Bulletins and News Discussion from December 16th to December 22nd, 2024 - Assad's Apology

The Romanian government cancelled the results of a recent election because they didn't like a specific TikTok campaign. Turns out that people from all over the world were using this international platform and some had opinions on Romanian elections. How shocking! By this standard, all elections since the invention of the internet are invalid.

Turns out that this sinister "foreign campaign" that the current Romanian government used as justification to cancel the election was run by the ruling party! Couldn't they at least point at some foreign TikToks talking about the Romanian elections? How hard is that to do!

This is an absolutely bombshell: the story about the cancelled elections in Romania is even far more sinister than previously thought.

A new report from investigative outlet http://snoop.ro/ (https://snoop.ro/anaf-a-descoperit-ca-pnl-a-platit-o-campanie-care-l-a-promovat-masiv-pe-calin-georgescu-pe-tiktok/) reveals that the TikTok campaign which was cited in the declassified Romanian intelligence documents (summarized in my post below 👇) as evidence of foreign interference - and used as grounds to cancel the presidential election - was actually paid for by the ruling National Liberal Party (PNL), the very party that supported cancelling the elections!

According to the investigation, the campaign called "#EchilibrușiVerticalitate" that the intelligence services claimed was "identical to Russian operations in Ukraine" was organized by a marketing firm called Kensington Communication, hired by PNL (the ruling party), who paid Kensington over 1 million RON for it (about $210,000). Kensington then used a platform called FameUp to coordinate 130 influencers with specific scripts and messaging guidelines.

This puts the declassified intelligence documents in an entirely new light. What they presented as evidence of foreign interference was actually a campaign paid for by the ruling party. The same party that then supported using these allegations of "foreign interference" to cancel an election they were losing.

Even more bizarrely, confronted by journalists, Kensington Communication initially denied using the hashtag but later admitted to creating the campaign for PNL, claiming it was meant to be called "#echilibrusiseriozitate" and was changed to "#echilibrusiverticalitate" without their knowledge. Yeah, right...

This means that either the Romanian intelligence services didn't know this was a PNL-funded campaign when they used it as evidence to cancel the election (which raises huge questions about their competence), or they did know and didn't disclose it (which raises even bigger questions about their integrity).

In any case, it seems to indicate that something extremely sinister happened in Romania: a ruling party used intelligence services to cancel an election based on "foreign interference" evidence that they themselves paid for!

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1870682333713715480

Jenin Brigade reports that 237 PA security forces have been arrested for refusing the most recent Israeli-ordered operation to eliminate the resistance in the refugee camp.

https://t.me/thecradlemedia/27021

Not one EU flag in sight, just people enjoying the moment

Not that I've caught your attention, I want to make a mini write-up about the situation in Serbia. There have been pretty massive protests ever since a train station canopy in Novi Sad fell and killed 15 people, due to inexcusable government negligence. When the news first came up, they said that it happened because they forgot to renovate it, despite the fact that videos came up of them literally fencing off the area and working on it lmao. People immediately started protesting against the government and asked for transparency regarding the technical documentation of the renovation, which Vucic didn't want to provide. The students started honoring the victims by blockading streets for 15 minutes (for 15 victims) each day on 11:52 AM exactly (the time the tragedy happened). Vucic thought he was hot shit and did his classic move of getting his masked thugs to beat up and disperse the protesters. This, in a surprising twist, ended up backfiring spectacularly and instead emboldening the students in their message, where now they held plenums and in agreement with their professors ended up blockading their respective universities. The majority of them are now blockaded, and almost every famous Serbian singer, dancer, athlete, writer and actor has ended up voicing their uncritical support for the protests and blockades.

And if you thought this was a color revolution in any way, here's our good friend amerikkkan ambassador Christopher Hill seen in a bus that Vucic rode today to showcase him building more roads, this time the work of a usasian company named Bechtel.

On the other hand, this is a pretty interesting move from the students with this letter, but since I figure this wouldn't work in since all their education is privatized, I'd really like to hear from someone familiar with or colleges, with Macron appointing his 15th prime minister (along with racist rants) and Magdenburg being pretty valid reasons for them to do this rn. Like maybe I'm crazy, but I figure sending this letter to Hasan would be a pretty effective way of getting their plight out there, since traditional media from anywhere isn't covering this shit at all.

Or TL:DR - watch Yugopniks stream (skipped to the part where he talks about it, along with the political background). Also tell me if I should do an actual in detail write up about the political situation, because even the shit Yugo says in the stream doesn't cover even half of it.

Panama Canal belongs to Panama, says the country's president after Trump's threat.

In social media posts on Saturday, the US president-elect accused Panama of charging “exorbitant” fees to cross the canal and threatened to take back control of the waterway. “Our country's sovereignty and independence are not negotiable,” Mulino said in a video published on X. Mulino said that a 1977 treaty between the two countries recognized Panama's sovereignty over the canal.

“Panama respects other nations and demands respect. With the new US government, I aspire to preserve and maintain a good respectful relationship,” he said. “Security issues such as illegal migration, drug trafficking and organized crime must be a priority on our bilateral agenda, as they are a real threat that should concern us,” he added

He went on to suggest growing Chinese influence in the region, writing: “When President Jimmy Carter foolishly gave away a dollar during his term in office, it was solely for Panama to manage, not China, or anyone else.” Trump doubled down on the suggestion during remarks in Phoenix on Sunday, arguing that the US has a “vested interest” in operating the canal without Panama charging “exorbitant prices and passage fees” for ships operated by US companies and military personnel.

The Torrijos–Carter Treaties (Spanish: Tratados Torrijos-Carter) are two treaties signed by the United States and Panama in Washington, D.C., on September 7, 1977. The treaties guaranteed that Panama would gain control of the Panama Canal after 1999, ending the control of the canal that the U.S. had exercised since 1903. The treaties are named after the two signatories, U.S. President Jimmy Carter and the Commander of Panama's National Guard, General Omar Torrijos.

The treaties were the source of vehement controversy in the United States, particularly among conservatives led by Ronald Reagan, Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, who regarded them as the surrender of a strategic American asset to what they characterized as a hostile government. Support for the treaties came from a variety of interests, including the Joint Chiefs of Staff and members of Congress, such as Ernest Hollings, Hubert Humphrey. More moderate conservatives, including former President Gerald Ford and Henry Kissinger, both made public statements in support of the treaty.

Many world leaders also came out in support of the treaties, including positive statements from Bolivian President Hugo Banzer, Dominican President Joaquín Balaguer, Guatemalan President Kjell Laugerud, Nicaraguan President Anastasio Somoza, Peruvian President Francisco Morales Bermúdez, Chilean President Augusto Pinochet and Venezuelan President Carlos Andrés Pérez.

Actor John Wayne, who was friends with Omar Torrijos. Wayne and fellow conservative William F. Buckley believed that the Panamanians had the right to the canal and sided with President Jimmy Carter. Wayne was a close friend of Panamanian leader Omar Torrijos Herrera, and Wayne's first wife Josephine was a native of Panama. His support of the treaty brought him hate mail for the first time in his life.

