Image is from @Parsani@hexbear.net, who got it from @RNAi@hexbear.net, who got it from Discord.

Thread update: Prigozhin's fucking dead.

rip-bozo

The BRICS summit will begin on Tuesday and end on Thursday, with various world leaders, politicians, and representatives meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa.

America's anxiety about the summit has been obvious. They have been complicating the event by pushing for the arrest warrant for Putin to be upheld if he steps foot in the country. While this is a remarkably dangerous and unhinged thing to do - even by America's standards - to the leader of a nuclear superpower who could end the world within an hour, it does betray their desperation. Unfortunately, for those of us who wanted to see Putin surrounded by an army of security guards fending off people holding handcuffs, he has sent his Foreign Minister, Lavrov, in his place. Additionally, America has likely been spreading rumors about the lack of interest in gaining new members in the organization.

With apparently 20 countries formally seeking membership and another 20 informally doing so, the bloc has been elevated, whether they like it or not, to the position of the international vanguard of the non-western world. It is extremely important to say that this is not the same as it becoming an anti-American bloc, and many of them (including original members Brazil and India) wish to keep a friendly relationship with the United States. Nonetheless, with the United States' policy of "if you are not with us, you are against us," and as the US seeks to weaken China, in coming years many of them might find themselves under hostile pressure.

BRICS has to try and solve many problems if they are going to chip away at America's stranglehold of the world economy. These problems - like mitigating the dollar's status as a global reserve currency, and America's dominant role in the world economy - are extremely complicated, and will takes years, even decades, to be overcome. Therefore, one should temper their expectations and excitement for this summit. It took tens of millions of deaths in cataclysmic wars, and then several more decades, for America to reach its current position. I see no reason to believe why its downfall will be any less bloody and elongated.

To end on a less depressing note, I've been searching for appropriate anagrams given the list of countries that seek to join BRICS. Obviously not all of them will make it in, but even so. The best I've come up with is HIBISCUS EMANCIPATES BBBBKKRVV.

(also, "bulletins and news discussion" can be rearranged to "libidinous newsstands uncles".)

Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.

This week's first update is here in the comments.

This week's second update is here in the comments.

Links and Stuff

The bulletins site is down.

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists

Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Add to the above list if you can.

Resources For Understanding The War

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.

Telegram Channels

Again, CW for anti-LGBT and racist, sexist, etc speech, as well as combat footage.

Pro-Russian

https://t.me/aleksandr_skif ~ DPR's former Defense Minister and Colonel in the DPR's forces. Russian language.

https://t.me/Slavyangrad ~ A few different pro-Russian people gather frequent content for this channel (~100 posts per day), some socialist, but all socially reactionary. If you can only tolerate using one Russian telegram channel, I would recommend this one.

https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.

https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday ~ Patrick Lancaster's telegram channel.

https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ A big Russian commentator.

https://t.me/rybar ~ One of, if not the, biggest Russian telegram channels focussing on the war out there. Actually quite balanced, maybe even pessimistic about Russia. Produces interesting and useful maps.

https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.

https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense. Does daily, if rather bland updates on the number of Ukrainians killed, etc. The figures appear to be approximately accurate; if you want, reduce all numbers by 25% as a 'propaganda tax', if you don't believe them. Does not cover everything, for obvious reasons, and virtually never details Russian losses.

https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.

Pro-Ukraine

Almost every Western media outlet.

https://discord.gg/projectowl ~ Pro-Ukrainian OSINT Discord.

https://t.me/ice_inii ~ Alleged Ukrainian account with a rather cynical take on the entire thing.

Last week's discussion post.

  • SeventyTwoTrillion [he/him]M
    ·
    1 year ago
    expand

    North America

    Challenges are marring the semiconductor boom in the U.S.CGTN

    Failing to find buyers not afraid of Iran, US unloads stolen oil cargoAM

    Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened.

    Museum Workers Are Tired of Being paid in Cultural Cachet - So They're UnionizingJacobin

    Trump not to partake in Republican primaries, citing 'legendary' leadAM

    Folks, it's humongous. It's the best lead anybody's ever had. Believe me. (honestly it probably is, Meatball's not doing so great.)

    Hurricane Hilary downgraded as Mexico, California brace for 'catastrophic' impactCGTN

    Russian firm escalates dispute with Canada over seized cargo planeBilaterals Wildfires in Canada's BC intensify, doubling evacuations to over 35,000CGTN

    Latin America

    Leftist Gonzalez leads Ecuador polls, heads to runoff with businessmanAM

    With 80 percent of the votes tallied, Gonzalez, a lawyer with close ties to the polarizing former socialist president Rafael Correa, held the lead with 33 percent of the vote.

    Leftist Arevalo with anti-corruption program Guatemala's new PresidentAM

    In an unexpected turn of events, Bernardo Arevalo has secured a resounding victory in Guatemala's presidential election with his "anti-corruption" agenda.

