Bulletins and News Discussion from August 19th to August 25th, 2024 - Our Mountains, Our Treasures - Child of the Week: Hassan LargePenis
Image is a snapshot taken from the recent Hezbollah video "Our Mountains, Our Treasures", showcasing their extensive underground fortifications, supply lines, and weaponry.
iran can't keep doing this to me, they've gotta respond soon, right? I'm gonna run out of analysis about countries soon, oh god
The COTW (Child of the Week) label is designed to spur discussion and debate about a specific child every week in order to help the community gain greater understanding of the domestic situation of often-understudied children. If you've wanted to talk about the child 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 child.
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.
Currently the talking classes of Denmark are winding themselves up over a moral panic about Swedish criminals being hired to commit violent crime.
Naturally, the subtext is that the Swedish criminals are non-white and Peter Hummelgaard, head of the succdem-controlled minister of Justice, has made remarks about how the Swedish criminals are being controlled by criminal masterminds operating out of "safe havens" in "the Greater Middle East".
Hummelgaard as well as several other officials and members of the country's rubber-stamp parliament has been performatively shocked over messages in closed Telegram groups, allegedly offering large amounts of money for doing crime in Denmark.
In response, the regime is now talking about banning Telegram and similar groups. Hummelgaard says to regime-loyal broadcaster TV2:
We need to break with the totally misguided belief that it is every man's 'fundamental right' to use encrypted messaging services that are being used to facilitate many forms of serious crime.
In many of the alleged instances the Swedish criminals are minors. This has prompted many reactionaries to demand a reduction of the age of criminal responsibility from it's current 15 but Hummelgaard sees "no great need" to do this "at the moment". Instead he thinks the problem can be solved with tougher sentencing and greater powers to the police.
Non western people I have a question. Does "Palestinian people hate your people" propaganda exist in your country too? Such propaganda exists in Turkiye for turks, we all know it exists for lgbt. I wonder if there are other groups that get this propaganda
The New York Times is an organ of infamy. It is wrong to read it. Anyone who contributes to this newspaper is socially unacceptable. It would be wrong to be friendly or even polite to one of its editors. You have to be as unfriendly to them as the law allows. They are bad people who do horrible things.
I think what I need to articulate, to really engrave for posterity right now, is the experience of liberals freaking out and throwing tantrums when people just describe what's happening in Gaza.
They start going EWWW EWW EEWW AHHH!!!! AHHHH!!!!, I'm not kidding. Like you've thrown acid on them.
There literally can't be a cure for this kind of brain damage, but maybe it would help to start with forcing these people to hold down a shift at a service industry job where people bark at them
Currently watching the DNC with my MSNBC in-laws. I love them to death but dear god libs man. I have no clue how people don't just have disdain for Obama, Biden, et.al.
Yes, I may be a genocide supporter, but in a way, isn't genocide a less serious crime than that of being certain? Don't you damned kids know that you're at a university, a place that "is, in Learned Hand’s famous phrase, “the spirit which is not too sure that it is right,” a spirit that is willing, even happy, to be proved wrong"?
After all, if someone is certain about something and they still disagree with me, their epistemology must be faulty. I've never been more sure of anything in all my life.
P.S. - The university is not taking a political position when it makes "investment decisions" to finance war crimes.
I realised something about the Iranian & gang response to Israel while scrolling through Arab Facebook today. They're waiting for the Arbaeen pilgrimage to end by Monday. Arbaeen is the biggest gathering of people in Shia Islam and happens every year fourty days after the martyrdom of Imam Hussein and his family. To give an example of how important it is, the massive youth protests in Iraq broke out on the 1st October 2019 and lasted five days, then they took a 20 day break to do Arbaeen, then returned on the 25th. The pilgrimage usually attracts more than 25 million people who walk from the Iraqi-Iranian border and main hubs in the cities of Basra, Baghdad and Najaf. The success of this pilgrimage is of utmost importance to the Iranian and Iraqi governments, even covid couldn't fully stop it. When dealing with a freak enemy such as Israel, you can't put 25 million people in the danger zone. My wife's uncle posted pics this morning and it was just crazy, the amount of people there is just unfathomable. I think we've all missed this context on the bear forum and on twitter. The Axis of Resistance acts upon Shia interests first and Palestine second, this pilgrimage has to be protected in order to do something for Palestine. The Iranians and Lebanese Shias get home by the end of the weekend, then something can be done. Look up a stream on YouTube or something, you'll be shocked by the scale of this. Lots of revolutionary content is in this year's pilgrimage btw, I've seen posters of Ismail Haniyah and other martyrs, and there are Palestine flags along the whole road.