John Wayne normally:

John Wayne when he is friends with Socdem Military Dictator of Panama:

A big selection of news (and some combat footage) from Syria, the Donbass, occupied Palestine, and Yemen:

Yesterday, Syrian patriotic resistance forces (composed of former Syrian Arab Army soldiers) ambushed some of Washington’s al-Queda “HTS” proxies in Talfita, in the Qalamoun mountains area north of Damascus (video): https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,-ex-SAA-unit-consisting-of-loyalists-to-the-Syrian-Arab-Republic:0

Russian forces liberated the Kharkov oblast settlement of Lozovaya (south of Kupyansk) and the DPR settlement of Krasnoye (northwest of partially Kiev-occupied Kurakhovo): https://sputnikglobe.com/20241222/russian-forces-liberate-two-key-settlements-in-donetsk-and-kharkov-region-1121235815.html

Russian forces captured an Australian mercenary near the Kiev-occupied DPR city of Kramatorsk (video): https://news-pravda.com/world/2024/12/22/934377.html

This longer news report mentions that today Palestinian resistance forces killed and wounded several more Zionist occupation troops in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp with a thermobaric rocket strike and sniper fire: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739542/Palestine-Israel-Jabalia-refugee-camp-buildings-destroyed-ghost-town-Israeli-military

The Yemeni Armed Forces launched eight cruise missiles and 17 drones at the US imperialists’ “USS Harry S. Truman” aircraft carrier in the Red Sea. At some point during this engagement, a US F-18 was shot down. Washington claims that it was “a friendly fire incident”, while Yemeni army spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree states that Yemen shot down the warplane: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/22/739549/Yemen-armed-forces-Yahya-Saree-thwart-American-British aggression-down-US-F-18-fighter-jet-CENTCOM-friendly-fire-claim

After being accused by the Israeli government of using “double standards”, Pope Francis once again criticized the bombings in the Gaza Strip this Sunday (22/12). The comments were made during the Angelus prayer, held exceptionally online because the Pontiff has a cold and wants to spare himself before his Christmas commitments.

“With pain, I think of Gaza, of so much cruelty, of the children machine-gunned, of the bombing of schools and hospitals. How cruel!” he said at his residence, Casa Santa Marta, in the Vatican.

The traditional Sunday event could not be held in the apostolic palace in St. Peter's Square because the Pope is ill. However, Francis decided to hold the prayer online, insisting that he was moved by the Palestinian population. The day before, he had already expressed sadness at the death of seven children in attacks on Friday (20/12) in the Palestinian enclave. According to the Gaza Civil Defense, 10 members of the same family died in an Israeli bombing in Jabaliya, in the north of the territory.

“It's not war, it's cruelty. I say this because it moves me,” he said in an audience with members of the Curia, the Holy See's government.

The Pontiff often speaks out about wars around the world. But in recent times, he has intensified his criticism of Israel, raising the tone of his speeches and abandoning a certain political neutrality. At the end of November, the Pope denounced “the arrogance of the invader” in Ukraine, but also in “Palestine”, a week after the publication of a book in which Francis advocates “carefully investigating” whether the situation in Gaza corresponds to the “technical definition” of genocide. In September, the Vatican leader had already criticized the “immoral” use of force in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.

Israel was quick to rebut the Pope's statements. “The Pope's comments are particularly disappointing because they are disconnected from the real and concrete context of Israel's fight against jihadist terrorism,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry reacted on Saturday.

What exactly is going on in Georgia? Was the current government not democratically elected? Why are protesters calling it illegitimate?

I know they're trying to do Ukraine 2014 and all in Georgia but I thought that Georgians voted against that bullshit.

Commentary: Why the four red lines are critical to China-U.S. ties

Elon Musk's 'X' deleted the account of Saudi-born far-right terrorist Taleb Al Abdulmohsen, and reinstated it hours later, but with all the pro-Israel and anti-Islamic Tweets removed.

House Democrats say GOP caved to Musk in funding bill, protecting his China interests

House Democrats Jim McGovern of Massachusetts and Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut say their Republican colleagues in Congress caved to the demands of Elon Musk, sinking a bipartisan government funding bill that would have regulated U.S. investments in China.

Congress passed a separate stopgap funding bill over the weekend, averting a government shutdown.

In a series of posts on X, McGovern said more could have been accomplished. The scrapped provision “would have made it easier to keep cutting-edge AI and quantum computing tech — as well as jobs — in America,” he wrote. “But Elon had a problem.”

Tesla, run by Musk, is the only foreign automaker to operate a factory in China without a local joint venture. Tesla also built a battery plant down the street from its Shanghai car factory this year, and aims to develop and sell self-driving vehicle technology in China.

“His bottom line depends on staying in China’s good graces,” McGovern wrote about Musk. “He wants to build an AI data center there too — which could endanger U.S. security. He’s been bending over backwards to ingratiate himself with Chinese leaders.”

SpaceX, Musk’s aerospace and defense contractor, has reportedly withheld its Starlink satellite internet service over Taiwan at the request of Chinese and Russian leaders. Taiwan is a self-ruling democracy that Beijing claims as its territory. Taiwan’s status is one of the biggest flashpoints in U.S.-China relations.

DeLauro, the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, wrote in a letter to Congress on Friday that Musk needs “Chinese government approvals for his company’s projects in the country.” It’s concerning, that Musk “has ingratiated himself with Chinese Communist Party leadership,” she wrote.

lmao

The Democrats are going with the “Elon Musk is a security threat for selling our country to China” narrative.

And yet, I would not be surprised to see the relations normalized under Trump, beneath all of Trump’s anti-China rhetoric for America to save face. China sees this as a win-win for them (though not so much for the rest of the world because the empire is going to be saved by China once again).

https://xcancel.com/koryodynasty/status/1870470848571965927#m

South Korean media reporting growing concerns about the extent of alleged shamanistic and fortune-telling influences within President Yoon's administration, with multiple spiritual advisers allegedly operating at different levels of power.

Korea's martial law probe has uncovered extraordinary meetings at a burger joint involving a former military commander who, after being dishonourably discharged, was found to be living in a fortune-telling shop where he allegedly practiced divination alongside other shamans.

what is it that makes south korea such fertile ground for shamans and mystics?

Trump threatens Panama's government with an American takeover of the Panama Canal.

Statement from Ansarallah on last night's operations against the US Navy.

Statement implies that the US shot down their own aircraft while trying to intercept cruise missiles and drones. Impressive military operation by the Yemeni Armed Forces. I wondered why they didn't fire any ballistic missiles last night, this seems to be the reason why, they wanted to confuse the US Navy with targets that can appear similar to an aircraft. Maybe even shadowing one? Either way, they succeeded in causing a chaotic situation that lead to the downing of a US F/A-18F aircraft. That is impressive. May Ansarallah continue in their operations to dissuade the imperialists and defend Palestine.

Twitter source

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Just going to add a tweet that Mohammed Ali al-Houthi made on the 8th March 2024, I think it fits in nicely given the current situation:

The heroes in the [Yemeni] armed forces know about the loopholes that can be exploited by synchronizing the take-off or landing of American aircraft on the battleships.
I advise the American and their ally to issue a decision not to take off at all.

It seems as if the "loophole" was used. The Americans were warned, they were told what would happen months in advance, and it happened. 1 F/A-18F down.

Mohammed Ali al-Houthi tweet

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Putin on the fact that the decision to start the SMO should have been made earlier: It is impossible to name a specific date and time, but, in any case, we should have gotten our bearings earlier and understood that our opponents were not going to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were simply leading us by the nose, misleading us. Later, Western leaders admitted this - they publicly stated that they did not intend to implement the Minsk Agreements, that they were only going to achieve one goal - to give time for the rearmament of the Ukrainian Armed Forces so that they could prepare for future military actions. And if they gave them the opportunity to prepare for future military actions, it means they were counting on them starting. This means that they assumed that there would be military actions. And we, understanding this, should have acted more decisively and promptly, should have prepared for this and chosen the right moment to start them, and not wait for the moment when it would be impossible to do nothing further. A crime can be committed either by action or by inaction. Our inaction would be a crime against the interests of Russia and its people.

