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]
    ·
    1 year ago
    expand

    Africa

    [Erdogan:] Military Intervention in Niger Will Fuel Instability in AfricaTS
    Ex-Niger FM sees no alternative to military intervention in countryAM
    Power cuts in Niger threaten to spoil millions of vaccines as sanctions take their toll, UN saysAN
    African Union suspends Niger due to military coupAN
    Algeria denies French planes passage to attack NigerAM
    Crisis in Niger: Algeria begins mediation in three Ecowas countriesAN

    Algeria, firmly opposed to any military intervention in Niger, on Wednesday sent its Foreign Minister, Ahmed Attaf, on a tour of Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, to help find a way out of the crisis, Algerian diplomacy announced.

    This crisis really swings between extremes. One day I'm sure an invasion will happen; the next, I'm sure it won't.

    Russian army officials received in Libya after Khalifa Haftar inviteAN

    Russian military officials including Moscow's deputy defence minister arrived in Libya on Tuesday after receiving an invite from pro-Moscow military strongman Khalifa Haftar.

    Zimbabwe: Polls open in crucial presidential and legislative electionsAN

    Egypt discovers new oil field in Gulf of Suez: Petroleum MinistryAM

    Somalia orders ban on TikTok, TelegramDW

    Somalia ordered a ban on TikTok, Telegram, and gambling site 1XBet to curb the spread of indecent images and propaganda, the communications minister said.

    North America

    Fed Ponders How Quickly to Try to Inflict More Pain on the Economy to Get Inflation to 2%NC

    The Wall Street Journal, in its lead story, features various economists debating how how long the central bank should keep interest rates high in order to bring inflation from just over 3% to the Fed target of 2%. Most US consumers are likely to challenge the notion that inflation really is at that level, and as we’ll soon discuss, wage demands support the idea that the supposedly paramount factor of inflation expectations are higher than experts, or at least the ones the Journal consulted, believe.

    Let us first point out that the Journal tacitly accepts the bad conventional wisdom that the Fed deserves credit for inflation falling from 9.1% to 3.2%. As we and others pointed out, the inflation resulted from supply constraints, particularly in key sectors like automobiles, and other Covid-related demand whipsaws, such as consumers spending what would have been vacation dollars on home improvement projects. The big accelerant of inflation was sanctions blowback, particularly increased in energy prices. Again, the Fed can’t take credit for them falling back in the US to something approaching old normal levels.

    MAGA fascists are taking over sheriffs offices across the countryPW

    U.S. colleges spend like there is no tomorrowPD

    "The spending is inextricably tied to the nation's 1.6 trillion U.S. dollars federal student debt crisis," said the report. "Colleges have paid for their sprees in part by raising tuition prices, leaving many students with few options but to take on more debt. That means student loans served as easy financing for university projects."

    Latin America

    Taiwan condemns China, Nicaragua over Central American body removalAM

    Taiwan criticized Nicaragua and China on Tuesday after it was removed from the Central American Parliament and its observer status was given to Beijing.

    Taiwan's foreign ministry issued a statement on Tuesday stating that Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega government was willing to align with China to further its interests and "manipulate the concept of the "one-China principle," thereby infringing on Taiwan's rights within Parlacen."

    lol.

    Argentine President not attending BRICS SummitMP

    Argentine President Alberto Fernández called off his trip to Johannesburg after learning that his country would not be -at least for now- joining the BRICS (a trade bloc made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) during the ongoing XV Summit, it was reported in Buenos Aires.

    Argentina: Sharp drop in mass consumption reportedMP

    Montevideo’s Freshwater Reserve Recovers From Historic LowsTS

    Uruguay's main fresh water reservoir, Paso Severino, has reached 52 percent of its capacity as a result of the rains recorded in the last few days, whereas at the beginning of July it was barely 1 percent.

    Unemployment keeps dropping in UruguayMP
    Uruguayan unions go on strike, again demanding shorter working hours and wage increasesMP

    Ecuadorians Vote Against Mining in Choco AndinoTS

    Ecuadorians reject Amazon oil drilling in historic referendumCCN

    Oil makes up a solid quarter of their exports, for context.

    The War Against The West

    Prigozhin's dead.

    Are US officials signaling a new ‘forever war’ in Ukraine?RS

    Neocon Dark Money Front Launches Desperate Ad Blitz as Support for Ukraine Forever War CratersSP

    A PR offensive to inundate the American public with pro-Ukraine war advertisements during the 2024 election is the latest initiative of neocon chickenhawk Bill Kristol. While targeted at GOP voters, the campaign appears to be another Democratic Party front.

    Russia fires ‘General Armageddon’ in Wagner crackdownFT

    Mozart Group training Ukrainian troops to 'kill Russians': CEOAM

    Weren't you guys fucking owned in Bakhmut?

    American F-35s not stealthy enough for Iranian radarsAM

    In another blow to the US military, an Iranian army official revealed that Iranian radars have been monitoring the 'stealthy' F-35s over the Gulf.

    Poland suspends benefits for thousands of Ukrainian refugees who leftEuractiv

    China Schizophrenia: Jake Sullivan Makes Demands, Press Fulminates Its Ambitions as While Overhyping Current Economic WobblesNC

    I don't agree with the use of "schizophrenia" here, of course. But it's otherwise a decent summary of why China probably isn't going to collapse in 6 days, and the US's constantly contradictary messaging on China.

    Retrospectives, Analysis, History, Theory, and Technology

    1.2% of adults have 47.8% of the world’s wealth while 53.2% have just 1.1%MichaelRoberts

    S&P Downgrades Credit Ratings on Five Banks, Puts Three Others on Negative OutlookWSoP New Court Documents Suggest the Justice Department Under Four Presidents Covered Up Jeffrey Epstein’s Money Laundering at JPMorgan ChaseWSoP

    Nothing to lose but your supply chains: IPEF and the resilience agendaBilaterals

    This is a very good headline and I might steal it for a news megathread at some point.

    How Rupert Murdoch Destroyed the NewsCA

    Murdoch’s vast empire of toxic right-wing propaganda, from the British tabloids to the Wall Street Journal to Fox News, has poisoned the brains of millions and made the world dramatically worse.

    ‘Erasure of Content Can Be a Problem for the Public and for History’FAIR

    Patrick Lawrence: Biden’s Pointless Asian SummitSP

    Dipshittery and Cope

    Correcting Mandel: Why arming Ukraine is the road to peaceCD

    This is a very long and very bad article.

    LGBTQIA+

    Ugandan Police Arrest Four People for 'Acts of Homosexuality'Advocate

    In Uganda, which has one of the harshest anti-LGBTQ+ laws in the world, police arrested four people Sunday for “acts of homosexuality” at a massage parlor.

    Uganda adopted the Anti-Homosexuality Act in May. It provides for the death penalty for what it calls “aggravated homosexuality,” including sex with a minor, sex while HIV-positive, and incest. Those convicted of having same-sex relations that are not of the “aggravated” variety can be imprisoned for life.

    Climate and the Environment

    Campaigners Sued an Oil Major For Climate Deception. Now the Company Is Preparing to Sue Them Back.DeSmog

    The Water Transition: A Conversation with Author Peter GleickCoB

    Rich countries breach climate promises, increase fossil fuel spendingAM

    The world's richest countries breached their self-proclaimed climate commitment to limit fossil fuel investments and spent a record $1.4 trillion in subsidies on coal, oil and gas in 2022.

    I Love My Trans Comrades!