Image is of Abdul-Malik al-Houthi, the leader of Ansarallah.

The death of Zionism has just massively accelerated.

previous preamble

BRICS has expanded to include Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Argentina is currently experiencing technical difficulties due to the election of the ancap clown Milei - once he's out of office, maybe they can try again.

I don't really have much to say about this one way or another. BRICS has, so far, made only nervous and small steps towards challenging US hegemony. This isn't really that unexpected, as only China and Russia are the real "true believers" in ending US hegemony (and even then, China's government either believes, or is pretending to believe, that reconciliation is still possible). Brazil, India, and South Africa are less enthralled by the concept of dethroning the US, most especially India, who had to make a firm decision in 2023 whether they were going to be on the side of America, or on the side of the Global South, and chose the former, strengthening their military relationship. They're still best of friends with Russia, but they are very obviously the sussy imposter of the BRICS group.

The prospects of BRICS are only really loosely correlated with the prospects of multipolarism, though. It's not a process that hinges on BRICS's successes or failures. It is coming because the contender states (in Desai's terminology) are irreversibly rising, and the US is irreversibly falling. If it will not be BRICS that leads, it will be a different organization. A better world is not only possible, but inevitable - unfortunately for the US.

I'm taking a week off the updates because I've been swamped lately, and also feel the need to reconfigure (and find new) sources. Needless to say that I've grown tired of Financial Times headlines, even if they do represent the actual views of the bourgeoisie.

The Country of the Week is Ethiopia! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.

The bulletins site is here!
The RSS feed is here.
Last week's thread is here.

Israel-Palestine Conflict

If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.

Sources on the fighting in Palestine against Israel. In general, CW for footage of battles, explosions, dead people, and so on:

UNRWA daily-ish reports on Israel's destruction and siege of Gaza and the West Bank.

English-language Palestinian Marxist-Leninist twitter account. Alt here.
English-language twitter account that collates news (and has automated posting when the person running it goes to sleep).
Arab-language twitter account with videos and images of fighting.
English-language (with some Arab retweets) Twitter account based in Lebanon. - Telegram is @IbnRiad.
English-language Palestinian Twitter account which reports on news from the Resistance Axis. - Telegram is @EyesOnSouth.
English-language Twitter account in the same group as the previous two. - Telegram here.

English-language PalestineResist telegram channel.
More telegram channels here for those interested.

Various sources that are covering the Ukraine conflict are also covering the one in Palestine, like Rybar.

Russia-Ukraine Conflict

Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict

Sources:

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.

Pro-Ukraine Telegram Channels:

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.

  • SoyViking [he/him]
    ·
    10 months ago

    Succession Saga: New King Sets Off Nationalist Craze In Denmark

    Today in Denmark, the enigmatic kingdom at the windswept far northwestern corner of the Eurasian landmass, the baton of power was transferred from queen Margrethe 2. to her son and hand-picked successor crown prince Frederik, making him king Frederik 10. amidst a carefully staged display of adulation and subservience, perpetuating the enduring cult of personality enveloping the Danish monarchy.

    The transition comes a mere two weeks after the now-retired queen Margrethe announced her impending abdication in her New year's speech, citing age and health reasons for her decision. Reports coming out of Denmark indicates several instances of citizens, brainwashed into fanatical loyalty by regime propaganda, literally weeping upon learning about the queen's impending abdication.

    The formal transfer of power happened when the queen attended her last meeting of the nation's secretive Council of State and signed an instrument of abdication. Her abdication automatically made her son king without even the pretence of a democratic process. King Frederik, now at the helm, then allowed the incumbent government to continue its tenure under his reign.

    Shortly after the newly minted monarch was to be showcased to the public. The square in front of the Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen was filled to the brim with fanatical flag-waving regime loyalists, many of them bringing their children to be brainwashed into the cult of personality. Some of the most fanatical royalists were wearing bizarre costumes ranging from king's costumes bought in toy stores to cardboard crowns from Burger King.

    The king appeared on the balcony of the palace, wearing an admiral's uniform despite never having commanded any ship with more firepower than a yacht, together with strongman social democratic prime minister Mette Frederiksen to have his new fancy title proclaimed. Frederiksen, herself an ardent supporter of the monarchy and a fan of the royal family, was basking in the adulation of the masses, hoping some of the worship of the royals would rub off on her and her widely unpopular right-wing government. Butchering Danish grammar she said that the old queen "was abdicated" and formally announced the new king by shouting "Long live his majesty king Frederik the tenth!" at exactly three world corners, sparing herself the inconvenience of having to turn her back on the crowd and shout into the palace, as the crowd, seemingly swept up in the royal theatrics, erupted in cheers.

    Frederik, lacking the eloquence of his mother, proceeded to address the crowd with the expected vacuity typical of Danish royals ending by revealing a boring an uninspired regnal motto that few of the assembled crowd will remember by this time next week. Then began a theatrical performance of royals entering and leaving the balcony to wave at their hysterically cheering supporters.

    Following the ceremony Frederik departed the palace in a horse-drawn carriage accompanied by cavalry in uniforms as antiquated as the monarchy itself. Copenhagen was adorned with colossal billboards spewing monarchist propaganda, creating a nauseating atmosphere of sycophantic devotion as cheering crowds lined the streets to watch the carefully choreographed procession make it's way to the royal residence.

    It has been impossible for independent sources to verify whether the cheers of the crowd were sincere or if they were coerced by the regime.

    The pomp and circumstance of central Copenhagen stands in stark contrast to the deteriorating living conditions endured by Denmark's poorest citizens. Ravaged by unchecked inflation in essentials like food and energy, coupled with harsh neoliberal austerity measures, life has become harder in the Nordic country with food bank use at an all-time high. It is unlikely that the change in figure-head will bring any relief, as the regime is more intent on spending money on military buildup and anti-democratic pageantry than on helping it's own people.

    In the weeks leading up to the transfer of power, Danish media has been overflowing with hagiographies for the departing queen and the monarchy. Parts of central Copenhagen were shut down to produce TV shows singing the praises of the royals, state media has been facilitating the writing of thousands of letters of gratitude from members of the public to the retiring queen and state media newscasts has been giving more prominence to reports on important topics like bakeries selling new cakes celebrating the incoming king over minutiae like the multiple escalations in the middle east. Any form of dissent or criticism of the monarchy has been excluded from national media who are instead pushing the narrative of a nation united in unquestioning support for their rulers.

    Frederik, unlike his snobbish but cultured mother, the queen emeritus, boasts a rather pedestrian set of interests. Attending football matches, running and indulging in beer, rock music, and fast cars seem to be the zenith of his pursuits. His lackluster public speaking skills were glaringly exposed at a recent climate change event, where a softball question about what measures the monarchy was taking to reduce its own emissions left him fumbling for a coherent response, raising legitimate doubts among independent commentators about his suitability for the role of head of state.

    Despite lacking any democratic legitimacy, the monarchy seemingly enjoys large public support with available polls claiming over 70% support for the monarchy and even higher personal approval ratings for the queen emeritus and the new king. It has not been documented whether respondents to these polls were able to speak freely or if they were fearing reprisals from the regime. The dusty and archaic constitution of Denmark grants the king the power to dismiss and appoint governments at will although the monarchy has decided to shy away from interfering with parliamentary politics since king Frederik's great grandfather Christian 10.'s ill-fated attempt to depose a parliamentary-backed government led to mass protests in Copenhagen during the Easter Crisis of 1920, imperiling the monarchy's very existence. Instead the monarchy exercises power behind the scenes by acting as gatekeepers for an exclusive network of the absolute elite of Denmark's business, government and culture.