The war was always going to happen. Russia was forced to seize the pre-emptive strike ahead of a Ukrainian offensive. Putin was being naive but eventually realized that it would have been far worse by just waiting for things to happen.

News from Iceland:
The (fe)madlads did it! They made a new government!

Socdem - People's Party - Pro EU rightists

Their policies are of course disgustingly liberal along with some sus ones like "Revise immigration policies based on Nordic models." but also some interesting ones like "Formulating policies on natural resources and their sustainable use." as well as poverty alleviation and housing security

here is a transcript of the press conference
see earlier post for some context
and here is a post about the election results

By the way, I was very surprised to hear from the President on the direct line that our people allegedly helped evacuate 4 thousand Iranian soldiers through Khmeimim. I was tormented by vague doubts.

Today, the Iranian Foreign Ministry denied this information from Putin.

That is, our geniuses of reports and reports managed to screw the head of state here too.

And this is not only about Syria. This is about everything in general.

Either there is a communication issue between Iran and Russia, which speaks to the current state of relation between both countries, or Putin is openly lied to by his ministries.

In either case, evacuation is underway from Syria. Russia is out.

Why would the Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser "USS Gettysburg (CG-64)" switch their allegiance to Hamas and shoot down one F/A-18?

Clearly this act of betrayal cannot go unpunished. I hope the US Navy sinks the rebellious cruiser.

Yankoid airplane down!!! Yemen got one! Of course, westerners are claiming friendly fire.

Some combat footage for today.

Russian FPV drones destroyed another German-built Leopard tank in Kharkov oblast: https://sputnikglobe.com/20241221/watch-german-leopard-tank-get-taken-out-with-fpv-drone-strikes-1121230395.html

A Russian drone strike destroyed a Kiev regime anti-aircraft system: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,--The-Mighty-Beavers-found-and-destroyed:0

Macron visited the French department of Mayotte, in the Indian Ocean, which was devastated by Cyclone Chido, the worst in 90 years. But he went berserk with the island's natives and cursed a lot into the microphone, saying that without France they would be even more in the shit.

When confronted by the population without water, electricity and food, Macron goes berserk and spouts colonialist pearls such as “you must be happy with France”, “you can't be French and criticize the Metropolis”, “we give you everything”, and other hits from the century before last.

In news from countries you don’t really hear about

Albania is set to ban TikTok for a year https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/21/albania-bans-tiktok-for-one-year-following-school-stabbing)] (removed amp link)

In geo-solar news, it's Solstice, folks. The northern hemisphere's about to start getting more of the sun back, and the southern hemisphere's about to start getting a break from its relentless beating. Happy Solstice, y'all.

Warplanes are in Yemeni airspace conducting aerial assualts, according to the Al Mayadeen correspondent stationed there. Explosions were reported in Sana'a, as well as the sounds of aircraft. This appears to be in response to Yemen's ballistic missile attack yesterday that evaded Israeli air defenses. Unknown at this time if it's Israeli, US or UK aircraft, or a coalition force of multiple countries. US surveillance aircraft and drones were operating close to Yemen within the last few hours, and the US aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman (CVN-75), was spotted less than 600km off of the coast of Yemen today. Mohammed al-Houthi also tweeted about it. Just be aware that most of the photos circulating online are of previous attacks and not the current attack.

Al Mayadeen twitter source

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So it was a US airstrike, no Israeli involvement as of now. Also apparently no anti-ship ballistic missiles were launched at US Navy ships this time, only cruise missiles and one way attack drones. Again, all according to US sources. Also I'm not posting US sources because I uncritically believe what they say, but rather to get an idea of what they were doing and who was responsible for this attack.

In this whole article, the discussion is only around wild birds spreading disease. No mention of feeding the doodoo to cows 🤦‍♂️

Scientific American How the U.S. Lost Control of Bird Flu, Setting the Stage for Another Pandemic

Edited to fix an autocorrect typo

Another simulated Oreshnik or IRBM strike was carried out today according to air raid monitoring channels. 2nd one in two days, so two days in a row now we've had stimulated strikes. I wonder if we'll get an actual real strike before the end of the year, or if Russia is just wheeling out the missile launchers to keep Ukraine on it's toes. If there's another strike, will it be an Oreshnik, or another intermediate range system?

Also with regards to Oreshnik, it turns out that satellite imagery from Airbus showing the supposed damage, only showed old damages to the factory complex from previous strikes. Another older satellite image from Airbus was ordered to confirm that. Also Maxar, the supplier of satellite imagery for Google Maps, has been covering up all the damages to the factory complex in their satellite imagery, including from all previous attacks. There is even suspicions that Airbus is doing similar with regards to Oreshnik and selling old imagery, only showing old damages from previous strikes, and not Oreshnik. Either that, or the Oreshnik damage is not visible on satellite imagery, or Oreshnik missed completely. Here's the article on that.

The only reliable source that seems to have seen imagery of the damage caused by the Oreshnik strike has not released it publicly, and states that the only damage visible on satellite imagery is "small holes punched in roofs", given the kinetic nature of the projectiles. If that's true, most of the damage would be underground and thus not visible on any satellite imagery, similar to a tank being hit by an APFSDS (sabot) round, where the only damage visible on the outside is a small entry hole, while the inside of the tank is destroyed.

Twitter source with regards to that

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I used to be naive and think that even though my country's only left-ish party, the Red-Greens, are absolutely dogshit when it comes to antiimperialism, militancy and the like, at least they were good on social issues. That is supposed to be the deal with the western left, they get to go all in on the "woke" stuff in return for being useless on everything to do with economy and geopolitics.

I am smarter now. Recently, 70 percent of the delegates at an extraordinary party congress voted to expel the Red Left faction for being too radical and too supportive of Palestinian resistance. That is bad enough as it is. But the purge prompted some Red-Green guy who sits in a municipal council to write a really depressing piece in Arbejderen. I thought we could at least be spared from the culture war bullshit, but alas no. He started out by saying how good it was that everyone in the party was now agreeing to support "democracy".

Then he went on to say that now the baddies had been purged it was important to have freeze peach inside the party. He had been silenced, you see. What was he silenced for? You guessed it, transphobia. Apparently admins in party group chats had removed his posts about "defining gender biologically". He then went on to complain about trans women footballers and how unfair it was to cis women footballers that they were playing, consistently misgendering the trans players throughout the piece. And the guy calls himself a leftist and holds elected office for a presumably "revolutionary socialist" party.

Judging from his complaints he is at least being "silenced" by other party members but it is deeply fucked that he can even think that transphobia is a legitimate belief inside a leftist party.

In 2019, the net profit of the banking sector amounted to 1.7 trillion rubles; in 2020 - 1.6 trillion; in 2021 - 2.4 trillion; in 2023 - 3.3 trillion. The forecast for the current year is 3.5-3.8 trillion, that is, twice as much as in the pre-COVID, calm 2019. The main beneficiary of what is happening in Russia is the banking sector (financial capital), and not the defense industry or exporters. No industry received more than banks.

It’s over. Finance capital has won. Specifically, American finance capital has won. There is no other way to read this data without cope.

And to add to that:

Putin began his meeting with big business with the words: "The economy does not live by the rate alone, but also by the supply of goods on the market first and foremost." It is clear that the issue of the rate and the complaints of business generals about the Central Bank greatly irritate him. But, according to the law and rules, the Central Bank is completely independent in decision-making. Even the head of state cannot influence the decisions of the Central Bank's board of directors. They tried to change the law in the early 2000s. It didn't work. Everyone who needs to knows this. They have to fight off complaints with jokes.

