Image: the last sight of many a commie.
Please pronounce his name wrong to make the title pun work better.
Anyway - Javier Milei, a caricature of a libertarian invented deep in the Hexbear Bit Factory, has won the Argentinian general election; and with a 12 point lead over Massa, it wasn't even particularly close. There are several analogies for this situation - Trump beating Hillary, Bolsonaro winning in 2018, or the alternate universe where Le Pen beat Macron. Massa is not a great guy. The last couple years have been difficult for Argentina, facing massive inflation and the same general economic downturns that are happening everywhere.
Milei is an... interesting person. To name just a couple things going on in his deeply bizarre life, he has a very special relationship with his sister, and an even more special relationship with his mastiff, Conan. When Conan died in 2017, he was so utterly distraught that he had him cloned into four new dogs, named Murray, Milton, Robert, and Lucas, for his economist idols. And he uses mediums to speak to his dead dog. This is probably the closest we're ever going to get to having a dog be president of a country.
Milei wants to essentially collapse the economy even harder. Playing off the general public sentiment of "dollar = good, peso = bad", he has vowed to make the national currency of Argentina the US dollar, thus eagerly giving a massive amount of control over the Argentinian economy directly to America. He wants to take a chainsaw to the status quo, cut off trade with communist countries like China, and demolish the Central Bank. Will Argentinian capitalists and the Senate let him do this? Probably not. What happens with their membership in BRICS+? Who knows. Where does Peronism go from here? Who can say.
But he still won, and will now be president. I suppose that every dog has its day.
Friendly reminder: when commenting about a news event, especially something that just happened, please provide a source of some kind. While ideally this would be on nitter or archived, any source is preferable to none at all given.
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.
The Country of the Week is Argentina! Feel free to chime in with books, essays, longform articles, even stories and anecdotes or rants. More detail here.
Here is the map of the Ukraine conflict, courtesy of Wikipedia.
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.
Part 3
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War:
In our lurch toward war in three places, who exactly will fight?RS A piece essentially stating "Either reinstate the draft or reconsider our imperial strategy. The ‘Axis of Resistance’ pushing US to ramp up Middle East defencesFT US running low on air-defense systems – WSJRT
Palestine:
Genocide:
PFLP: Three Updates for November 10, 2023RC Not Getting ItMoA
US Official Says Gaza Death Toll Likely Higher Than Being ReportedSP Israeli Attack on Hospitals in Gaza ContinuesTS Biden admin justifies Israel’s assault on Gaza hospitals with recycled Israeli ‘intelligence’GZ Macron appears to have backtracked on his comments about Israeli strikes killing scores of civilians in Gaza.RT Aid supplies to Gaza halted again, UN says starvation imminentEuractiv Palestinians believe they can’t coexist with Israel – pollRT I mean, they literally cannot exist alongside Zionists, regardless of whether they believe they can or can't, the same way that the Jews could not co-exist with the Nazis. Palestinians sue Biden for failing to prevent 'unfolding genocide' in GazaMEE German Health Minister Lauterbach: Supporting the Gaza genocide and trivialising the HolocaustWSWS
Politics:
Israel’s war debt soaringRT Thousands rally in Israel demanding Netanyahu’s resignation as government seeks to crush dissentWSWS ‘The fear is everywhere’: Israel’s internal crackdownRNN US stance on Gaza ‘paralyzing’ UN Security Council - RussiaRT US will take massive hit in global standing over IsraelRS Why does the US support Israel? A geopolitical analysis with economist Michael HudsonGPE Latin America Is Leading the Way in Standing Up to IsraelJacobin Colombia to Collaborate with Algeria to Denounce Israel’s Crimes before the ICCRM Africans see hypocrisy in US policy on Israel in GazaRS Calls for Gaza cease-fire divide Europe’s SocialistsP Indonesia calls for boycott of ‘pro-Israeli’ goodsRT Such as Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Iran says it hopes to work with China to de-escalate Israel-Gaza warSCMP
Protests:
The largest pro-Palestinian protest in U.S. history was “a turning point.” Now it’s spreadingMR Palestinian and Israeli Communists tell U.S. audience: Fight for ceasefire nowPW The mass protest in London and the global fight against Israel’s genocide in GazaWSWS Largest Australian protests against Gaza genocide yet, blacked out by mediaWSWS Thousands march in Cape Town in solidarity with PalestiniansAN People rally to support Palestinians in JordanPD Saudi Arabia detains worshippers praying for Gaza in holy sitesMEE
Left Critique:
The issue is not racism but the Pan European White Supremacist colonial/capitalist patriarchy
China:
Taiwan rules out invasion from Chinese mainland in near future.RT
My brother in christ, they possessed those means years ago.
