucleoeléctrica shares, and its vote would be needed for actions including expanding the capacity of a power plant, building a new one or adding shareholders to the company.

Alfredo Caro, a nuclear physicist and former director of the CNEA’s Bariloche Atomic Centre, estimates that a 30% stake in Nucleoeléctrica would be worth between $700 million and $1 billion. If that stake were sold, it might allow the government to finalize the construction of CAREM and RA-10, as well as to complete a planned upgrade of the Atucha I power plant, located about 120 kilometres northwest of Buenos Aires, to extend its lifetime, he says. “A partial privatization could help the sector carry on,” Caro says, “but only if the funds that are raised remain in the sector and are not spent on other areas of the state” — a big ‘if’, given the financial crisis in Argentina. The country’s gross domestic product is expected to drop 3.3% this year, according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Officials at Argentina’s Secretariat of Energy and Nucleoeléctrica didn’t respond to questions from Nature about their plans for the nuclear sector. Meanwhile, the bill to privatize state companies has been approved by the lower chamber of Argentina’s Congress, and will now be considered by the Senate.

Welcome to libertarianism, where all your achievements are destroyed in the name of market fundamentalism and foreign interests. I was told by someone who knows much more about this that the request to defund and privatize (in other words, destroy) this program comes exclusively from abroad. It is a request "several US-based nuclear firms" made because the Argentinian reactors and research are "way too competitive", so it must be pushed aside. I cannot prove this, but it wouldn't surprise me.

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[–] companero@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago (1 children)

https://old.reddit.com/r/UkraineRussiaReport/comments/1clfyjk/ru_pov_ukrainian_unmanned_boat_is_destroyed/

In new wacky events in the Ukraine war, a very cute Russian Ka-29 helicopter destroys a Ukrainian naval drone... with an anti-air missile strapped to it?

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[–] GayTuckerCarlson@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (9 children)

Aurora Borealis will be visible in the high north of the planet during night for the next day or so

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[–] Neptium@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago (2 children)

followup to my previous comment thread

Comparing Chinese versus Amerikan diplomacy

Sanctions imposed last year on four Malaysia-based companies accused of helping Iran’s production of drones have been impactful, a top US Treasury official said today.

Brian Nelson, the department’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, also said that the sanctions were still in place.

He said they were aimed at “encouraging behaviour change”, and that once the department saw such change, the companies involved would be struck off the list.

Nelson said sanctions would see money in US accounts or accounts with a US correspondent blocked or frozen, thereby preventing these companies from accessing funds.

“And it’s very disruptive to your ability to do business that is cross-border because it is very, very difficult to avoid a touch point with the US financial system,” he said in an interview with several media outlets.

Nelson said that sanctions were a powerful tool, and that the department had found them effective in the context of disrupting activities meant to drive profit or provide capital.

MODS!!!!? DISRUPTING THE FREE MARKET?? MARKET DISTORTING PRACTICE??? MOOOODS!!

“From that perspective, we think, of course, that they are impactful.

“But I think the more impactful thing at the end of the day is the partnership with jurisdictions and the capacity to make anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism ‘regimes’ more resilient.”

…Washington recently imposed further sanctions targeting Iran, including over Iranian drones used by Russia in the war in Ukraine, as the US seeks to increase pressure on Tehran after its attack on Israel.

Nelson is in Malaysia to advance the Treasury’s work in countering terrorist financing and revenue generation for Iran and its proxies.

but Malaysia does not recognise Hamas or Iran as terrorist organizations?

It’s literally the wall-talk meme

Reuters previously reported that there had been an uptick in money moving to Iran and its proxies, including Hamas, through the Malaysian financial system.

Malaysian Islamic Finance helping the mujahideen fight against their oppressors. Mashallah.

He is also in the country to discuss ways to disrupt Russia’s ability to sustain its war in Ukraine.

wall-talk

Malaysia has conveyed to the US that Kuala Lumpur does not recognize sanctions imposed by individual nations, a minister said Thursday.

The US talking about sanctions: wall-talk

“I emphasized that we will only recognize sanctions if they are imposed by the United Nations Security Council,” the Southeast Asian nation’s Interior Minister Saifuddin Nasution Ismail said.