There is no way to defeat American imperialism without defeating American finance capital. Even when you are winning on the military front, you still have to escape the ideological indoctrination from the IMF.

Has anyone here written on the recent Romanian elections "scandal"?

My suspicions is that it's a less severe version of the Georgian case: someone who doesn't automatically bow to NATO & EU won an election, and liberals cry about Russian coup (without ample evidence)

Or maybe there is actual evidence, unlike in Georgia?

Even if there is evidence, the rundown is usually: Russians giving money to a right wing candidate is BAD, end of democracy, while NED giving money to a different right wing candidate is just the power of Freeeedom
It's highly unlikely that TikTok alone would be enough to win an election, anyway

https://neurosciencenews.com/long-covid-spike-protein-brain-28156/

Key facts

• Spike protein persists in brain tissues and skull bone marrow for years post-infection.

• mRNA vaccines reduce spike protein accumulation in the brain by 50%.

• Chronic spike protein presence may accelerate brain aging and increase stroke risk.

https://xcancel.com/AryJeay/status/1870290401510264884#m

Yemeni missile dodges 2 Israeli interceptors before striking in Tel Aviv.

As time goes on, I continue to think Louisville is the most barbaric city in hell world https://www.lpm.org/news/2024-12-19/pregnant-kentucky-woman-cited-for-street-camping-while-in-labor

It looks like the twitter account of the suspect in the latest terrorist attack in Germany has been found. The suspect appears to be an ex Muslim atheist man who left Saudi Arabia for Germany in 2006, and believed that the German government was persecuting ex Muslim and women Saudi refugees, along with trying to spread radical Islamic ideology across Europe? Saudi Arabia apparently wanted to extradite him, and Germany refused, and that appears to be related to his work in helping apostates, mostly women, to escape Saudi Arabia for refugee status in Germany, which was interpreted as participation in human trafficking, again of mainly women. The details are unknown at this time, this is all speculation with regards to that. In some of his tweets, he says that Germans are complicit in the persecution he faces as an ex Muslim and that he wants to take violent action against German citizens. He also appears to be a Zionist. Also went on an unhinged rant about how women social media influencers and models leaving Islam would lead to the collapse of the religion. It appears that he has a fixation with regards to ex Muslim women.

Content warning for his twitter account: Islamophobia, condoning terrorist acts, sexism, Zionism, and everything in between.

Twitter link

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Nitter mirror

I remember hearing that some of the prisons in syria where people are being released from USED to back in the day be CIA blacksites, where america could hold people indefinitely and that lasted until syria-us relations deteriorated. Anyone know if that's true?

Also the syrian had arrested abdullah occalan and then also released him?

People keep making fun of how that photo of the cops surrounding Luigi, just one guy, makes him look more badass (as they should), but here's the other thing: Why are they walking? Why not just put him in a van and drive him to the location like they normally do?

Zambian soccer player Barbra Banda, 24, was the target of transphobic attacks from exclusionary trans groups after being named the BBC's British Player of the Year. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, notorious for her attacks on trans rights, was one of the figures who endorsed the comments on social media.

Active at Orlando Pride in the United States since March of this year, Barbra Banda is Brazilian Superstar Football player Marta's colleague. Barbra is a cisgender woman (in other words, she identifies with the gender she was assigned at birth). In other words: she is not a trans woman. That same year, Rowling was also one of the public people to use her X profile to attack Algerian boxer Imane Khelif during the Paris Olympics.

The player was announced as BBC Player of the Year on Tuesday (26). The result is based on a popular vote. She was part of a shortlist with other players, all of whom were defined, according to the British newspaper, by “a large panel of experts involved in soccer from around the world”. After Nigeria's Asisat Oshoala in 2015, Banda is the second African player to win the newspaper's title.

The player told the BBC that she was “shocked and surprised” by the nomination and thanked her family, the Pride team and the Zambian national team (she was also part of the squad at the Paris Olympics). “Growing up in Zambia was never easy, especially as a girl,” said the athlete, saying that it took a while for her mother to support her in pursuing athletics. “It wasn't easy, but I think hard work and consistency really helped,” she added.

“Presumably the BBC decided that this [naming the Band Player of the Year] was more time-efficient than going door-to-door to spit directly in women's faces,” tweeted J. K. Rowling when sharing a post by The Telegraph's sports editor-in-chief. Another figure known for speaking out against the rights of trans people and their inclusion in sports is British swimmer Sharron Davies. She said on her X profile that the nomination is “trolling pure and simple”. “Of all the fabulous female footballers in the world, the BBC has deliberately chosen a man to be the best female footballer of the year,” she wrote in one of her posts.

Apparently the attacker in Magdeburg was a Saudi doctor living in Germany since 2006. Things are about to get ugly in Germany, especially given they currently don't have a government and there are elections in February. Fully expect the AfD to take advantage of the rampant Islamophobia latent in all Germans, and pair that with "it's time for Syrian refugees to go home to a Safe Syria." Grim.

Source: https://www.barrons.com/news/saudi-man-arrested-after-magdeburg-attack-state-premier-7df18630

The latest from Justin Podur talked in depth about one aspect of the Syrian War that IMO has become a bit of an elephant in the room. This is one war where sanctions played an important role, albeit with massive caveats.

There was a civil war that ruined the country, and then a part of it was occupied. That part was permitted some rebuilding and was supplied by the occupying force. Either financially (Americans buying the SDF's oil in the northeast) or directly (Turks sending their oligopolies to rebuild and supply the local economies in Idlib and Afrin). The portion of the country that remained under control of the central government more or less failed to rebuild - wether that's an indictment of Assad's government, Russia's and Iran's financial werewithal, the power of the sanctions themselves, or all of the above is up for discussion.

The truly bleak statement from Justin is that while the sanctions architecture might create a real demand for acquiescence, the moment the country bends the knee slightly it doesn't get rewarded for it. Western policy seems all stick, no carrot. Assad is gone. Yet Syria went from being bombed 3 times a week by the Israelis to 300 times in 3 days. The entire security infrastructure of the country is just gone. And still the Europeans and Americans are dithering on wether they'll even remove sanctions imposed on a new regime which, by and large, is giving them everything they ever asked for and then some.

So in my view this is a cautionary tale to the likes of Venezuela and Cuba. Juan Guaidó could have taken over the former and turned PDVSA into a Chevron subsidiary. Something tells me the Americans would still never forgive these countries for mildly inconveniencing them.

Denmark Imposes Harsh Welfare Reforms Targeting 'Non-Western' Immigrants

Denmark’s rubber-stamp parliament, has approved welfare reforms imposing strict conditions on welfare recipients, disproportionately targeting racialized minorities. The new laws require some welfare recipients to work 37 hours per week for a paltry DKK 6,553 (USD 917) monthly before taxes—an amount woefully inadequate in one of the world’s priciest nations.

The reform, presented by the ruling Social Democrat-led right-wing regime, was passed with the support of regime-loyal far right parties. A spokesman from the fascist Danish People's Party, gleefully embracing the prospect of forcing unpaid menial labor on non-white minorities, declared, "We don't just see this as a political victory; we see it as a victory for Denmark, for Danes, and for fairness".

The reforms, championed by the Nordic hermit kingdom's minister of employment, the Social Democrat hardliner Ane Halsboe-Jørgensen, claim to link "rights and responsibilities" but explicitly target 'non-Western' immigrants, particularly immigrant women. White refugees from Ukraine are explicitly exempt from the new punitive measures. The legal framework carefully avoids overt racial language, relying instead on conditions such as residency and employment history—criteria that disproportionately disadvantage minorities—thus providing a thin veneer of legality for the regime’s actions.