ASEAN Defense Chiefs Expand Talks to China, U.S., IndiaCGS China, five Southeast Asian countries to hold joint military exerciseCGTN
Malaysia Leader Pushes ‘Active Neutrality’ Strategy Toward U.S and ChinaCGS China open to expert-level talks on seafood ban, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida says after talks with Xi JinpingSCMP
US, China need to engage more with developing Apec economies, trade chief of 2024 host nation Peru saysSCMP Apec 2023: China, Japan leaders pledge to ‘coexist peacefully’, manage differences in first meeting in a yearSCMP Apec summit: clashing protesters cheer for Beijing or call for justice in China as leaders gather in San FranciscoSCMP Xi meets Kishida, reaffirming strategic and mutually beneficial relationsGT IPEF: New Cold War weapon backfiresMR
San Francisco Meeting:
Biden and Xi meet in San FranciscoFT Xi meets BidenMR Chinese FM Wang Yi says Xi-Biden meeting went well, based on mutual respectCGTN No serious effort to reset US-China relations at San Francisco summitIP Xi-Biden summit: leaders agree to revisit historic science and technology pactSCMP Chinese President Xi Jinping trying to repair damage done by BidenPW US-China relations: Beijing warns companies against selling equipment, precursors for fentanylSCMP ‘Envoys of friendship’: Xi Jinping hints that new pandas are on the way to the USSCMP
Russia:
Russia has five million Ukrainian refugees – diplomatRT
Ukraine's Demographics Dictate To End The FightMoA Russo-Ukrainian War: The ReckoningMR Originally at Big Serge. West sees Ukraine conflict lasting five more years.RT I mean, at this fucking rate... EU has given Ukrainian military €27 billion – BorrellRT Zelenskyy tells Ukrainians to prepare for Russian winter onslaughtEuractiv US Abrams tanks made no difference – ZelenskyRT France to end free weapons supplies to UkraineRT Don’t plan yet for Ukraine reconstructionIP Ukraine’s Kyiv comes under attack for first time in months, mayor saysAJ EU will miss 1mn artillery shell March supply deadline as Ukraine's ammo crisis deepensBNE Germany Set to Double Its Ukraine Military Aid Under Scholz PlanBB Increasing it to $8 billion. US seeks to thwart Russia’s ambition to become a major LNG exporterFT The shadowy network smuggling European microchips into RussiaFT The US-led price cap on Russian oil exports has failed and “almost no Russian oil is being sold for less than $60”BNE Denmark could block Russian oil tankers from reaching marketsFT US charges three more tankers with busting oil price cap sanctions, warns 30 more companiesBNE The Media’s Nord Stream lies just keep comingMR
Part 4
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Labour:
Quelle Surprise! Fast Fashion Exploits Poor Workers; Industry Engages in Empty Virtue-SignallingNC
Portland teachers enter second week of strike as Democratic politicians refuse to secure more funding for schoolsWSWS
Temporary workers in Cameroon’s public hospitals continue to fight for permanent contracts with the civil serviceET
First Avenue workers’ victory: another win for union and worker center collaborationsRNN
German rail union announces 20-hour train strikeDW
Half the staff fired after workers at Indie music platform unionizePW
Auto Workers Ratify New Contracts at the Big 3LN
Left and Right:
Internal opposition pulls out of Greek left in heated meetingEuractiv Germany gets a new antiwar party, this time on the leftRS
LGBTQIA:
Content Warning - this section is not usually good news.
Trans murders remain at ‘consistently high level’ as Trans Awareness Week beginsEN Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' Drag Ban Can't Be Enforced, Supreme Court RulesAdvocate
Russia Announces Chilling Move to Label 'International Public LGBT Movement' as 'Extremist'Advocate
Energy:
Has the Energy Transition Hit a Wall?NC
World's largest 18-megawatt offshore wind turbine rolls off assembly lineCGTN
Climate and Biodiversity:
Kenya: Nations negotiate terms of plastics treaty in NairobiAN In UN talks for a global plastic treaty, delegates to face off over production limitsEuractiv This Week in Nairobi, Nations Gather for a Third Round of Talks on an International Plastics Treaty, Focusing on Its Scope and AmbitionICN Early progress hours before Joe Biden-Xi Jinping meeting as rare US-China climate accord is announcedSCMP
The Last 12 Months Were Hottest the World Has Experienced in Last 125,000 YearsSP New study finds overwhelming evidence of harms from frackingMR LNG worse for climate than coal – studyRT
More than Half of World’s Largest Companies’ Net Zero Pledges Are False Promises, Study FindsDS
Microgrids Can Bolster Creaky Electricity Systems, But Most States Do Little to Encourage Their DevelopmentICN
Climate change: Water scarcity worst in South Asia, UN saysDW
Penguin protection pausedEcologist
The peasant food webEcologist A piece on agrarian localism vs industrial-scale food production.
'We want a liveable future'Ecologist
Nigel Farage’s Reform Party Took £135,000 from Climate Science Deniers and Fossil Fuel InterestsDS UK sued for counting wood burning with carbon capture as ‘negative emissions’Euractiv Californian Factory Captures CO2 Directly From the AirTS
"Ambitious" is understating it a little.
Why the Belief That Carbon Capture Technologies Can Work at Gigaton-Scale Is a Gigantic GambleDS
Miscellaneous Analysis:
The Ideal Amount of Work and LeisureDE
Western Left and the U.S.-China contradictionMR
The intimate embrace between Liberalism and the Far Right: The Forty-Sixth Newsletter (2023).MR
Meridel Le Sueur’s ‘Proletarian Literature and the Middle West’PW
Dipshittery and Cope:
Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attackWaPo
Tens of thousands march in Paris against antisemitismDW
I Love My Trans Comrades!
Young people don’t want to fight in imperialist wars? Clutches pearls clearly we need a draft.