Bulletins and News Discussion from July 8th to July 14th, 2024 - Nevertheless, He Persisted
Bulletins and News Discussion from July 8th to July 14th, 2024 - Nevertheless, He Persisted
Trump's victory, and the further mass oppression of minorities, is closer than ever before. May god have mercy on our souls.
previous preamble
The totalitarian capitalist dystopia which was created by the United States in the aftermath of the Korean War has increasingly experienced problems as the multipolar world is being gradually birthed.
Due to the widespread exploitation of the population, long work weeks, and high housing prices, the population growth of South Korea has plummeted, with the lowest fertility rate on the planet, and the highest suicide rate in the OECD. While a capitalist "success story" before the 2008 recession in terms of profit accumulation for the richest at the expense of most others, conditions have grown more dire in the Long Depression since the crash. GDP growth per year has averaged out at 2-3%. For more concrete figures, labour productivity has stagnated, particularly in the service sector. The rate of profit hit a peak when the dictatorship ended in the late 1980s, but has since massively tumbled. These dynamics are not unique to South Korea; they are happening throughout the West.
While South Korea is stagnating, perhaps even falling, its northern neighbour is rising. With Russia already persona non grata to much of the developed world and yet still maintaining fairly good economic growth and continuously albeit gradually moving towards victory in Ukraine, Putin sees no reason to be intimidated by the West's shunning of the DPRK, and Russia is establishing ties as well as military and economic deals. This seems to portend an end to the post-Soviet period of forced isolation due to UN actions forbidding the people of the DPRK to leave the country (which many westerners believe is a policy originating from the Korean leadership due to their propagandized education).
Many in the West are still, regrettably, unable to properly analyze the geopolitical situation of Korea due to their government programming, leading to bizarre takes about imminent collapse, or desperation on the part of Russia or the DPRK, unable to recognize that the DPRK has a powerful military sector all its own, and decades of autarky has created a durable society where limited resources must be used efficiently and effectively. The position of the Korean Peninsula seems likely to be a critical part of the US-China conflict, whether this is an outright war or instead a series of proxy wars. Indeed, Korea's position may soon become very important in global trade routes if the US tries to cut off the Strait of Malacca to Chinese-bound cargo ships, with vital resources like oil and food potentially transported both over land and via the Arctic Route over Russia and through the DPRK to China. Russia's leadership clearly sees the importance of Korea in the future, hence their actions now; and, of course, South Korea siding with Ukraine has also forced Putin's hand to oppose them more openly.
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 South Korea! 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
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.
You're viewing a single thread.
Looks like Jez wants to start something like Extinction Rebellion's "People's Assemblies", except they'll be "People's Forums" under him. I suspect that everyone that thought that was a good idea will transfer their interest across to him, it will suck the wind out of XR and under his command. He wants it to become the foundation of an electoral movement down the line.
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/jeremy-corbyn-launches-plan-challenge-two-party-system
spoiler
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, has launched a new political strategy aimed at challenging the “stale two-party system” in the UK.
In a column published in the Guardian on Friday, Corbyn said he would begin a monthly “People’s Forum” in his constituency of Islington North, which he said was a “shared, democratic space for local campaigns, trade unions, tenants’ unions, debtors’ unions and national movements to organise” for the future.
He said he believed that such forums could be replicated around the country, and form part of grass-roots campaigning which will help people to “stand up for themselves and against those who have ignored their demands for peace and humanity".
Corbyn said that the movement would not initially entail the creation of a new political party, but would eventually provide an electoral challenge.
“I have no doubt that this movement will eventually run in elections,” he wrote.
“However, to create a new, centralised party, based around the personality of one person, is to put the cart before the horse. Remember that only once strength is built from below can we challenge those at the top.”
He said the movement would grow as long as issues like child poverty, and Israel’s war on Gaza, went unaddressed by those in power in the UK.
“This is just the beginning. It is the beginning of a movement that can win with - and for - communities all over the country. People in power underestimate the power of people at their peril,” he said.
The move comes amid calls for a British left-wing alliance, akin to the New Popular Front (NPF) in France - an electoral alliance of Socialists, Greens, Communists and France Unbowed - which won the most seats in this month's French parliamentary elections.
On Thursday, the campaign group The Muslim Vote called for a political alliance between left-wing parties such as the Green Party and independent groups to challenge the Labour government in future elections.
Former independent lawmaker George Galloway, who leads the Workers Party of Britain, wrote on X last week: “Mr Corbyn must be our #Melanchon He is the best leader to unite all forces behind him in a Popular Front. We in the @WorkersPartyGB and our 210,000 voters will follow him.”
However, left-wing activists told Middle East Eye last week that Galloway's party would struggle to form part of an alliance with elements of the British left, due to socially conservative views and hostility towards the Green Party's agenda on climate change.
'Palestine was on the ballot' Last week, Corbyn was re-elected as an MP, winning almost 50 percent of the vote in Islington North, the London constituency he has represented for more than four decades.
Corbyn led Labour from 2015 to 2020 but was barred by the party from standing as a candidate and then expelled when he announced his intention to run anyway.
He nonetheless won 49.2 percent of the votes (24,120) in Islington North to win the seat for the 11th time. Labour candidate Praful Nargund, a local councillor, was second with 34.4 percent (16,873).
"Palestine was on the ballot," the veteran left-winger and lifelong pro-Palestine campaigner told MEE last week after his election victory.
"And I promise to stay true to my word to stand up for the Palestinian people and their right to self-determination."
Corbyn had the parliamentary whip withdrawn by his successor Keir Starmer in October 2020 after saying that claims of antisemitism in the party during his time as leader had been "overstated" for political reasons.
Though he was readmitted to the party as a member in November 2020, it refused to let him continue as a Labour MP.
He announced he would stand as an independent when the election was called on 24 May, after which Labour expelled him from the party.
Corbyn is amongst a number of independent candidates elected in constituencies previously held by Labour, where opposition to the party has been fuelled by criticism of its failure to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza until months into the war.
Independent candidate Shockat Adam unseated Jon Ashworth, a prominent member of Labour's shadow cabinet, in the East Midlands constituency of Leicester South.
In the northwestern ex-industrial town of Blackburn, Adnan Hussain unseated Labour's Kate Hollern, while independent Ayoub Khan pulled off a shock win against Labour's long-standing parliamentarian Khalid Mahmood in Birmingham's Perry Barr.
Meanwhile, independent Iqbal Hussain Mohamed earned a resounding victory in the West Yorkshire constituency of Dewsbury and Batley against Labour’s Heather Iqbal. Mohamed won 15,641 votes compared to Iqbal’s 8,707.
Labour frontbencher Thangham Debbonaire also lost her Bristol seat to Green co-leader Carla Denyer.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
The Corbynistas will rise
goddamn i love him so much
Death to America
This is good fucking party building, fuck yeah jez
Former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, now an independent MP, has launched a new political strategy aimed at challenging the “stale two-party system” in the UK.
Why didn't he do this before the election? If he had started a new party he could have easily picked up a few seats by taking advantage of the Conservatives' collapse.
I suspect it was a strategic decision to not get labelled as splitting the anti-tory vote. First allowing labour to prove themselves useless in this incarnation and then challenging them with the agreement of the population that they need to be challenged rather than at a time when the entire population wanted rid of the tories. Had he moved sooner the left here would just be considered by popular opinion as the people that prevented getting the tories out.
Fucked up position to be in tbh but I do think the only reason the tories lost this election was Reform splitting the right vote.
Do to labour what reform did to the tories