People targeted by the new reforms will be required to work full-time doing activities that includes doing menial public sector work, unpaid internships with private employers, employment in subsidized-wage positions or attending language classes. Tasks proposed for the work obligation include cleaning public toilets and sweeping sidewalks. Failure to comply could lead to even lower payments.

Critics from the moderate pro-democracy opposition, like Victoria Velasquez from the Red-Green Alliance, argue that the reforms fail to address barriers like health, education, or language and could cause even more people to end up working as unpaid labor in jobs that should be filled by paid workers earning fair wages under collective agreements. The nation's independent labor movement shares these concerns.

An estimated 10,000 individuals—90% of them non-Western immigrants—will also see their welfare payments slashed under tightened eligibility rules. These cuts will help finance modest subsidies for children’s activities and medications, presenting the reforms as a zero-sum game where the most marginalized are made to fund improvements for others.

• Source: Arbejderen, December 20th 2024

germany's gonna be a scarier country than the usa in a year and that's saying a lot

Jackson Hinkles Chinese social media got banned lmao

If you want to see what happens when Government doesn't do stuff, look at Greece.

These countries (Portugal, Greece) are literally examples of what happens when the Government isn't there to constrain capitalism and private debt is allowed to explode without control.

Grim scenes from Magdeburg

Some brief news from Denmark:

• Source: Arbejderen, December 19th 2024

Idk where else to put this but our local Amazon plant is striking. I work nearby for a subcompany so I drive by every day to work and this morning I saw like 12-20 people out front with signs. I'm reaching out to my local org to see what I can do to help even though my branch isn't fully established yet.

According to Ukraine's Air Force Command, Russia fired five ballistic missiles at Kyiv at around 7 a.m. on Friday. Ukrainian air defenses shot down all five missiles. In addition, 40 UAVs were shot down, and another 20 drones did not reach their targets, according to the command

In vacation country Portugal news, the incompetent government decides to appeal to security racism whenever it is caught not fixing anything. This time, they decided to direct the police to do stop people in the middle of their mostly immigrant neighborhood in the middle of the capital to humiliate and search them, so they can "appease the feeling of insecurity" that the far right, the pigs, and themselves have been trying to create - neither of these would be close to being able to find a majority finding them competent, by the way.

And they present as a great result apprehending some minor drugs, small amount of money (4600€), and a knife. And some white Portuguese guy who was probably selling the drugs. Those immigrants surely are leading to increased feelings of insecurity, by way of opportunistic <redacted>. Other than some of the cops, they're not even close to fascist, just eurocuck buffoons pretending to play politics incapable of thinking about the consequences.

If capturing Kurakhove takes months it will take a forever to defeat Ukraine in a city like Kherson or Sloviansk. At some point Russia will need to do decapitation strikes on Ukrainian leadership. Either that or lose another 1/2 million people on both sides. Seems like Putin's low and slow grind strategy worked well for the first few years of the war but eventually Nato is going to re-organize and meet the challenge. If Nato ends up defeating Russia I'm moving to Mars with elon.

A little news from occupied Palestine.

Palestinian al-Qassam Brigades forces stabbed to death four Zionist occupation troops (including an officer) in northern Gaza’s Jabaliya refugee camp, seizing their assault weapons. Yesterday, the resistance also killed another five occupation troops in central Jabaliya: https://www.presstv.ir/Detail/2024/12/19/739372/Qassam-Brigades-claims-to-have-killed-4-Israeli-troops-in-northern-Gaza-stabbing-attack

The fascist Tel Aviv regime’s warplanes attacked Yemen’s As-Salif port and Ras Isa oil facility in Hodeidah province; and two power plants in Sana’a. The attacks killed nine civilians. In response, the Yemeni Armed Forces struck Tel Aviv with two Palestine-2 hypersonic ballistic missiles and a drone: https://sputnikglobe.com/20241219/houthi-missile-lands-direct-hit-in-tel-aviv-amid-tit-for-tat-attacks---photos-1121216865.html

https://tass.com/world/1890607

https://tass.com/world/1889703

NYPD decided to do a perp walk photo op with Luigi:

This seems to have pretty much backfired on social media, for obvious reasons (this picture objectively goes hard). Lots of people comparing him to pics of Superman in handcuffs or saying they are treating him like a supervillain in Gotham.

Oh, also, that's Eric Adams directly to his right behind him. He might have given a speech about how Rikers is the Blackgate Penetentiary of New York, I am trying to check.

Is the U.S. Government discourse back in Paul Ryan era again? It's really sad to see all the hand-wringing about the national debt.

And this time, there is

U.S. Files Murder Charge Against Mangione That Could Bring Death Penalty

The leader of Yemen's Ansarallah, Abdul Malik Al-Houthi: 'Egypt is also under threat. The situation in Egypt may deteriorate quickly and the Zionist regime will seek to destroy all the capabilities and powers of the Egyptian army, like they did in Syria. The Zionist regime is seeking to implement this plan to overthrow the regime in Egypt'

Feels like a lot of shit has happened and the vibes are completely off, but I think a lot of folks here and elsewhere have kind of forgotten that the American imperial machine is still in a state of rapid unraveling and no "wins" in the Middle East are going to stop it. Compared to 2015, for instance, the world is entirely different. So many more regions can afford to effectively ignore the United States and pursue their own interests, for good or ill. The civil war in Sudan is case and point; the US can't do shit to stop it, and has no real influence there at all. Fucking Ukraine is doing more on the ground to shape Sudan that the United States, let alone actors like the UAE. India has shown complete disregard for the American imperial project to the point of assassinating enemies of the Indian state in Canada of all places. The Sahel has been able to entirely pursue its own interests, and there's nothing the West can do about it. They can't even stop Yemen from closing down the Red Sea. There's a shit ton of dooming here, but I think it's important to not lose sight of the fact that the world has irrevocably changed in the last decade, that the space for maneuver is far wider than its been in decades, and there's virtually nothing the United States or its pawns can do to change this continuing shift.

Turkey’s Erdogan in Egypt, holds first meeting with Sisi after Assad's fall

ANKARA — Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi met on Thursday to discuss Syria, Gaza and bilateral relations in their first meeting since the fall of the Syrian regime.

During their meeting on the sidelines of the D-8 Organization for Economic Cooperation summit in Cairo, Erdogan pledged continued Turkish support for Syrian unity and the country's reconstruction after 13 years of civil war. Unlike Turkey, the main backer of the Syrian rebels who ousted Bashar al-Assad from power on Dec. 8, the Egyptian government has long-favored Assad over the Islamist-leaning opposition. Assad's fall has raised concerns in Cairo about a potential resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood, which was removed from power in 2013.

On Gaza, Erdogan urged enhanced coordination between the two nations to guarantee the seamless delivery of humanitarian aid, stressing the critical need for an immediate, permanent, and sustainable ceasefire.

After Sisi's ousting of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood-led government, Erdogan declared he would never shake hands with him, labeling him a "brutal killer."

However, the last two years saw a thaw in relations between Cairo and Ankara. The two countries exchanged ambassadors in July 2023, and Sisi paid his first-ever visit to Turkey in September.

After losing a vote in the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee over the Dem ranking seat on the House Oversight Committee following Nancy Pelosi and establishment Dems throwing their support behind a 74-year old with cancer, AOC appealed to the general House Democratic Causus, and lost again. Lmao get fucked snake.

The r/politics comments are actually kinda funny. It's hard to tell to what extent reddit shitlibs have changed after the election and the extent to which the DNC isn't paying for astroturfing now that the election is over.