Search this on YouTube if you're interested: زيارة الاربعين
I don't think there's much there there beyond an ever-flexible lib narrative and squishy journalism. This is the pull-quote: "Throughout the war, U.S. officials have assessed that President Vladimir V. Putin is loath to expand the war beyond Ukraine’s borders."
The psychosocial safety training company that used the full name of an alleged sexual harassment victim in a course at her former workplace says artificial intelligence (AI) is to blame.
Psychosocial Leadership trainer Charlotte Ingham said she used Microsoft's Copilot chatbot to generate examples of psychosocial hazards employees might face at Bunbury prison, where she was delivering the course.
(al Mayadeen) Palestinian Resistance Factions in open letter to Hezbollah:
"The time has come, O' heroic Mujahideen, to advance and open the gate of Khaybar once again and to work towards the eradication of 'Israel' from existence,"
Watching the vod of Hasan going to the Anti-Genocide protests in Chicago and some random french channel asked for an interview without knowing who he is
Getting some answers they weren't prepared for, that's for sure
Also the protest looks amazing, even with the bull parade following them on bicycles
Is this source a credible one regarding West Asia: a simple test.
Search "Hamas" & "Babies". Did this outlet spread the fake news about 40 babies on October 7th? Yes or No? If Yes, it is not credible. If yes, did they retract that news later? If No, then it is a nazi outlet.
Search "Hezbollah" and "airport". Did this outlet spread fake news about Hezbollah storing weapons in Beirut airport? If Yes then it is absolutely not credible.
This is not exhaustive but will weed out the nazi outlets. Some outlets like al Jazeera may pass these tests but should still be treated like enemy outlets regarding topics in Iran and Syria.
Demonstrators gathered near the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to protest U.S. aid to Israel amid the ongoing conflict in Gaza. They emphasized that the Democratic Party must earn their votes. A smaller group of pro-Israel supporters advocated for continued U.S. support for Israel's defense. The protests reflect a growing divide in opinions on U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel and Palestine.
During a three-day visit to Beijing, Vietnam's new president, [To] Lam, and Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged to strengthen political and economic ties, emphasizing their shared communist ideology. They signed 14 cooperation agreements across various sectors. China remains Vietnam's largest trading partner, with bilateral trade reaching $172 billion in 2023. Lam affirmed Vietnam's support for China's territorial claims, despite historical tensions over the South China Sea.
Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps spokesman, Brigadier General Ali Mohammad Naeini:
—
The enemy should be prepared for precise strikes at the appropriate time.
Today, the zionist regime has admitted defeat, and even American politicians acknowledge this fact, as they have not achieved any of their goals so far.
The people of Iran are intelligent and know that the commanders of the armed forces carefully assess all conditions at the highest decision-making levels, make precise and calculated decisions, and through effective actions, change the enemy's calculations.
Time is on our side, and the wait for this response may be prolonged.
For now, the zionists must remain in a state of imbalance, and must taste the bitterness of waiting for the next Iranian response.
Iran's response may not necessarily be a repeat of past operations. The response scenarios are not uniform, and our commanders have the experience and skill to effectively punish the enemy without rushing into action.
No attack against Iran's objectives has gone unanswered, and the enemy should be prepared for calculated and precise strikes at the appropriate time.
Tehran does not consider US moves sincere; it is a party to the war on Gaza.
Iran supports any move to end the war and help Gazans.
Political developments have nothing to do with our right to respond to "israel."
There it is, folks: stop holding your breath, the response will come when it comes.
My cousin died in Volchansk, Ukraine, yesterday. He was so cool—he would always take me to the gym with him when I was just 5. I can't believe he's gone. Rest in peace, dear cousin.
I was wrong in my assessment of AOC. A zoomer liberal opened my eyes today. She’s a politician and not an activist! She’s just appealing to the center to “hide her power level.”
