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.

The weekly update is here on the website.

Your Tuesday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Wednesday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Thursday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.
Your Friday Briefing is here in the comments and here on the website.

The Country of the Week is Laos! 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.

  • Redcuban1959 [any]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Venezuela Expresses to Caricom Will to Negotiate with Guyana

    Brazil has offered to mediate in a possible dialogue between the two countries.

    Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil held a meeting on Thursday with the pro tempore president of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), Roosevelt Skerrit, in which he expressed Venezuela's willingness to enter into direct negotiations with Guyana regarding the territorial dispute over the Essequibo.

    Gil presented Caricom's representative the results of the consultative referendum in defense of the Essequibo Guyana held on Sunday, December 3. The National Electoral Council (CNE), has said that more than 10,500,000 Venezuelans voted in favor of defending Essequibo.

    The Foreign Minister also highlighted the determination of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to adjust to the Geneva Agreement to address the dispute with Guyana through direct negotiations that guarantee regional peace.

    In a statement released on his official X account, Gil detailed that the also prime minister of Dominica was informed about "President Nicolás Maduro's determination to address the territorial dispute with Guyana through direct negotiations, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement. In order to guarantee peace in the region, respecting the sovereignty of both countries and without external interference."

    It is worth mentioning that in the region, Brazil has offered to mediate in a possible dialogue between Venezuela and Guyana.

    For its part, the Guyanese government has shown an apparent change of position following the result of the referendum in Venezuela.

    The day before, at Guyana's request, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister spoke with his Guyanese counterpart, and they agreed to keep communication channels open.

    • IceWallowCum [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      What does "mediation" mean in situations like this, in practical terms? Make sure guarantees are met? Keep both expectations in check?

      • Redcuban1959 [any]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Make sure guarantees are met? Keep both expectations in check?

        Both I think. Also guarantee there will be no armed conflict only lawsuits and diplomatic stuff.

      • Apolonio
        ·
        11 months ago

        deleted by creator

    • Commiejones [comrade/them, he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      President Nicolás Maduro's determination to address the territorial dispute with Guyana through direct negotiations, in accordance with the Geneva Agreement. In order to guarantee peace in the region, respecting the sovereignty of both countries and without external interference.

      That's a good sign.

      • Redcuban1959 [any]
        ·
        1 year ago

        Yes, I think that Venezuela will probably just give a bunch of aid to the people living in Guyana Essequiba to win their support so Venezula could sue Guyana and win the eventual lawsuit.