Bulletins and News Discussion from January 13th to January 19th, 2025 - From Mar-A-Lago to Nuuk - COTW: Denmark (including Greenland)
Bulletins and News Discussion from January 13th to January 19th, 2025 - From Mar-A-Lago to Nuuk - COTW: Denmark (including Greenland)
The imperial core is continuing the process of self-cannibalization as the interimperial wars between Europe and the US over resource and territorial control continue. Greenland, populated with less than a hundred thousand heavily exploited people, is the newest territory to fall under Trump's gaze. The main draw is the mineral resources present there, of which it boasts nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum, and much more than remains unexplored under the ice. But the ice is melting, and profit must be made. There is an additional element of wanting Arctic territory to counter Chinese and especially Russian interests and aims; Russia is increasingly eyeing the northern Arctic route as an alternative to more vulnerable routes through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and is investing heavily in icebreakers for that purpose.
However, even if Europe possessed the desire to resist American annexations - and they absolutely do not, at the end of the day - they do not even have the ability. Denmark may, to a lesser or greater extent, make angry sounds and talk about national honour or some such, but their military would be trampled underfoot by even the New York Police Department, let alone a concerted military effort by the US. If Trump wants Greenland, he will have it. This will naturally increase the grumbling in Europe about reconsidering the Transatlantic alliance, and that grumbling may, in the medium-term future, as the American Empire continues its decline, lead to meaningful results. But in the short term, Europe shall have to bear whatever Trump throws at them, for they obviously cannot now ally with Russia, who was the natural counterweight to American interests for decades before 2022.
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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 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.
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.
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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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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So what are the news heads predictions for the trump admin?
FALGSC with Burger characteristics.
joining the McVanguard party
He's going to try and imitate Ronald Reagan as much as possible, but with key differences. From the "peace through strength" and "maximum pressure" foreign policy slogans which seem very Reagan esque, to trying to secure the United States' strategic future for the next few decades, even at the sacrifice of its allies and domestically. Just how Ronald Reagan fully ushering in neoliberalism accomplished this, Trump will look to do the same with his policies, which might just mean the end of neoliberalism and the ushering in of a new global economic reality, where the USA looks to secure it's future with increased vassalisation of it's allies.
Some might argue that neoliberalism ended in 2008 with the financial crash, but we haven't really switched over to a new economic system globally, we've kind of been in an in between period, while liberal leaders all over the world, in Obama, Merkel, Cameron, Macron, and even Putin prior to 2014, have tried to resurrect, restore, and re-establish the neoliberal world order, and failed. Kind of how the world was in an in between period from 1970 to 1981 with the end of the gold standard. But just as Reagan ended that in between period by fully ushering in neoliberalism, I expect Trump to try an accomplish the same, but this time it means the end for neoliberalism. What does that look like fully? We can only wait and see.
Talking about end of neoliberalism is kinda smoke screen i feel, nowhere the neoliberalism (as in - sell state assets to private actors for them to grift, and/or public/private cooperation where state fronts money and private actors get the profit) is ending, if anything it's accelerating, with usa now hollowing out europe socdem remains (like italy or germany). It's more like end of free trade for usa and splitting world into whitey fortress and jungle. I feel like privatizing europe healthcare can feed usa for decades tbh, and europe political system of quadruple control via eu/ec/nato/threat of amerikkkan sanctions can keep them scabing on each other for very long time
Are the transitions between dominant economic modes becoming more frequent? Like I imagine whatever is next will be built on even more precarious and violent systems?
Are the transitions between dominant economic modes becoming more frequent?
Yes, because each one much satisfy a successively hungrier capitalist class after exhausting the previous, cheaper phase of capitalism.
Dread it, run from it, destiny arrives all the same
Trump's probably thinking he can combo this Palestine ceasefire with forcing Ukraine to the negotiation table but I don't know if the Kiev regime is even capable of coming to the table until it loses Odessa and access to the sea
Newsflash: Trump threatens to strike Odessa if Zelensky doesn't agree to negotiations, outraging NATO allies
Immediate fumbling the bag legislatively, some shenanigans at confirmation hearings, probably will start some shit with iran and venezuela, dunno about ukraine. Showy deportation raids which mysteriously don't reach genocide joe numbers and/or don't touch construction/agricultural industry, introduction of tariffs on some subsets of products. Some kind of medicare or social security fumble, which erases republican win by midterm.
oh yeah, market crash by summer (my pet theory)
mini pet theory - return of migrant visas for seasonal workers - bringing h1b to the masses/legalizing whatever shit goes on in agriculture so to say (the worker pays taxes, but are exempt from any protection and minimum wage law)
I think he knows if he can stop Gaza and Ukraine he’ll have enough political capital to start his own thing
Hopefully that “thing” is war against Democrats and mass trials