Bulletins and News Discussion from October 28th to November 3rd, 2024 - LDP Falls Flat / Yet Neoliberalism / Rampages Onward - COTW: Japan

Hexbear News Mega America desk, I have caught the electoralist bug and want a sitrep on the upcoming US presidential election - which are the key swing states? what are the battlegrounds to look out for? where are the biggest upsets likely to happen for Harris and Trump?

Give me your informed analysis, give me your spicy takes, give me your conspiracy theories, but please keep them realistic and not the wishful thinking ones. I want to become an “expert” on US electoralism.

https://www.euronews.com/business/2024/10/28/volkswagen-set-to-close-three-german-plants-and-cut-thousands-of-jobs

"Volkswagen's management wants to close at least three plants, cut tens of thousands of jobs, and also slash pay by 10% for remaining staff, according to a statement from staff representatives."

Volkswagen Passenger Cars CEO Thomas Schäfer said: "We have to get to the root of the problems: we are not productive enough at our German sites and our factory costs are currently 25 to 50 percent above target. This means that some of our German plants are twice as expensive as our competitors."

He stressed that operations "cannot continue as before".

In microchip news:

Intel invests US$300 million in China chip packaging and testing plant

Intel CEO is "frustrated" with CHIPS Act payout progress — Intel has received $0 from the $8.5 billion that the US government promised

Someone in the PNW burnt a ballot box cw: link

edit: guess they did a few

https://apnews.com/article/vote-ballot-drop-box-democracy-fire-f66c52f774955106fb9e7c8172825cff

https://x.com/GUAN_FAHRANZAYD/status/1850253566855832016

Good twitter thread about the algerian missiles program. For anyone that is interested. It is in Arabic.

Since everyone's talking about that alleged comedian's racist joke about Puerto Rico being a garbage patch, and I can't think of an interesting discussion topic about Japan:

What strategic value does Puerto Rico currently represent to empire? Previously, a staging ground to place American bases in the Caribbean near Cuba was an absolutely critically important point in the Cold War. As US-Cuba relations cool down, and as the Puerto Rican debt crisis and failure to recover electrical infrastructure from 2017's hurricane Maria post privatization of the electric grid, it seems like our value to empire is reduced. Puerto Rico receives more money in federal funds every year than we produce with our entire manufacturing sector, and the usual culprits for embezzlement, Finance, Insurance, and Real Estate (FIRE) make up a comparatively very small portion of the economy. Previously, I had concluded that the reason the US keeps us around as a colony was just that, the strategic value. But how is it realized?

Follow up question, how could whatever strategic value Puerto Rico has for the US, in the event of a successful PR independence movement, be leveraged against US empire?

Edit: the claim that the federal funds are greater than the manufacturing GDP is entirely wrong actually, I misremembered that from when I had looked this up before and skimmed the sources and came to the wrong conclusion. I just checked and GDP from manufacturing is around 5x federal funding. Still, there's a huge debt problem that's being handled via austerity instead of economic development. I doubt there's too much potential for development in a country with an enormous brain drain problem and inflated US dollar wages, at least under the colonial status quo. So it still begs the question, what's the plan long term?

English article from Fereshteh Sadeghi on the US-israeli attack on Iran last week.

The Iranian army later in the day announced the death of at least four officers, including a colonel, killed during Israeli air raids in Khuzestan. An informed source speaking to The Cradle on condition of anonymity reveals that the number of Iranian casualties is higher than what is officially being reported.

Details about the Israeli air raids or the extent of the harm to the Iranian military are unclear and patchy at best. Both sides have a vested interest in controlling the narrative: Tel Aviv to project power and deterrence, and Tehran to maintain an image of resilience and minimize perceived vulnerabilities.

Israel says it deployed over 100 F-35 fighter jets to conduct the offensive. However, an Iranian conservative lawmaker on Saturday morning claimed that the strikes in Tehran were actually carried out by small drones or quadcopters.

Hamid Rasaei wrote on his Telegram channel that “the Zionist regime’s agents in Tehran were involved in those attacks and Iranian anti-aircraft guns fired at those microdrones.”

The narrative in the west of the country was different. Images of an Israeli missile’s booster falling in Iraq’s Salahuddin province suggest Israel used the Golden Horizon Air launched Ballistic Missile to hit Iranian radars in the western belt of the country.