So her going on a cocaine-fueled monologue about Biden being a victim is really just her going out of her way to be a politician and not an activist. Because what kind of activist would have the political chops to continue backing Biden right before he drops out?
Especially if you are a teacher. There are great passages about the humanization of children and other oppressed groups and it makes you think of your class as something like a Maoist guerrilla cell, which can only be a good thing.
Dr. Amer Mohsen words of wisdom for the impatient re: Axis of Resistance retaliation.
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.
Dr. Moumita Debanath was g-raped and murdered after she took a nap in a seminar room while on duty. They found her body with her pelvis broken and 150g of semen inside her. So far, it's been a miscarriage of justice as the authorities say she "committed suicide."
The N/T ratio for last week's megathreads landed at about 0.75. Week over week the news megathread has been decelerating. At this rate I expect we'll reach the end of history in 3 to 4 weeks.
"Liberal regimes fighting with the odds so heavily in their favour in material terms and the sense of 'history being on their side' have an impatient expectation of victory - call this the pressure of the philosophy of history. If you are truly convinced your victory is inevitable, resistance is, as the saying goes, futile. Opponents that engage in futile resistance, exacting a price from you, long after their defeat is inevitable, are treated as 'mad dogs' that demand their own destruction. Not just their defeat but their erasure and total destruction. Rather than encouraging liberal agents of history to raise themselves to great personal efforts and sacrifice, this philosophy of history, this sense of historic inevitability counsels the opposite. If your barbaric, cruel enemy does not understand that they must lose, if they want to go down in a meaningless suicidal blaze, there is no reason anyone on your side should needlessly expose themselves to risk. After all, that would deprive those citizen soldiers of the victorious future that is rightfully theirs. Instead, minimise your own losses and let massive firepower do the work. Collateral damage, especially if it occurs on the enemy side, is barely worth a mention."
The president of the University of California has announced that the system would enforce bans on encampments as well as the use of masks to “conceal identity” in guidance that comes as schools across the US are planning for protests in support of Gaza similar to those that roiled campuses across the country.
Michael V Drake, the president of the 10-campus university system, said in a statement on Monday that the UC was taking steps to “ensure a safe, inclusive campus climate that fosters a free exchange of ideas”.
“Freedom to express diverse viewpoints is fundamental to the mission of the University, and lawful protests play a pivotal role in that process,” Drake wrote. “While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not.”
Subjected myself to MSNBC in the car on my ride home... the fawning over Kamala is so fucking pathetic. Literally talking about "vibes" and how Kamala represent "a new generation" (she's three years younger than Ocrumbo!).
I got recommended this YouTube video (Venezuela’s most dangerous beach) and this hype man gets on a packed bus speaking rapid spanish and he says “the last one to greet me with enthusiasm is a Maduro supporter.” He draws a few chuckles.
Did Lula and Petro betray Maduro or were they gaining time as Far-Right opposition protests fizzle out to expose the Far-Right Venezuelan movement as a farce?
Some armchair Venezuela experts jumped to kneejerk conclusions after Brazilian & Colombian leaders made unoficial comments about new elections and Biden stuttered "yes" to an ambush question on whether he supported the idea last week.
I've spoken to people in Venezuela and in the Workers Party (Lula da Silva's Political Party) who told me that everyone knew the far right opposition would refuse new elections. One of the World's most notorious living war criminals Elliot Abrams also seemed furious at the suggestion.
Did Lula and Petro betray Venezuela or was this a stalling move to buy time as far right opposition protests fizzle out, and to expose them in international headlines as not supporting an election? Many analysts I've spoken to are holding judgement - for now.
today Russian forces liberated two large towns in the Donetsk People’s Republic, Novgorodskoye (AKA “New York”) and Artyomovo, (both west of Gorlovka); and two villages, Vyemka (southeast of Seversk) and Krutoy Yar (southwest of Grodovka). Here is a news article about “New York”: https://www.rt.com/russia/602767-russian-forces-take-new-york/
this comes after yesterday, when Russian forces liberated five other DPR settlements: Zhuravka (south of Grodovka); Novozhelannoye and Zavetnoye (south of Zhelannoye); and Mezhevoye and Skuchnoye (southwest of Novosyolovka Pervaya)
Russian MoD shares interview with an American who joined the Donetsk International Batallion earlier this year and is now official soldier contracted with the Russian MoD.