“The delegation from the US respected our stance,” said the minister.

wall-talk

Saifuddin added that Kuala Lumpur was committed to combating terrorism financing with a “clear strategic plan in place to tackle illicit funding and money laundering.”

However, Saifuddin said Malaysia’s policies and strategies “comply with international standards.”

Washington also said Iran's capacity to move its oil was due to service providers based in Malaysia.

The minister, however, said his meeting with Nelson was “productive” and that Malaysia was “always open to engaging with the US.”

Productive = nothing happened

“always open to engaging” or Amerika will conduct financial warfare to crash the economy again

Compare this to how Chinese and Malaysian officials speak to eachother

Xinhua - Strength of China-Malaysia ties built on common values: Malaysian official

"In partnership with China, Malaysia is leading the way in promoting renewable energy. Both countries are heavily investing in clean technologies including solar, wind, and hydroelectric power. Our joint efforts aim to lead the global transition to sustainable energy," he said.

"Our relations have grown from strength to strength over these past 50 years in not just covering diplomatic and political ties but also business partnerships, tourism, education and cultural ties and exchanges," he said.

…For his part, Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Ouyang Yujing said the comprehensive and practical cooperation is the essential driving force upgrading China-Malaysia relations in all fields.

"China is now focusing on developing new quality productive forces which will provide Malaysia more cooperation opportunities in the fields of artificial intelligence, big data, digital economy, green development, new energy vehicles and other newly emerging industries. Fruits from the above cooperation will surely bring benefits to both peoples in a profound way," he said.

I wonder which country is a 5000 year old literary civilization and which one is a deformed culture-less genocidal state. thinkin-lenin

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[–] Awoo@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (3 children)

No real source on this but there's some posts going around the telegrams claiming that foreign british mercs are training anti-government forces in Myanmar along with these pics. My guess is that it's true and they're easily deniable special forces sent to train whoever the west thinks will end up being a problem for China if they win.

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[–] bbnh69420@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago (1 children)

🟢 Martyr Izz El-Din Al-Qassam Brigades: — Watch: We continue to pick off the heads of your criminal officers.

Al-Aqsa Flood — Note: 0:05 - Piercing eyes. 0:11 - Calm breaths. 0:16 - One bullet. 0:20 - A confirmed end. 0:37 - “They’re pulling them while they’re dead.” 0:40 - “Allah is the Greatest and praise be to Him.” 0:47 - We continue to pick off the heads of your criminal officers.

Cw death, obviously https://streamable.com/60r9z1

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 49 points 2 years ago (2 children)

Biden Admits That U.S. Bombs Were Used by Israel Against Gaza

"I made it clear that if they enter Rafah, I will not supply the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities".

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that Israel uses US bombs to commit genocide in Gaza and reported that if Tel Aviv invades Rafah, it will stop sending weapons to the Zionist state.

Although Israel has only sent troops, Biden said Israel is warned of the consequences if it openly invades the southern city of Rafah.

"I made it clear that if they enter Rafah, I will not supply the weapons that have historically been used to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities," the US president told CNN.

The current White House resident warned that the first shipments to stop would be those of the famous 900kg bombs.

On these shells, Biden said, "civilians have been killed in Gaza as a result of these bombs and other attacks on population centers".

The president also specified that the Israeli presence in the surrounding areas of Rafah has triggered conflicts with countries such as Egypt, a state with which the US maintains diplomatic relations.

Joe Biden claimed to have warned of Washington’s refusal to support with weapons of any kind against population centers.

"I have made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet: They will not have our support if, in fact, they attack these population centers," Biden also underlined.

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[–] NoLeftLeftWhereILive@hexbear.net 48 points 2 years ago (3 children)

A dark day in the neolib hell that is Finland. There isn't much outrage, the midlle class is still way too cozy and neoliberal hegemony is very well internalized here at this point. The Reds of old probably rolling in their graves today.

Labor unions tried to opposite this in weakest of ways, being aligned with capitalism. I suppose everyone saw this coming and the opposition was just more of the same performative crap.