The use of Iraqi airspace by Israel was confirmed by the Khatam Al-Anbiya Air Defense Base. It has blamed the US military for allowing Israel to fire air-launched ballistic missiles into Iranian territory from 100 kilometers deep inside the Iraqi soil. No such permission had been granted from Iraqi authorities.

...

Although the official Iranian media have downplayed the extent and strength of the Israeli strikes, University of Tehran academic and political analyst Mohammad Marandi tells The Cradle that “it was a big operation on the side of Israel and actually a considerable one, as Israelis did harm Iranian radar and defense systems.”

Fouad Izadi points to a stellar performance by Iran's air defense systems, in which “Iran was basically able to minimize the effect of this aggression” by Israel.

Marandi, who served as a consultant for the Iranian negotiating team at the last round of Vienna nuclear talks, agrees with the assessment that Iran’s air defenses performed well: “Iranians had conducted security and intelligence operations ahead of the strikes and succeeded in limiting the extent of damage by dummies and decoys as well as spreading misinformation about sensitive sites.”

As he tells The Cradle, the damage inflicted on Iranian military sites was not grave because “the possibility of a direct confrontation with the United States convinced Iranians many years ago to relocate almost all sensitive sites and strategic production facilities underground. Neither warplanes nor missiles are able to penetrate into those underground facilities.”

“What remains on the ground are small workshops producing missile spare parts and they are scattered across the country, but not near borders, that’s why the strike failed to leave a significant harm,” Marandi adds.

🇺🇦🇬🇪Snipers trained in Ukraine are arriving in Georgia to organize provocations during mass protests, sources in the region tell TASS.

New euromaidan?

Why are Chinese delivery drivers having meltdowns? by SCMP Deep Dive

Looks like China’s delivery gig industry is reaching its breaking point, in what we call 内卷 (or involution). The means of exploitation is not so different from what I’ve heard about Uber and Lyft drivers have to endure in the US.

Hezbollah targeting a shelter: https://xcancel.com/MenchOsint/status/1850489072378085692

Afermath: https://xcancel.com/15Escao/status/1850504934854451471

Notice the car and bus in both clips.

i feel like iran is cheating or something , like in a PC game you would not even get a choice to show this much restrainted , if somebody bombs your soil or embassy or honored guest for presidential inaguration..

It would just be a Pop up window with "So theres war now" ...

Anyway .. Israel will now apperently strike Iran again because of the 2 Palmtrees that got damaged on nethanyaus Residence or something

I'm pretty sure the Bernie campaign is solely responsible for the reevaluation of the second season of The Wire. Like just millenials being vaguely more aware of labor issues during their covid rewatches.

The Israeli terrorist regime has banned the UN agency UNRWA from operating inside "Israel". This includes the west bank territories.

Death to Israel, death to America

Another ballot drop-off arson attack has occurred (I believe this is the third), this time in Vancouver, WA.

https://www.katu.com/news/local/vancouver-ballot-box-seen-smoking-same-morning-as-portland-ballot-box-arson

There is something morbidly funny to me in the Zionist line that Yahya Sinwar "died like a dog." Basically just confessing that they regularly kill dogs using drone surveillance and tank shells.

It never looks quite good to compare the killing of your enemies to killing a dog, but if you're gonna use it it needs to be embarrassing for the victim and not your own side, like death by starvation or just plain execution.

Very relevant rn

Tim Walz Plays Crazy Taxi with AOC

I see Walz is going to get the very important Dreamcast Vote. Can't wait to see trump play Simpsons Road Rage now.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cy7dkgz71x6o

One of these structures, known as Taleghan 2, has been previously linked to Iran’s nuclear programme by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

BBC Verify has identified what appears to be damage to a storage unit at the Abadan Oil Refinery based in the south-western province of Khuzestan.

Apparently Israel did (kinda sorta, but not really) strike oil and nuclear sites? Seems kinda like an "I'm not touching you" thing, with minor targets being chosen to avoid serious implications.

All the analysts are saying that Israel's attack on Iran failed. They had 100 airplanes in the air.

Iranian air defense (with the help of Russia) is really good. Better than Israel's. And Iran also has better missiles as well!