He has goofy politics but he's doing the right thing. The Russian soldiers he works with say they trust him and he flies UAV's to destroy nazi vehicles.
New Poll. The Cradle translated some sections from the Hebrew source.
The majority of 'israeli' settlers:
Endorse torturing Palestinian prisoners
Support directly attacking Iran
Support a larger regional war
Do not believe 'israel' must follow international law
Warning for discussion of sexual torture
spoiler
The poll asked a question regarding the five soldiers recently accused of torturing and sexually assaulting a Palestinian detainee at the notorious Sde Teiman camp.
The poll stated, “If it is found that there is a basis for suspicion against the five suspects, how should they be treated?”
A large majority of Israeli Jews, 65 percent, responded, “They should be disciplined at the command level only.”
In contrast, only 21 percent said they should be prosecuted. The remaining 14 percent said, “I don’t know.”
The poll also asked, “Do you think Israel should or should not obey international law and maintain moral values in war?”
In response, 47 percent of Israeli Jews said the army “Doesn’t have to obey.” Only 42.5 percent said it “Must obey.” The remaining 10.5 percent said, “I don’t know.”
The poll also asked, “What do you think Israel’s response to Hezbollah’s attacks should be?”
In response, 52 percent of Israeli Jews said, “Israel must initiate broad military activity even at the cost of regional war.”
The poll further asked, “Under the current circumstances, is it advisable for Israel to take direct military action against Iran?”
In response, 52 percent of Jewish Israelis answered positively with “yes” or “I think so.”
Relations between North Korea and Brazil are normalizing. Kim Jong-Un appoints ambassador to Brazil, and Lula da Silva does the same.
The leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, has appointed the country's new ambassador to Brazil and received the agreement of the Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva government. With this, the world's most closed communist country will once again raise the political level of its representation in Brasilia.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Wednesday evening that it had “granted agrément (a diplomatic endorsement) to Mr. Song Se Il as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in Brazil”.
According to Itamaraty data, North Korea currently has only four diplomats in the country, two of whom are counselors and two secretaries - the last arrived in Brazil in 2016. There was no designated ambassador, according to the ministry's records.
Ambassador Luís Felipe Silvério Fortuna has headed Brazil's mission in Pyongyang since 2018. Two years later, however, he was forced to move to Seoul, South Korea, after facing difficulties returning to North Korea.
The North-Korean Goverment has imposed a series of restrictions and cut air routes due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Fortuna remains in charge of the embassy on North Korean soil, although he is still based in Seoul.
Now, there is hope that the appointment of Kim Jong-un's ambassador could unblock his return to the country, in reciprocity. Estadão learned that in June, the North Korean embassy in Brasilia signaled to Itamaraty that the government would grant Ambassador Fortuna a new diplomatic visa, which would allow him to enter the country after four years.
If a regional war happens, what could peace look like? I can't imagine anything less than the recognition of a palestinian state, or the complete destruction of lebanon, gaza, and the west bank. But idk if the first would happen with nukes on the table
Bogotá accuses the country of using raw material to 'kill children'
Colombia will officially suspend coal exports to Israel as of August 22. The measure, published in a decree, is a protest against the military actions of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government in the Gaza Strip.
“With Colombian coal, [the Israelis] make bombs to kill children in Palestine,” wrote the South American country's president, Gustavo Petro, on the social network X. With the decision, Israel will only be able to buy coal from Colombia under agreements that have already been negotiated. According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, the conflict in the region has caused the deaths of more than 40,000 Palestinians since it began in October 2023.
I got a 2-week ban because Tw*tter's authentication glitched out on Firefox and they finally realized what I meant by telling the yellow-ribbons to "eat a cinderblock from my 20th floor balcony".
Also I have the day off today (20 August) because it's a national holiday. Some peepeepoopoo about the "BaltiKKKracker chain". Got the whole day to DDoS the Mossad, ISIS, Germany, Boers, etc. lmao
In the first episode of "Prisoners Of War", FPTV host and ex-POW Fairouz Salameh visits former Palestinian POW Baraa Odeh in her home in Ramallah, in the occupied West Bank of Palestine. Ms Odeh worked as a human rights defender for the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) when she was abducted by the Zionist military on March 3rd, 2024, while crossing back into Palestine from Jordan's King Hussein bridge, and held in captivity without trial or charges until her release on June 4th, 2024.