Austerity will only intensify now.

https://yle.fi/a/74-20087808

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[–] Redcuban1959@hexbear.net 48 points 2 years ago (6 children)

Russia Has Always Stood by the Cuban People: Putin

He also emphasized that Russo-Cuban relations are based on mutual friendship and respect.

On Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel held a meeting at the Grand Kremlin Palace in Moscow

The Russian leader thanked Diaz-Canel for attending the Victory Day Parade and emphasized that Cuba-Russian relations are based on mutual friendship and respect.

"The Soviet Union and modern Russia have always stood by the Cuban people in their struggle for their interests and their homeland," Putin said, recalling that Cuban citizens also fought alongside the Red Army during the Great Patriotic War.

"We remember this and will always treat with great respect those who stood alongside our parents and grandparents, shoulder to shoulder, fighting together against Nazism," he stressed.

"We will always support the Cuban people and oppose U.S. attempts to restrict Cuba's development through sanctions and restrictions. However, for decades, the Cuban people have fought against them and feel strong," he said.

For his part, the Cuban president handed Putin a letter of congratulations sent by the revolutionary leader Raul Castro on the occasion of his inauguration as president of Russia.

"Our visit to Russia concluded with a very pleasant meeting with Vladimir Putin, the president of this great country. It was a warm exchange between friends who are well aware of the challenges their nations face and are committed to mutual support," Diaz-Canel said, adding that Moscow can always count on Havana's support.

"Cuba constantly condemns the geopolitical manipulation carried out by the U.S. government," he said, reaffirming rejection of the threat posed by NATO's approach to Russian borders.

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[–] tamagotchicowboy@hexbear.net 48 points 2 years ago (3 children)

Sun is having a fart because it can, a G4 solar storm, nothing to be too concerned about but if you work retail good luck, last time we had one of those in big flare ups back in April some banks had issues running credit, and a few customers lost their last braincell over it.

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[–] Alaskaball@hexbear.net 48 points 2 years ago (1 children)

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hakeem-jeffries-house-talks-house-divisions-israel-issues-facing-voters-60-minutes/

Democrat leadership admits there is one unified party when it comes to the interests of the American government.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says Democrats "effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority"

Though they disagree on most issues, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has opposed efforts to oust embattled Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson.

Except they don't and the few they do they roll over.

After Johnson worked with Democrats to pass a foreign aid bill that included $61 billion for Ukraine, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who opposed the bill, said she'd follow through with a threat to remove Johnson by forcing a vote on her motion to vacate him. This past week, Democrats released a statement saying they would oppose Congresswoman Greene's effort to remove Johnson, though Jeffries said Johnson has not asked for his help.

Oh lookie lookie, Democrats are rallying around the Republicans to keep them in power.

"Our view would traditionally be, 'Let the other side work its own mess out,'" Jeffries said. "But when that mess starts to impact the ability to do the job on behalf of the American people, then the responsible thing at that moment might be for us to make clear that we will not allow the extremists to throw the Congress and the country into chaos."

Lol they don't act on behalf of the American people, they act on behalf of the capitalists who line their pockets

Division in the House

The United States Congress is not particularly popular these days and it's easy to understand why. The current session will likely be the least productive Congress since the Civil War, in terms of laws passed, according to historical data analysis by J. Tobin Grant, a professor of political science at Southern Illinois University.

jagoff says it's unpopular and easy to explain why that is. Doesn't explain why at all.

Hint: because it's wildly anti-democratic and constantly acts against the will of the American people.

Republicans hold the majority in the House, but with only two votes to spare, infighting has crippled their conference. Even some Republican representatives are at their wits' end, including Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), who recently told reporters "The Lord Jesus himself couldn't manage this conference."

The lord Jesus would probably get his beating stick out and drive all you demons into the Atlantic

To hear Jeffries tell it, the Democrats are already in charge.

What I'm hearing is that Democrats murdered Roe and are aiding and abetting the targeted persecution of the LGBT+ and the Trans community.

"Even though we're in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done," he said. "Those are just the facts."

That just means the Democrats are rubber stamping all the Republican terror projects.

Indeed, in the 118th Congress, House Democrats provided a majority of the votes on bipartisan bills to avert a government shutdown, send aid to Ukraine, and pass the National Defense Authorization Act, which went on to be signed into law by the president.