Really cool article about student resistance organizing written by a Palestinian former political prisoner about martyr-scholar-fighter Jihad Mughniyeh.

Between Two Fields: Jihad Mughniyeh, the Student Fighter by Fairouz Salameh

Excerpt:

The university was a necessity for him, and his perception of its role is clear in his statement: “There is an abundance of weapons, but the problem is in the person who will stand behind it; the battle today is a battle of minds, weapons, and technology. If we are not educated, who will carry the weapon? Who will develop this weapon and who will develop and keep up with technology? And who will represent the resistance in conferences and on media platforms? As resistance and liberation movements, we need individuals from various fields, just like those who fight with weapons on the front, so being in university is part of my mission in the liberation movement I belong to, whether the Islamic Resistance or others.”

Mughniyeh embodied the unity of words and actions, living out the principles he espoused. His call for “educated people who work” was not mere rhetoric; he led by example, excelling both in his studies and in resistance activities. He frequently reminded his peers, “I’m not telling you what you should do, but what we all must do. And I’ll be the first among you to do it.” This consistency set Mughniyeh apart and drew others to him, as his relationships were built on a foundation of fraternal camaraderie.

Mughniyeh built his relationships on a solid foundation of trust and honesty, building enduring bonds rather than passing acquaintanceships during a temporary stage. He dedicated most of his time to students, engaging with them both on and off campus, during and after class hours. His goal was to forge a sustained movement rather than just an administrative framework for student activism. While many of his university peers were solely focused on academic pursuits, Mughniyeh centered his efforts on the resistance cause, particularly the Palestinian struggle. Palestine was a constant theme in every gathering or discussion he held with his peers. During a 2011 session with students, as Mughniyeh mourned his father with tears, he realized he was mourning in the wrong way. He understood that true mourning and loyalty were not expressed through grief alone, but through actual fieldwork, of which he saw student activism as one of its noblest forms. Mughniyeh often shared this personal story with his fellow students, using it to strengthen their connection with those who had become martyrs, whether they had a direct relationship to them or not. His message was clear: honoring the martyrs meant activating their role within the resistance movement for which the martyrs had made these sacrifices.

pls get rid of the semicolon in the title between neoliberalism and rampages, its driving me nuts. sorry for being a grammar freak but if i continue to look at it i may explode @SeventyTwoTrillion@hexbear.net

editing to add that i dont want this to be misinterpreted as being ungrateful for all the great work you do summarizing the news for babybrains like myself, keep up the excellent work, unironically

Death to America

is this some hidden cia caucus inside dsa? The fuck north star stands for

So what I'm getting from the latest elections (clarify if i missed anything) is that

• Georgia's generic regional post-soviet center-right big tent party kept its majority but also was possibly pulling nixon shit but also going up against an opposition that desperately wants to pull another color revolution with a little cia moolah, too much of a mess for me to sort out
• LDP got fucked as we all know, afaik it'll be succeeded by a coalition between the half-dozen center-left parties and center-right libertarian Osakans
• Bulgaria elected basically the exact same parliament as last time, the bitter rivalries the three identical center-right parties and their justified reluctance to team up with the four fascist parties means they're gonna have to do this again in a few months, one must imagine sisyphus happy etc
• Despite the loss of their most hitlerite faction, the lithuanian succdems are able to keep their coalition with two(?!) agrarian conservative succdem parties
• Demsocs seem likely to win the Uruguayan presidency but we've gotta wait another month for the second round
• Uzbekistan had elections too but all the parties were on good enough terms with their own generic regional post-soviet center-right big tent party for no one to care

"Israel" is trying to pass a bill to completely ban UNRWA. The bill will very likely be adopted.

Denmark’s Air Force is unable to meet NATO's demand for troop transport due to a shortage of operational EH101 helicopters, and has seen itself forced to prioritize domestic search-and-rescue missions instead. With outdated equipment and maintenance delays due to parts shortages, Denmark can barely sustain its own search-and-rescue capabilities, let alone fulfill ever-increasinsing NATO demands. Major General Jan Dam has highlighted the strain on the Air Force, stressing the difficulty in maintaining even minimal operations with the aging fleet.

• Source: DR (state media), October 28th 2024

Why Does the EU Want to Become More Like the US?