The Scottish Government announces that it is suspending all meetings with the Israeli government and its officials until there is "real progress" towards peace in Gaza.
What an absolute honor to have my son as the COTW, proud dad here. I'm sure he'll be very happy when I tell him in a few years that he's famous on the Putin-backed bear podcast offshoot forum nerd mega. You're all getting a good old ranking today, in honor of my humiliation yesterday and for the little fella.
Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune reiterates his country's support for Palestine, stressing that the Algerian army is ready to send aid and rebuild as soon as the borders between Egypt and Gaza are opened.
In his speech on the fourth day of the election campaign, Tebboune declared from the city of Constantine in northeastern Algeria: “We will never abandon Palestine, especially Gaza", adding, “I swear to God if they allow us and open the borders between Egypt and Gaza... then there is something we can do.”
He continued, "I made a promise and the army is ready as soon as the borders are opened and our trucks are allowed to enter. Within 20 days, we will build three hospitals, send hundreds of doctors, and help rebuild what the Zionists destroyed."
The Algerian president has expressed on several occasions his country's full support for the Palestinian cause, stressing that it is a sacred cause.
A reminder of the rules (which change whenever I want): First row is reserved for UKR vs RUS, because we respect traditions on this website. 2nd and 3rd rows are random, anything can be included here. 4th is just people. I'm doing these once a month these days, enough room to give some new material and I have less free time since lil Hassan spawned.
Gigachad
Chad
Neutral
Beta (Fe)Male
Virgin Cuck
News nerds (us daily Telegram readers are finally vindicated, things are hot again for the first time since 2022)
Putin (downgrade, he took a reputation L with Kursk, but things are going so quick and well on the real front so he's still a chad)
Zaluzhny (he did lots of useless shit as commander-in-chief, but he's vindicated for questioning and refusing to accept some of the current clown show)
Zelensky (little upgrade for our actor, he got some positive coverage for Kursk and got his F-16)
Syrskyi (so stupid and incompetent that he's actually Russia's strongest solider)
Hamas, PIJ, Qassam, PFLP and all resistance groups in Gaza (Allah's bravest soliders)
Hezbollah and Iran (based on paper considering past record, but:
Cuba olympic team (amazing socialist sports program, but sanctions and athletes immigrating and getting bought by rich capitalist nations have decimated this wonderful program)
Bahrain olympic team (buying a bunch of Armenians and Kenyans just to win gold medals, embarrassing)
LargePenis (this person should never make predictions again, he deseves this cuck place until he understands this)
The people of Gaza, especially Yahya Sinwar (bravest people ever)
Ansarallah (undefeated by the great satan and his little cucks, eat shit Saudi Arabia)
Bangladeshi "revolution" (still haven't decoded who's based or not here, but I mostly respect people getting angry and getting out on the streets)
Bernie Sanders (getting more coherent socialist ideas from Theo Von these days)
Lebanese Maronite nationalists (strong competitor to the Iranian diaspora in cucked behavior, imagine wanting your country to get bombed because you don't like Hezbollah and want to speak French like a true comprador cuck)
Ismail Haniyeh (lived an honorable life, and died an honorable death)
Pan Zhanle (record-breaking Chinese swimmer that made the mayos seeth)
Kamala Harris (dems did some competent moves, she sucks but she will win just because she kinda looks normal compared to that freak Trump)
Donald Trump (completely fumbled the easiest election ever, has lost his steam and even his getting shot aura)
Emmanuel Macron (familiar place for this cuck, imagine getting booed at your own olympics lmao)
Do we think the retaliation could happen during the DNC? do they even give two shits about american electoralism? I mean, it seems the ceasefire proposal had what could be poison pills for Hamas so it could happen any day...
