Here is September 30th's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.
Here is October 1st's update! TLDR? Here's the summary.
Next week's thread is here!
New and Improved!
I have decided to permanently ditch NYT, Washington Post, WSJ, Bloomberg, Forbes, Business Insider, and Politico. I am replacing their analysis with better analysis. Thus, the Dipshittery section is being retired. I've spent the last seven months either laughing or raising my blood pressure at the truly ghoulish shit that comes out of these places and I no longer have the patience for them.
There are a few news sites that I am mentally referring to the "thin fucking ice" sites, such as the BBC, CNN, SCMP, and Euronews. They will stay. For now. But I don't like them.
Additionally, there are some mainstream sites that I think ultimately provide more good than harm to the updates: such as Reuters, The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and some of the foreign-but-not-explicitly-left news sites from abroad. These will be kept.
Today's update includes only news and analysis from the non-MSM side of my feed. That's simply because this is what they've put out in the last week or so and I don't have time today to also do the MSM side. Tomorrow, once I'm back to only taking stuff from the last 24 hours, the updates will be in their true form.
I've also made some changes to the format of the updates themselves, to accommodate this new paradigm. Hopefully it works out. I may play around with the sizes of headers, and properly reintroduce spoiler tags so it's more of a "series of headlines" feel rather than a wall of text - the attraction of the updates and summaries, at least in my mind, is that you DON'T have to read an entire newspaper or equivalent. You can just skim through for ten minutes before you start work or your 14-hour long Hearts of Iron session - the two things that Hexbear users seem to do - and still probably be better informed about the world than your friends and family.
Links and Stuff
Examples of Ukrainian Nazis and fascists, for the “buh Zeleski is a jew?!?!” people.
Examples of racism/euro-centrism during the Russia-Ukraine conflict
Add to the above list if you can, thank you.
Resources For Understanding The War Beyond The Bulletins
Defense Politics Asia's youtube channel and their map, who is an independent youtuber with a mostly neutral viewpoint.
Moon of Alabama, which tends to have good analysis (though also a couple bad takes here and there)
Understanding War and the Saker: neo-conservative sources but their reporting of the war (so far) seems to line up with reality better than most liberal sources.
Alexander Mercouris, who does daily videos on the conflict and, unlike most western analysts, has some degree of understanding on how war works. He is a reactionary, however.
On the ground: Patrick Lancaster, an independent journalist reporting in the Ukrainian warzones.
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 ~ Gleb Bazov, banned from Twitter, referenced pretty heavily in what remains of pro-Russian Twitter.
https://t.me/asbmil ~ ASB Military News, banned from Twitter.
https://t.me/s/levigodman ~ Does daily update posts.
https://t.me/patricklancasternewstoday Patrick Lancaster - crowd-funded U.S journalist, mostly pro-Russian, works on the ground near warzones to report news and talk to locals.
https://t.me/riafan_everywhere ~ Think it's a government news org or Federal News Agency? Russian language.
https://t.me/gonzowarr ~ Front news coverage. Russian langauge.
https://t.me/rybar ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/epoddubny ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/boris_rozhin ~ Russian language.
https://t.me/mod_russia_en ~ Russian Ministry of Defense.
https://t.me/UkraineHumanRightsAbuses ~ Pro-Russian, documents abuses that Ukraine commits.
Pro-Ukraine
With the entire western media sphere being overwhelming pro-Ukraine already, you shouldn't really need more, but:
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.
You can tell Ukraine is winning because their leader is begging for all life on earth to be destroyed
While also scolding people for not pouring their Russian Standard Vodka down the sink or whatever weird culture war issue he's decided to harp on today, what a time to be (just about) alive.
lmao, is that what he worried about? The cocaine must hit hard, even the white house was surprise about it. Coup coming soon for Elensky, imo
I don't know if he's specifically said to throw out vodka, but every couple of days he drops a similar take about how people should live their lives, it's super asinine.
I could 100% see him getting the Marvel steroid/dehydration treatment and appearing in a superhero movie :agony-minion:
Worked for the Dalai Lama and that Turkish cult leader with the compound in Pennsylvania
But I've heard from reputable sources that it doesn't work in practice and also iPhone Vuvuzela 1000 billion dead.
Absolute brainworms about this situation on Reddit (because of course)
"There's no alternative but to fast track Ukraine into NATO and put boots on the ground even if it means risking nuclear war :so-true: "
Like, how would all these people react if the TVs flipped over to the Emergency Broadcast System? Would they have a moment of clarity before ending up as a shadow on a wall or would they legitimately think that it all had to happen and the end of the human race is better than NATO taking an L? Harrowing.
