Bulletins and News Discussion from December 4th to December 10th, 2023 - The Legacy of Kissinger - COTW: Laos
Due to American cluster bombing campaigns advised by Kissinger during the Vietnam War to damage supply lines, over 2 million tonnes of ordinance were dropped on Laos over about a decade, averaging a planeload of bombs every 8 minutes. Laos is thus the most bombed country on the planet up to this point. 80 million bombs failed to explode - the cleanup operation is expected to take centuries, and 25,000 people have been killed and injured by bombs in the last 50 years. About 50 people are killed or injured every year to this day.
After the United States withdrew from Laos, the Pathet Lao took power and abolished the monarchy. Kaysone Phomvihane became a dominant figure in Laotian politics, keeping the course on Marxism-Leninism and implementing the first Five Year Plan in 1981. The second Five Year Plan in 1986 was modelled on Lenin's NEP, and this doubled rice production and significantly increased sugar production. After the fall of the USSR, Laos allowed a small capitalist class to exist, with similar control over them as in China. Laos maintains a 48-hour work week with paid sick leave, vacation time, and maternity leave, and workers are well-represented in trade unions. They faired relatively well during coronavirus from a social standpoint due to quick and efficient action to lock down the country, experiencing ~750 deaths out of a population of over 7 million.
There is hope even after utter destruction by genocidal oppressors.
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map. Their youtube channel has substantially diminished in quality but the map is still useful.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have interesting analysis. Avoid the comment section. Understanding War and the Saker: reactionary sources that have occasional insights on the war. Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict. While he is a reactionary and surrounds himself with likeminded people, his daily update videos are relatively brainworm-free and good if you don't want to follow Russian telegram channels to get news. He also co-hosts The Duran, which is more explicitly conservative, racist, sexist, transphobic, anti-communist, etc when guests are invited on, but is just about tolerable when it's just the two of them if you want a little more analysis.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent and very good journalist reporting in the warzone on the separatists' side.
Unedited videos of Russian/Ukrainian press conferences and speeches.
Pro-Russian Telegram Channels:
Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.
https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language. https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one. https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts. https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel. https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator. https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps. https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language. https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language. https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses. https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
I couldn't figure out why the hell Israel would destroy a high court building. Maybe Hamas's top secret Mecha Army or something is under the building?
Seriously though - I googled and I couldn't find a reason. I went to The Times of Israel update page that covers the explosion gave no explanation about why. I guess hasbara is now basically "Fuck Gaza," albeit expressed more politely.
I'm also confused about how they blew it up. I assumed they bombed it when I read about it but it looks like they used controlled explosives to collapse the building, or am I wrong? The fact that they filmed it in this way seems to affirm that they did it with controlled explosives (at least I haven't seen them film a bombing in this way).
The IDF destroyed the courthouse in the Gaza Strip; in a video circulated online, soldiers are heard saying that this is an act of revenge
The IDF today destroyed the courthouse in the Gaza Strip - a magnificent five-story building that was erected in the center of the Gaza Strip and housed its courts. The courthouse was inaugurated in 2018 at the end of a construction process that lasted two years, and according to sources in the Gaza Strip, it was built with Qatari funding and at a cost of 11 million dollars. In one of the videos Documenting the explosion of the temple, which was distributed on social networks, soldiers are heard declaring that the action is revenge for the massacre on October 7. "We, the fighters of Battalion 8173 (reserve battalion of the Engineering Corps), dedicate the explosion to the destruction of the Supreme Court of the enemy in memory of... Alexey Shamklov and Moshe... who were killed in the battles of the Iron Swords War, and for the release of Eitan Mor who was kidnapped by Amalek, and in memory of all the murdered and all the victims who fell in the events of October 7. We will not forget and we will not forgive, the nation of Israel lives!". The IDF spokesperson said in response that the issue is under investigation.
According to the Hamas Information Ministry, since the beginning of the war, Israel has destroyed 103 government buildings throughout the Strip with direct bombings and damaged 270 schools, 183 mosques and three churches. The health system in Gaza reported
I didn't work and I put the original link into Google Translate that that didn't work either. I assume it's barfing on this bit ?liveBlogItemId=1704502059#1704502059.