The most recent batch of ATACMS missiles used in Ukraine appear to have been sent by South Korea
Could have fun implications given that Russia and DPRK recently signed that defence treaty

With the imminent resignation of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, many are wondering what would happen in the event of his departure. The Canadian parliament was elected in 2021 and will last until September 2025.

The government is formed on the basis of cabinet agreements. Justin Trudeau has been prime minister for almost 10 years, but only for the first time with a majority. The parliament can be dissolved before the deadline by the Governor General, King Charles' representative in the country.

As Canada is part of the Commonwealth, he is the Canadian head of state. The position is currently held by Mary Simon. Normally, the Governor General dissolves parliament at the request of the Prime Minister, but he or she can also do so at the request of parliament. The last early dissolution was in 2021, at Trudeau's request.

So, if Justin Trudeau resigns, and if parliament does not call for a dissolution, the Liberal party, which holds a plurality of seats, could appoint a new prime minister. It all depends on parliament and the New Democrats, led by Jagmeet Sighn. Because if the New Democrats decide to support the dissolution, the Liberals have no way of stopping it, since the 25 seats of the NDP are decisive in the majority of parliament.

Opinion polls show that the Canadian Conservatives would maintain their lead if the election were held today. Trudeau's announcement is scheduled for this evening, if it is not postponed. If a federal election were held today in Canada, the Canadian Conservatives would be the leading political force. They would go from 120 to 218 MPs. The Liberals would sink, falling from 157 to 50. The NDP would lose 1 seat, according to this projection.

https://xcancel.com/Lfelizleon/status/1869768924604354996

Ansarallah continue their streak of being Allah’s strongest soldiers

🇾🇪🇸🇾🇵🇸🇮🇱 The Leader of Yemen's Revolution Sayyed Al-Houthi on the latest developments in the region:

After campaigning against Donald Trump as a grave threat to democracy, President Joe Biden says it’s not his concern that Trump doesn’t “abide by the rules of the democracy we’ve established,” and Biden again committed to a smooth transition of power — including attending Trump’s inauguration.

“Of course I am,” Biden said, asked in an interview with MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas if he would attend the ceremony after Trump skipped his. “The only president ever to avoid inauguration is the guy who’s about to be inaugurated.”

Asked about inviting Trump to the Oval Office after November’s election, Biden said it was “how we’re supposed to be,” even after Trump tried to subvert the 2020 election.

https://edition.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-government-shutdown-news-12-19-24/index.html

lol.

NVIDIA's new computer looks legitimately very impressive and can run inference while only pulling a max of 25W. Hopefully hardware and software improvements continue to quickly make AI less power hungry.

edit: to make this post more worthy of the news cavern: This is a low power computer for $250 that is probably powerful enough to run a dog robot that hunts people (if you need a reason to care).

Asked this elsewhere, but figured the beloved bulletin bears would be better at answering it.

Commentary has been that "the loss of Syria cuts Iran off from the Mediterranean, from Hezbollah and Palestine".

Was this not the case for the periods from 2003-2011 and 2014-2019, when there were hostile occupying powers in Iraq and/or Syria?

A new virus with pandemic potential is rapidly spreading around American farms. I hear this one is from a weird American meat selling market where animals in the facility are kept trapped in small cages around feces all day, and sometimes even fed feces in some cases? Apparently the Americans believe this helps the animals grow faster and taste better? So barbaric

Trump calls for abolishing the debt ceiling

Bird flu sweeps through zoos with ‘grave implications’ for endangered animals

High resolution satellite images finally came out from the original Oreshnik strike:

https://xcancel.com/squatsons/status/1869812277333111183#m

You can see that each projectile cluster landed roughly in a straight line, and the lines are pretty consistently spaced.

IMF data on GDP at purchasing power parity at the end of 2024.

1. China - 37.1 trillion.
2. USA - 29.2 trillion.
3. India - 16 trillion.
4. Russia - 6.9 trillion.
5. Japan - 6.6 trillion.
6. Germany - 6 trillion.
7. Brazil - 4.7 trillion.
8. Indonesia - 4.7 trillion.
9. France - 4.4 trillion.
10. Britain - 4.3 trillion.

TASS "Domestic mRNA vaccine for cancer will be free"

Big names. Gamaleya is very famous, known for developing the earliest vaccine for COVID, and the Blokhin oncology research center is the largest in both Europe and Russia. Hope it's true and widely available.

Diplomatic Standoff in the Kattegat Resolved: Chinese Freighter Will Depart After Inspection by Chinese Authorities

Chinese authorities, observed by representatives from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, and Germany, has inspected the Yi Peng 3, a bulk carrier anchored in the Kattegat for weeks following Nordic allegations of involvement in sabotaging underwater communication cables, presumably at Russia’s behest. The inspection was facilitated through high-level talks between Chinese and Nordic diplomats, hosted by Denmark's Moderate Party-controlled Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The allegations stem from cable failures in the Baltic Sea on November 17 and 18, which Western authorities were quick to label as "sabotage." China has denied any involvement, stating it has "no knowledge" of the incident, while Russia dismissed the accusations as "absurd," citing the lack of evidence.

The Yi Peng 3, returning from a routine voyage to Russia, suspended its journey in response to the allegations. The vessel remained anchored in international waters within Denmark's exclusive economic zone, where Nordic authorities lack the legal jurisdiction to detain or inspect it without China's consent. To avoid escalating tensions, China has opted to keep the vessel stationary in the Kattegat until now. Nordic naval vessels have monitored the ship closely throughout its stay.

The case has also drawn the attention of the United States, whose embassy in Copenhagen has reportedly pressed Danish military and civilian officials from several agencies for intelligence on the vessel. Observers suggest that elements in the US leadership may be deeply concerned about perceived Chinese involvement in what they view as Russian sabotage targeting NATO infrastructure. Reflecting China’s commitment to resolving the issue, a "fairly large" delegation, as described by Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen, participated in talks in Copenhagen. Rasmussen commended all parties, including China, for their cooperation.

Despite these efforts, the resolution fell short of Nordic expectations. Initial demands from Nordic governments called for the Yi Peng 3 to dock in a Swedish port for investigation and crew interrogation by Swedish police. Instead, they were compelled to accept a compromise allowing only Chinese authorities to carry out the inspection, with Western observers restricted to a passive role and prohibited from conducting their own inquiries.

This incident recalls a similar case last year involving another Chinese vessel accused by Western governments of disrupting communication cables in the Gulf of Finland. That ship was permitted to leave without inspection.

• Source: DR (state media), December 19th 2024

i can't get over just how much assad fumbled it 2 weeks later, literally 6 months - a year from normalization 🤏, just decided fuck it, we ball bail.

#Historic

Video of a Hezbollah fighter talking to an ISIS terrorist several years ago about how israel and certain Arab rulers exploit people to create sectarian division between Shias and Sunnis, which benefits no one but israel

Fast-forward until today... (Twitter link)

‘Sonic the Hedgehog 4’ in the Works for 2027 Release

The news comes as “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” races into theaters on Friday, where it is expected to top the box office with $55 million to $60 million from 3,800 North American theaters. The sequel is shaping up to be a nice holiday season hit for Paramount, hence the interest in more “Sonic” adventures. Internationally, the film will open in 52 markets on Christmas. Critics have also liked the latest movie, handing “Sonic the Hedgehog 3” an impressive 87% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes.

Together, the first two films have earned a combined global box office total of $725.2 million and driven over $180 million in global consumer spending from home entertainment rentals and digital purchases. They also inspired a spinoff Paramount+ series, “Knuckles,” which came out earlier this year. “Sonic the Hedgehog” is based on the popular video-game franchise from Sega, which first appeared in 1991.