Some highlights:

The EU-US Trade and Technology Council is currently hard at work getting EU regulations in line with American interests. The EU is already dominated by US IT companies that supply software, processors, computers, and cloud technologies and we can expect more of that as Draghi and Ursula call for more mergers and acquisitions and more US private equity and venture capital.

A significant allure for US companies investing in Europe is the potential for acquiring assets at bargain prices. Economic uncertainties, geopolitical fluctuations, and evolving market dynamics have led to decreased valuations of European companies in recent years. This creates a favorable environment for US investors, allowing them to purchase valuable assets at more attractive prices than those typically found in the US market.

US private equity giant Clayton Dubilier & Rice destroyed the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain in a few short years. Warburg Pincus joined a consortium to snatch up T-Mobile Netherlands a couple years ago. US-based Parker Hannifin is taking private the UK aerospace and defence group Meggitt. Gores Guggenheim grabbed Swedish electric carmaker Polestar.

The private equity firm KKR, which includes former CIA director David Petraeus as a partner, took home the fixed-line network of TIM, Italy’s largest telecommunications provider. German energy service provider Techem was just sold off to the US asset manager TPG, and Germany’s awful economy is increasingly making its companies more likely targets for takeovers. The spooky Silicon Valley company Palantir is already making itself at home in the UK National Health Services, and it’s knocking on the door in Italy.

Draghi actually mentions the healthcare sector as an example of where the US outcompetes the EU. How is that competitiveness measured? By things like productivity and profit.

It's so eurover

The west's favorite 1 party state that had to become a 2 party state since 2009 has now been forced to become a 3 party state

In Malaya, the position is even more complex. In the first instance, we are, as yet, a communally fragmented people with neither history nor traditions which can generate emotional factors that would make for unity despite the fact that no common economic interests exist.

in On the Future of Socialism in Malaya (1958)

By kneecapping Chinese capital — the most advanced section of the Malaysian bourgeoisie — [The Malay-Muslim Feudal Class] had no choice but to seek new sources of capital that would not threaten its political hegemony. British capital diminished as East Asian capital — primarily from Japan and the newly industrializing economies of South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore — was becoming an important source of funds and technology."

in Malaysia’s ‘incomplete’ revolution (2023)

I was able to organize my life enough that I have some free time. As a result, I wanted to restart my project of compiling a digital list and references of Malaysian and Singaporean history, with particular focus on introducing the left-wing movements and debates in the country.

The top 2 quotes is the current introduction to the project.

I am just posting this to further incentivize me on finishing my current readings and the project.

Okay, to make this post more news-megaworthy, let me discuss this paper:

The Business Times - 4 Asean members among those said to have Putin’s blessing to join Brics as partners

BRICS leaders have agreed on a list of nations that will be invited to join as partner countries, as the bloc seeks to strengthen its role as a counterbalance to Western political and economic influence, and South-east Asian nations Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam are reportedly on it.

A lot of fan fare about this. Odd considering that out of the 4, 2 of them Indonesia and Thailand, also seek to be part of OECD.

I maintain a welcoming but skeptical view of ASEAN member states joining BRICS.

... The Philippines and Singapore are unlikely to join [BRICS].

The joke writes themselves but we all know this already.

The paper then goes on about Malaysia-Russia relations with not much substance.

Another article notes in it's introductory line:

150 years ago, a Russian explorer made his way to the Malay Peninsula, not to colonise the territory, but to carry out scientific expeditions. In the 1870s, NN Miklukho-Maklai arrived in Johor to begin his exploration.

Colonialism is still a large part of national consciousness, even if it get's subdued by neocolonial state narratives.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/10/26/dozens-killed-by-paramilitary-rsf-in-sudans-gezira-aid-groups-say

Dozens of civilians have been killed and thousands displaced in Sudan’s Gezira state, aid groups said, after several days of attacks by the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), which has been battling the army for more than a year. In an interview with The AP on Friday, Chaiban said the war has created “one of the most acute crises in living memory” with more than 14 million people forced to flee their homes, plunging Sudan into the world’s largest displacement crisis.“ We’ve never in a generation seen these types of numbers,” he said. About 25.6 million people – more than half of Sudan’s population – are expected to face acute hunger this year due to the conflict.

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