The state should do a nuclear emergency broadcast prank on every psychopath loser who thinks that nuclear war is worth it for oligarch Russia and nazi Ukraine
I was thinking of forcing them to take 60 benadryl and then watch Threads with their eyes taped open but your idea works too
YouTube used to have this BBC thing where they acted like over the course of an hour, things went from "incident" with Russia to "terrifying message about how every city in the UK needs to prepare for incoming nukes". It was very haunting, can't seem to find it anymore though.
Thanks for the links, now I'm self inflicting psychic damage watching the BBC one :scared:
This bit from Spies Like Us has been taken literally and absorbed as pragmatism by Reddit libs. I almost think those kinds of folks are so anaesthetised and detached from reality, they’d react with insouciance. The nihilism is sickening.
It's the same exact :brainworms: we saw in the early days of the War on Iraq. Don't expect it to ever make sense.
Coup in Burkina Faso. Not sure if pro-French or anti-French factions gained power :france-cool:
I don't really mind at all, if it means more leftist news sources, and it seems that's exactly the case.
Highlights of the Brazilian Presidential Debate by TeleSUR english;
Ciro and Lula (Socdem Vs. Socdem)
Ciro Gomes: How do you explain that after 14 years of PT government, the 5 richest Brazilians accumulated what the 100 million poorest have?
Lula: I could start by asking how the poorest had an 80% increase in income.
Lula makes Bolsonaro really angry lol
Lula: "On October 2, the people will send you home. And I will make a decree ending your 100 years of secrecy to find out how much you want to hide for 100 years". :gigachad-hd:
Bolsonaro starts shouting without a microphone. :frothingfash:
Lula Vs. Bolsonaro again
Bolsonaro: Lula is a gang leader
Lula: The least that is expected in a debate is that the current president has seriousness and honesty. He comes to say that I set up a gang when he set up a rachadinha (corruption scheme in parliament). He needs to look in the mirror.
A neoliberal calls Bolsonaro a coward
"You lack the courage to ask the PT (Lula) candidate. Let's talk about the hunger that you as president say doesn't exist," Simone Tebet
Bolsonaro was telling Tebet about Lula's relationship with the murder of a PT leader. Police investigations disprove Bolsonaro.
Some weirdo from the Orthodox church tries to defend Bolsonaro (??)
"This policy creates more division; we cannot accept this kind of thing," responds Father Kelmon about the fight against racism.
Called "Bolsonaro's auxiliary," the candidate ignores that 84% of those killed in police operations in Brazil are black.
Lula destroys a literal ancap
"The law of quotas is a payment of a debt we have with the years of slavery. You don't know how proud I am to see the children of maids studying engineering", Lula said.
He responded to D'Avila, who ignored the quota issue by talking about corruption.
Bolsonaro's empire of lies
"This year we have no news of fires," said Bolsonaro speaking about the preservation of the Amazon.
Presenting the president with AFP images from September 18. According to official data, Amazon fires in 2022 already exceed all of 2021.
"A clean government without corruption", Bolsonaro.
- Education minister accused of corruption and arrested
- Minister of Environment resigned investigated for timber trafficking
- Senate CPI pointed out the existence of corruption in the purchase of vaccines
Let's hope Lula wins the election and send this literal shithead back to the trashcan of history
I hate to think about electoralism at all but Lula winning seems like it could be pretty big. Brazil's an important country currently being run by a maniac, so maybe there will be some good to come of this.
Nicaragua reiterates its rejection and non-acceptance of U.S. nominee for ambassador, Hugo Rodríguez, saying Rodríguez “will not, under any circumstance, be admitted to our Free Nicaragua”.
I'm a bit torn. I'm all for Southern and Central America sticking it to the US, but after familiarizing myself with Ortega it really seems like a case of a revolutionary losing their path and becoming corrupted by greed. The arrest and killings of other Sandinistas/former revolutionaries, avowed Marxists, is very disappointing to me. I don't want to parrot US state department lines, but I also see a place for principled Marxist criticism here.
a case of a revolutionary losing their path and becoming corrupted by greed. The arrest and killings of other Sandinistas/former revolutionaries, avowed Marxists, is very disappointing to me.
Ortega and the Sandinistas had to let the Liberals win the 1990s elections, only then would the US lift the embargo. They returned in 2006 after the Somoza puppet lost the elections.
I agree that Ortega's way of governing is sometimes very sus, especially towards indigenous people and former allies, although most of his allies have been purged for good reasons. But I believe he is the best choice for his country, at least for now.
guys im ngl I am a little worried, only because of the axiom that the stupidest/funniest thing is the most likely thing to happen, and surviving the ideological saber-rattling of the Cold War only to blow ourselves up over some slavic slap fight really would be the stupidest apocalypse possible
Ahhh, the braying squeals of Blairite hogs when confronted with a good point, haven't heard that since I left the party lmao
But yeah this guy seems awesome, hopefully he realises that being in Labour is a dead end for anyone with a heart or brain and joins a leftist org.