Rest In Piss Leunig you piece of shit.

So who else thinks Israel is going to bomb Bethlehem on Christmas for the second year in a row?

alan macleod says alot of vpns are owned by a israeli company headed by an israeli former spy

link to the poll. This section is a ways down, might want to ctrl + f "vaccinate"

The highest support, 76%, is for requiring transgender athletes to play on teams that match the sex they were assigned at birth.
Support for increasing oil and gas production in the U.S. is nearly as high, at 74%.
More than two-thirds, 68%, favor allowing parents to make medical decisions about their minor children, including whether or not to vaccinate them against measles, polio, and other disease.
Sixty-one percent favor banning “gender-affirming” care such as hormone therapy or surgery for transgender minors under 18.

It turns out the father of the editor-in-chief of African Stream is a Central Committee member of Sudan’s Communist Party:
https://africanstream.media/african-streams-ceo-sits-down-with-his-father-to-discuss-sudans-war/

HTS actually allowed a Christmas Tree. And it's actually a cool tree tbh

Putin is doing his yearly press briefing

Here is a live transcript by the BBC, with analysis and commentary by propagandists and avowed idiots

comradeworkwear was banned from all social media sites after creating a deck with playing cards with names and faces of amerikkklan CEOs, the product was named "most wanted CEOs" creatively named in parody of the Most-wanted Iraqi playing cards which were issued to amerikkkan soldiers during the ameriKKKlan invasion of iraq. the face side of the cards depict amerikkklan CEOs.

source from reactionary site

edit: text says why am i evil with a qr code to scan.

Pisrael strikes sanaa again and professional traitors in jordan (allegedly) intercepted a drone from yemen

Are we going to get another March surprise folks

California declares state of emergency over bird flu

Once again a shutdown looms

will I be the only person in my office legally allowed to work for the next ??? weeks? find out very soon

People in NYC holding banners during a CEO Event at Ziegfeld Ballroom

cw: link

Jordan Peterson moves to US

In a recent episode of The Mikhaila Peterson Podcast, hosted by his daughter, Peterson cited his feud with the College of Psychologists of Ontario and concerns about a contentious bill targeting hate speech as among the key reasons for his decision to leave Canada.

"The issue with the College of Psychologists is very annoying, to say the least, and the new legislation that the Liberals are attempting to push through, Bill C-63, we'd all be living in a totalitarian hellhole if it passes," Peterson said.

What's C-63, you may ask?

The Minister of Justice has examined Bill C-63, An Act to enact the Online Harms Act, to amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and An Act respecting the mandatory reporting of Internet child pornography by persons who provide an Internet service

oh

Between February 2022 and October 2022, in addition to receiving Russian recognition, the DPR was recognised by North Korea (13 July 2022) and Syria (29 June 2022). This means that three United Nations member states recognised the DPR in total throughout its period of claimed independence. The DPR was also recognised by three other breakaway entities: the LPR, South Ossetia (19 June 2014), and Abkhazia (25 February 2022).

Wth Abkhazia? Is there a reason why they didn't recognize the two republics before? Also, what happened to the DPR and LPR? Did they become provinces within Russia or some kind of autonomous region? They seemed to have been overshadowed after 2022.

Grocery Prices Set to Rise as Soil Becomes 'Unproductive'

https://www.newsweek.com/grocery-prices-set-rise-soil-becomes-unproductive-2001418

The Crumbling Foundation of America’s Military The U.S. failed to produce weapons and ammunition fast enough to supply Ukraine. Could it equip its own armed forces in the event of war?

In 2023, the U.S. Army Science Board expressed concern that the nation’s industrial base “may be incapable of meeting the munitions demand created by a potential future fight against a peer adversary.”

"there are 2 girls, but because of the ravages of capitalism, the yanKKKee has to line one behind the other, so he can kill them both with one bullet to save munitions."

there is a 6 year old child with no legs in gaza getting around with an adult roller skate as a crutch

In mildly amusing financial dipshittery:

A surge in gold imports that widened India’s trade deficit to a record last month and pushed the rupee to an all-time low was due to an error in calculation, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Officials double-counted gold shipments in warehouses following a change in methodology in July, the people said, asking not to be identified ahead of an expected formal clarification. Attempts are on to reconcile the data, which could have been over-estimated by as much as 50 tons in November or almost 30% of total imports of the precious metal that month, some of the people said.

boomerberg

GPS Issues Likely To Delay New "Israeli" Artillery For Danish Army

Denmark’s purchase of artillery systems from the controversial "Israeli" defense company Elbit, notorious for arming the zionist apartheid a d genocide against Palestine, has run into new problems after revelations about flawed GPS systems. The systems, including Puls rocket launchers and Atmos howitzers, were equipped with civilian-grade GPS vulnerable to jamming, rendering them ill-equipped for modern warfare.

Attempts to upgrade to military-grade GPS systems are now mired in delays and mismanagement, potentially pushing the systems’ readiness back by three years and inflating costs.

Delivery of the weapons has already been delayed by the ongoing Palestinian war of liberation.

The deal itself stems from a rushed and opaque procurement process in early 2023, during which Danish officials approved the purchase under dubious circumstances. An independent investigation revealed misleading information was provided to decision-makers by the Liberal Party-controlled ministry of defense, raising serious questions about the integrity and competence of the authorities involved.

The Nordic hermit kingdom purchased the systems to replenish its arsenal following a hastede decision to traffick it's French Caesar howitzers to Ukraine's Kiev regime.

• Source: DR (state media), December 18th 2024

Some news and combat footage from the Donbass and Kursk oblast.

Russian forces liberated the Donetsk People’s Republic settlements of Trudovoye and Starye Terny: https://sputnikglobe.com/20241218/russian-forces-liberate-two-settlements-in-donetsk-peoples-republic-1121204823.html

A Russian Iskander missile destroyed a Kiev regime military position in the Kiev-occupied Kursk oblast village of Guevo: https://s5.cdnstatic.space/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/guevo.mp4?_=1

Russian drones destroyed another German-built Leopard tank in Kursk oblast: https://odysee.com/@Support4Z:b/📽️-A-🇬🇧-🇫🇷,---North-group-burned-the-German-Baerbock-Leopard-tank!:d

Another big collection of recent Russian strikes (some 18+): https://southfront.press/chronicle-of-the-fighting-in-ukraine-in-videos-17-18-december-2024/

What’s Behind the New U.S. Military Base in Galapagos - Telesur English

: You are not a sovereign country, . You know this.
https://xcancel.com/camilapress/status/1869212016558449101

Venezuela says new sanctions announced by Ottawa today “confirms, once again, [Canada's] servile role as a slave to the imperial interests of the United States.”

This whole drone saga really reminds me of the clowns in the woods if anyone remembers that

Excited to learn that Drone Discourse is colliding with Sky Orb Discourse

Bolivian Prosecutors To Request Preventive Detention for Evo Morales - Telesur English

mate has no other problems huh.

A really somber "Tankie Therapy" episode from The East is a Podcast on the fall of Syria. I was personally waiting for the crew to give their views because they know how important revolutionary optimism is for how we as leftists should think about the world, but they also keep it grounded in material reality. The way they manage to resist slipping into either forms of delusional optimistic idealism or some doom-and-gloom self-flagellation, especially in completely uncertain times like this, and are able to give a broad and pragmatic perspective is something I really admire.

In Kids TV News, HBO is dropping Sesame Street (they license content, which essentially funds its production and availability on PBS). Given Trump will almost certainly end federal funding for PBS (and the show is a personal target of Matt Schlapp and Ted Cruz), it may prove to be one of the casualties of the new republican regime unless someone else picks it up.