So I'm reading the John Brown biography by W.E.B. DuBois and I was struck by how his guerilla tactics are straight up Maoist. The enemy's rear is the guerilla's front, guerillas must be disciplined and treat enemy prisoners humanely, guerillas swim among the people as fish in water, etc. I'm sure that's just because Mao studied guerilla movements and based his theory on actual practices but it's still interesting that Brown came to these same conclusions eighty years earlier.
A regional war has been raging across West and South Asia. The US has in two decades invaded, occupied, and waged genocide in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya etc not to mention other proxy wars. Looming now is indeed a regional war but one not fought on imperialists' terms.
Danish government broadcaster DR reports that the Social Democratic-led right-wing regime plans to introduce "volunteer buses" in rural areas. This scheme is intended as a band-aid on a rural public transit system crippled by decades of economic mismanagement and austerity. Bus routes in the countryside and provincial towns have been discontinued, bus stops shut down, and remaining routes see reduced service, making life increasingly difficult for non-drivers outside big cities.
The scheme includes increased use of on-demand buses, which riders must book hours in advance, and notably contains no significant new investments in public transit. A recent report by regime-aligned technocrats hand-picked by the Liberal Party-controlled Ministry of Transportation declared "traditional" rural bus routes with paid drivers on low ridership routes "economically and environmentally unviable."
Instead, the regime seeks to address rural transit issues by no longer paying bus drivers on low-ridership routes. Under the proposed scheme, random people from the village, like the priest or shopkeeper, will volunteer to drive a minivan provided by the regional transit corporation. The Liberal Party-controlled Ministry of Transportation has refused to comment on how the removal of drivers' salaries will affect passenger fares or how unpaid volunteers will provide reliable and sufficient service.
Pro-regime outlets like DR present the scheme not as a refusal to provide necessary infrastructure but as a positive action to solve the "apolitical" problem of vanishing buses, uncritically echoing regime slogans about creating "a Denmark in better geographic balance" without addressing who caused the imbalance.
This scheme exemplifies how the neoliberal state shirks its responsibility to provide public services for the common good, offloading it onto individuals who lack the financial and organizational resources to offer a reliable, high-quality service.
Meanwhile, the regime is embarking on an aggressive military buildup, with spending ballooning to well over two percent of GDP. Earlier this year, the regime decided to increase the salaries and perks of the nation's unelected royal family. At least some functions of the state are still seen as viable.
This morning, Ukraine has issued evacuation orders up to 30km from the front lines around Novohrodivka in the Donetsk region. We might be seeing the start of collapses in Donetsk as the Russians push beyond the heavily fortified 2014 lines, and cut the Ukrainian defense in two. Meanwhile, in Luhansk, Ukraine is holding on by it's fingertips, and Russia is prying them away one by one, seemingly with deliberate intent of declaring the region liberated.
The Sudzha incursion is spreading Ukrainian troops thinner and thinner, while activating increasing numbers of Russian troops that were previously restricted to homefront-only operations. Ukraine has essentially double the number of enemy troops they are in contact with.
One thing I don't get is how Argentina is still standing as a country. I've read the UNICEF reports about kids being forced to skip meals and adults having to sell off their insurance and valuables. But really, forget Iran's measured response, how tf is Milei still standing after months of pulling copper wire out the walls.
It really proves that if you are backed by the US the military won't fuck with you. Bangladesh was 100% a color revolution and Sheikh Hasina would still be in power if she acquiesced to US demands.
So I became a Shopify scrub this morning. I live a life of lies. My entire stack was reliant on avoiding corpo bullshit but I really need a solid eCommerce solution for if I get a client that wants to sell artisan goat milk soaps or whatever. I was gonna go with headless Shopify but sort of realized I can probs get by easier just using their drag and drop stuff and buying one of their themes and tacking it onto the cost of the site. I am thinking about adjusting my pricing for a hybrid model. So the initial cost would be cheaper by at least $2k but the catch would be that I would get a small cut of the sales as commission. Like 3-5% or something. This is going against a market that easily sells eCommerce sites for upwards of $10k.
Anyway I poked around this morning for a few hours after setting up a Partner account. It's not a huge learning curve so if I decide something else down the road I'm out like 2 days of grind?
Ngl, watern***as was a way better and funnier name for the subreddit than hydrohomies, and it’s peak reddit lib shit that out of all the real racism they don’t correct on that dumbass website they have to posture by correcting that