    Kenya deploys reconnaissance mission to HaitiAN

    Ecuador: Government Rejects Accusation of Villavicencio MurderTS

    Javier Milei plans to give a “prominent role” to Mauricio Macri in his future governmentMP

    Brazil to restore trade, political ties with Cuba, says Lula aideAM

    The War Against The West

    Ortega reportedly allowing Russian military to establish bases, cruise missile batteries in NicaraguaBNE

    West not willing to negotiate with Russia: Russian FMCGTN

    The West held multilateral meetings on Ukraine in Jeddah and Copenhagen without inviting Russia, hoping to persuade developing countries to back the Ukrainian president's peace plan, said Lavrov in an interview with the International Affairs magazine, adding that Moscow's vital interests were ignored.

    US ‘Fears’ Ukraine Is Too ‘Casualty Averse’SP

    Is Erdogan’s High-Wire Act Running Out of Rope?NC

    The big announcement that emerged from the NATO Summit in Vilnius last month was that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed to drop his opposition to Sweden joining the military alliance. The Turkish parliament would still have to approve such a move, but it was believed that was more of a formality after US President Joe Biden reportedly promised to sell F-16 fighter bombers to Turkiye and/or an $11-13 billion line of credit from the IMF.

    The supposed deal allowed the summit to avoid being labeled as much a failure as the collective West’s proxy war effort in Ukraine. And yet, ever since the agreement was announced there has been virtually no movement towards Swedish accession. In fact, in some ways it looks like the sides are even further apart.

    Ukraine, Sweden ink statement for cooperation on CV90 infantry vehicleAM
    Outgoing Dutch PM criticised for F-16 deliveries to UkraineEuractiv

    “Supply of F-16s to Ukraine is a far-reaching decision that must be discussed with the House of Representatives first. Especially when a government is outgoing,” Socialist MP Jasper van Dijk (SP/EU Left) tweeted. Van Dijk added a number of parliamentary questions he had for Rutte, including whether the F-16s may be used on Russian territory and how the decision is supposed to prevent a further escalation of the conflict.

    Meanwhile, the far-right Forum for Democracy (FvD/ID) expressed a preoccupation with Ukraine over potentially bombing Russian targets. “Madness. Dutch F-16s to Ukraine to bomb Russian targets with. Even now that Rutte is outgoing, he is dragging the Netherlands further into war. And he can because all parties in the House of Representatives support him in his warmongering,” the party tweeted.

    The left's statement should have been as strong if not stronger than the right's, but alas.

    New trilateral partnershipANN
    Canberra inks $1.3bln Tomahawk deal, goes off-coast eyeing ChinaAM
    Taiwan, US commence second-round trade talksBilaterals
    PLA's sudden, swift joint drills around Taiwan island highlighted by live munitions, multi-source intelligence supportGT
    Documents Show Taiwan Working With FBI to Prosecute Chinese Americans, Intimidate US PoliticiansMPN
    Poll: Two in five Americans believe direct conflict with China likelyRS

    However, Americans are more divided on questions of aiding Taiwan, with half of respondents wanting to provide Taiwan with the military resources to help deter an attack from China. A slight plurality opposes the deployment of U.S. troops to defend Taiwan from such an attack.

    Retrospectives, Analysis, History, Theory, and Technology

    A Russian Paper on New Currency/International Reserve Options Finds No Magic BulletsNC

    No way out but through.

    Shawn Fain Is Right: The Workweek Should Be ShorterJacobin
    The US Destroyed Iranian Democracy to Uphold British ImperialismJacobin

    Uncommon Jacobin Ws.

    70 years after Iranian coup, the British still won’t confess to their crimesRNN

    How Privatization Robs Us of Our Most Precious AssetsCA

    Ahead of the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which humans and whose rights still matter?ET

    LGBTQIA+

    LGBTQ+ Ethiopians flee in the face of sudden crackdownDW

    Gezahegn, who describe themselves as nonbinary, co-founded the LGBTQ+ activist group The House of Guramayle in Ethiopia before fleeing the country. They now live in Vienna, Austria, working with others who have found refuge in London and Washington to raise awareness for the plight of the LGBTQ+ community back home.

    Climate and the Environment

    ‘Bidenomics’ aims for global green transition, but it’s hampered by anti-China strategyPW

    WOW! It's almost like there's a contradiction between what they're stating vs what they're actually doing! The Democrats would NEVER do this to me!

    Climate change: China’s hydrogen sector faces overcapacity risk as ambitious production plans outstrip demand, say analystsSCMP

    China’s hydrogen sector is expected to see strong growth as local governments announce ambitious plans to produce quantities of the gas that far exceed the national target, analysts said.

    Suffering from success.

    Unusual Pacific Storms Like Hurricane Hilary Could be a Warning for the FutureICN

    Frustrated by a Lack of Details, Communities Await Federal Decision on Protecting New York From Coastal Storm SurgesICN

    For Florida’s Ailing Corals, No Relief From the HeatICN

    India government sets emission limit for hydrogen to qualify as ‘green’Euractiv

    The Indian government has set an emission limit of two-kilogram carbon-dioxide for every kilogram of hydrogen produced to be classified as “green” from renewable sources, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy said on Saturday (19 August).

    Regardless of whether that's a good limit, at least they're actually fucking stating it, y'know? The hydrogen colors have really just turned into "It means whatever I think it should mean".

    I Love My Trans Comrades!