As a parent, it’d actually be quite sad to see it go, either entirely or from PBS. High quality, freely available children’s content that is positive, educational and inclusive should be a given, but naturally, the market will consume all - even Elmo.

Manhattan DA has indicted Luigi on, among other things, a terrorism charge, alleging that United Healthcare is a part of the government.

https://x.com/RnaudBertrand/status/1868830594991636722

This 👇 potentially changes everything, it looks like Trump envisions a U.S.-China G2.

He says that "China and the United States can together solve all the problems in the world". https://x.com/kyleichan/status/1868741445815091393/video/1…

From the point of view of a citizen of the Earth, I'm all for an improved relationship between the U.S. and China. And so far, despite some of his hawkish appointments, all of the statements by Trump himself point to that. Actions must follow of course, which is anything but a given: U.S. rhetoric often bears little correlation to their actions...

From the point of view of a European though, a US-China G2 would be a strategic disaster of the highest order. In fact it's long been something that many European strategic thinkers have warned about: if a US-China G2 materializes without Europe at the table, it will be on the menu.

A U.S.-China G2 would effectively mark an end to the undeclared world war we've been witnessing these past few years and declare the U.S. and China to be the 2 winners, setting the new rules of the game together the way the winners of WW2 did. Europe had a De Gaulle and a Churchill back then to defend its interests, there's virtually no-one today...

Which is why I've long said it was so strategically dumb for Europe to blindly follow the U.S. in its hostile strategy against China as one day (which looks like it may be coming soon) the U.S. would be bound to flip its position, leaving Europe exposed and with a damaged relationship with China. The smarter approach would have been to maintain an equally balanced relationships with both powers while building up European strategic autonomy. Instead of following Washington's lead on chip restrictions, decoupling initiatives, and confrontational rhetoric, Europe could have carved out its own path...

The question now is whether Europe can still recover its strategic position. And unfortunately the challenge appears nearly insurmountable: years of strategic complacency have left Europe vulnerable at precisely the moment when strength and independence are most crucial, with a complete absence of leaders of the caliber needed to navigate such tricky waters...

Saw this coming from miles away. US threatens China with tariffs while killing Europe as a potential consumer base to absorb Chinese export surpluses through inciting a Ukraine-Russia conflict.

US now defeats China’s capital control as China invites American capital to enter through foreign direct investment, entrenching dollar hegemony while enabling the US to shift away from running huge trade deficits, which had led to the MAGA movement (or the Bernie Sanders movement in another timeline) from disfranchised American workers. In other words, the US partially stops de-industrialization (but won’t re-industrialize, so contradictions will continue to grow) without having to sacrifice the primacy of the dollar.

China gets to keep its growth while continuing to alleviate millions more out of poverty, gets its talents back from US purge, preserves its industrial capacity but loses financial sovereignty in the process.

Europe and the Global South lose. European exodus to the US will fulfill America’s white supremacist dream. The rest of the Global South will be left vulnerable to fend for themselves.

Now, we wait and see how China responds to this offer.

some wild speculative article in naked capitalism that some of the drones are searching/training to search dirty bomb.

Simpler explanation that usa cities are routinely filmed from drones to search for undesirables is impossible of course

🙏

Attack kills head of Russia's nuclear and chemical weapons defenses in Moscow.

A bomb implanted in a scooter and detonated from a distance killed General Igor Kirillov on Tuesday (17). Ukraine's security agency, which accuses Kirillov of using banned chemical weapons in the war, told Reuters that the country was behind the attack.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/17/two-charged-over-us-tech-used-in-deadly-drone-attack-on-soldiers-in-jordan

A naturalized American citizen and a Swiss-Iranian dual citizen were arrested by the US for illegally exporting technology that was used in a drone attack against Americans.

Came across this image that goes incredibly hard when looking up Russia's NBC protection forces (due to the assassination this morning)

Ecuador On Track To Allow a U.S. Military Base in the Galapagos Islands - Telesur English

Sheikh Khaled Nabhan, feeder and guardian of stray cats in Gaza, was murdered by the Genocidal Entity. May you rest in power, inshallah.

Free Palestine 🇵🇸

More and more reports incoming about a potential ceasefire agreement/prisoner exchange deal with regards to Gaza. The attitude and media reports are of a very similar tone to the Hezbollah ceasefire in Lebanon. No matter how "bad or good" the ceasefire deal is, a ceasefire is a ceasefire and will bring desperately needed relief to millions under siege in Gaza.

o7 to the DPRK leadership for their uncharacteristically muted response to the drone incursions and SK political meltdown on December 3. Yoon Suk Yeol and SK military leadership tried to elicit a response from DPRK and Pyongyang gently pushed the spotlight back on Seoul where it belongs. Well played.

The head of Russia's Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Protection forces, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov was assassinated in a bomb attack in Moscow, along with his assistant.

Russian leadership really needs to wake up and realize that Ukraine/NATO are not going to just sit on their hands and wait to lose the war.

Massacre in Haiti: At Least 200 Dead in Cite Soleil and Artibonite - Telesur English

I stumbled on this website that maybe possibly someone here might find of interest: https://headline.nolog.cz/ It's by some lefty nerds.

It change tracks czech headlines from RSS feeds using red=deleted green=added (sorry color blind folks). Some basic filters but nothing fancy. So when they edit the original headline you can see it:

As I do not read czech I am using Firefox's built in translation. (Which is expanded recently tho mostly European languages.) It keeps up pretty good considering all the sentences are malformed. Web site is FLOSS (docker), so could be re deployed to another language.

They have available if you want the full archive of article changes in CSV format which is 12mb to download, 60mb when extracted, and 176,000 lines long. Maybe sometime it would be of value. The kind of thing that needs to be proactively collected.

Russia - Agree To Be Provoked Or Fall For Lucy's Football? | Moon of Alabama

https://xcancel.com/Slatzism/status/1868795614491800032#m

It seems the school shooter left a manifesto. It seems from said manifesto that she was quite far-right. No big surprises here.

US-Backed Kurdish Forces Report Ceasefire Failure in Northern Syria

Unlike US, China trying to resolve, not worsen Red Sea crisis

So what’s the deal with AOC? What would the Oversight or whatever position have done?

Constitutional Court Asks Yoon to Submit Written Argument

Real Idenity of the CNN "rescued" Syrian prisoner revealed and verified by members of his hometown.

Via Verify-Sy Syrian fact checkers Salama Mohammed Salama aka Abu Hamza, 1st Lieutenant in SAF Intelligence.

It seems like the newsmega has a lot fewer of the regulars recently. I miss the input from the users who are actually proximate to the conflict in Syria, Palestine, and Lebanon. Their input was extremely valuable.

Bolivia: Results of Judicial Elections To Be Known in Midweek - Telesur English

Bashar al-Assad Denies Betraying Syrian People by Leaving Power - Telesur English

After relentlessly bending the knee to "mama bear" Nancy Pelosi and the Dem establishment, all while providing cover for American participation in the Gaza Genocide with progressive voters, AOC lost the vote for top Dem spot on the House Oversight committee to Gerry Connolly, a 74-year old Democrat from Virginia with throat cancer, after Pelosi threw all her weight behind Connolly.

Serves that worm right lol.

This person jaq James has written several in depth papers criticizing the various major China bad uyghur genocide reports. I've mentioned the ohchr Xinjiang report on hexbear a few times as the maximal credible set of accusations. Working paper 4 in the link below is about that and is worth reading. These are very legal arguments but are quite readable.

https://www.cowestpro.co/papers.html

very cool

also isntreal bombing yemen