Keep the war grift machine going, keep Ukrainian fascism on life support, reauthorize the budget for the U.S DOD, and also fund more Israeli fascist bombing campaigns.

Jeffries, who represents New York's 8th Congressional District, in Brooklyn, views being a member of Congress as being an emissary of the American people to get things done and solve problems. But he said some Republicans have a different take on the job.

Emissary of the people of wall street more like

"It's a difficult situation on the other side of the aisle, because many of my Republican colleagues are more interested in creating chaos, dysfunction and extremism," Jeffries said.

Good.

Jeffries' stance on Israel — and how it might impact the election

The foreign aid bill passed under Johnson's leadership also includes $26.4 billion to support Israel in its ongoing war with Hamas. Amid protests on college campuses across the country over Israel and Gaza, some far left members of the Democratic caucus have shown support for demonstrators.

Remember that the Democrats are actually in charge of the house

In all, 37 House Democrats recently voted against sending more military aid to Israel. The divisive issue will follow Jeffries and President Biden into the election this November, where control of the White House and Congress looks like a coin flip.

Only 37 demons felt a little remorse after they realized some of the blood of thousands of dead innocent Palestinians that had been murdered was on their hands as well.

"We can't take any vote for granted," Jeffries said. "But I also believe that, at the end of the day, voters are going to look at the totality of circumstances. Who is fighting to deliver for everyday Americans, and who is simply fighting for himself?"

Tie me to a missile and launch me at this dudes house

Jeffries, whose district is 11% Jewish, said he supports the First Amendment rights of protesters on campuses, but condemned any form of violence or antisemitism.

jagoff

He said after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack which sparked the war, Israel had to respond and "decisively defeat Hamas."

wall-talk

"At the same time, my view has been that we have to do everything possible to get the hostages out, and to surge humanitarian assistance into Gaza," Jeffries said.

wall-talk how-compelling-flipped

Jeffries acknowledged that Israel needed to do more to get humanitarian aid into Gaza and that more surgical precision was needed in its military strikes, but he seemed reluctant to criticize Israel.

wall owned how-compelling-flipped

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has spoken out on the issue. In a nearly 45 minute speech on the Senate floor in March, he called Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu an obstacle to peace and urged the Israeli government to hold new elections once the threat of Hamas is reduced.

Dumbfuck chuck says something partially true, holy shit

"Anything that Chuck Schumer has to say on the subject is going to be incredibly important and received. But at the same time, every single member of Congress has the responsibility of answering to their constituency," Jeffries said.

Especially their hasbara constituency

He added that any suggestions by Republicans that Schumer, a staunch supporter of Israel, was somehow undermining the U.S.-Israel relationship are ridiculous.

Lmao

Issues facing voters at the polls: Immigration, abortion, guns and the economy

I don't see any "continue support for Ukrainian or Israeli fascism" so maybe listen to the people on this one, seen if it's over the same dumb buzzword bullshit we've seen our entire lives.

Closer to home, voters are concerned about the influx of migrants; Jeffries' home city of New York is a hot spot for immigration issues. Shelters to house thousands of migrants have gone up in and around Jeffries' district in Brooklyn.

It's not actually that bad. Trust me I actually was there.

"We have a broken immigration system and we have clear challenges at the border that we have to confront decisively and in a bipartisan way," Jeffries said. "And the American people are crying out for us to do something about the situation at the border in a manner consistent with our values."

jagoff everyone knows Mexico is at the border of Manhattan and is quickly accessible via rail.

Sorry that's New Jersey. My bad.

Jeffries also views abortion rights as a major issue in the upcoming election.

jesse-wtf isn't he a fucking republican? Holy shit I forgot he was a lib he sounds fucking indistinguishable from the republican hogs

"Extreme MAGA Republicans have set in motion the erosion of reproductive freedom. We're going to fight for it with everything that we've got at our disposal," he said. "If Roe v. Wade can fall, anything can fall. Social Security can fall. Medicare can fall. Voting rights can fall. And God help us all, but democracy itself can fall."

God forbid Democrats actually lift a finger to do something to actually combat it instead of being a republican rubber stamp

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