I go on another hiking trip and nord stream gets blown up this time
did this hiking trip involve an underwater adventure with explosives?
well, somebody's gotta put that book's theory into practice
Fartster is the one true leftist
The only pipelines getting wrecked are the ones in my bathroom rn
The White House says that Now is not the time for the process of Ukraine's admission to NATO, “it should be taken up at a different time” — White House
t.me/asbmil
:putin-wink:
Ukraine is like a little child who is nagging their parents for ice cream, only that it's the Evil Empire instead of their parents and nuclear apocalypse instead of ice cream.
Just imagining Zelensky screaming "You've ruined my life! I hate you!" at Jens Stoltenberg over video call and then storming out of the room and slamming the door, only for "I Hate Everything About You" by Three Days Grace to start blaring out of his room next door.
As mentioned before, this is really only half a real update.
Summary for September 30th
Events
Almost every government on the planet has failed to improve their climate plans this year by the cutoff date set by Cop26. An environmental defender has been killed on average every two days over the last ten years. Biden made a ton of bullshit statements at the UN about how Russia is violating the UN Charter, which the US was famously not accused of doing of when it invaded the Middle East. The PM of New Zealand reaffirms her commitment to this war.
The UK is on the brink of economic and social catastrophe after Truss's and Kwarteng's plan to revitalize the UK is essentially "fuck it, this country's over, let's steal as much as we can and then fly off to our bunkers", which has sent the Pound to historic lows. The Bank of England is desperately trying to fix this situation. Russia's grain harvest may reach a record 150 million tons this year.
A massive fire has destroyed dozens of shanty homes in Sri Lanka, as the government refuses to provide adequate places for poor people to live.
An ebola outbreak in Uganda is prompting Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, the DRC, and Uganda itself to fine-tune its epidemiological responses.
The main focus of the news up near the United States has been Hurricane Ian smashing into Florida and, in the process, taking out Cuba's electrical grid (which is being repaired). The hurricane could cost $67 billion to the US economy and killed 12 people. In semi-related news, US gas flaring is releasing five times more methane than previously thought, and billions of dollars have been wasted on carbon capture projects that have largely failed. The US Supreme Court's approval is at record lows. The governor of California has signed a bill that will make it easier for farmworkers in the state to participate in union elections. Apparently, people distrust think tanks more than they do the media, which is probably justified. Nearly 60% of Americans would support the US engaging in diplomatic efforts in Ukraine as soon as possible, even if that means that Ukraine would have to make concessions to Russia. Thousands of students in Virginia have walked out from their schools in protest of a proposed anti-trans school policy. Mexico's central bank has raised their interest rates by 75 basis points to 9.25%.
I'm putting the Caribbean in with the rest of South America as I think that makes a little more sense. As mentioned before, Cuba's electrical grid is being restored, with 72% (nice!) restored by Wednesday night. Venezuela is providing aid to Cuba. Maduro has called to expand Venezuela's export capacity. Petro's environmental protection plans are, expectedly, facing pushbacks from extractive companies. Lula has hit 50% in the polls, potentially implying that he could win in the first round against Bolsonaro. Meanwhile, Bolsonaro is desperately trying to find a way to escape his predicament by calling into question the validity and accuracy of the electronic voting system that they've used for over two decades.
Conflict: Kherson, Zaporozhye, LPR, and DPR are now officially and legally part of Russia. Zelensky has signed some kind of "accelerated" application for NATO, which NATO doesn't appear to be very interested in receiving. NATO had a press conference where they promised "unprecedented" news, prompting me to try and absorb as much posadist theory as I possibly could, and then basically sat there and cried about the annexations and the pipelines. 66 nations at the UNGA have called for an end for the war in Ukraine, including India, China, Brazil, and Mexico. The EU parliamentarian (they also have a parliamentarian? fuck!) has called to sanction the international observers of the Donbass referenda. The Gray Zone has an article where they interview a former NATO adviser and they say that the US and UK sabotaged the peace deal because they don't care about Ukraine, which makes sense. Russia has more or less accused the United States (or at least, NATO) of blowing up the Nord Stream pipelines, because that's literally the only countries it could have been unless Cthulhu arose from his slumber in the middle of the Baltic Sea.
Analysis
The new analysis section!
Robin D.G. Kelley, the author of Hammer and Hoe and other books, has been interviewed by Current Affairs on the importance of utopian visions for social movements. Counterpunch informs us in an essay as to why the Swedish Left will continue to lose, and what can be done about it. Rashida Tlaib is obviously correct when she says that you can't be a progressive and also support Israel, and Jacobin agrees. Additionally, Jacobin writes about the victorious vote in Cuba.
To analyze the right, we have an article by Monthly Review, detailing how the fascists are returning.
A small intelligence-linked party was responsible for Corbyn taking on the cause of a second referendum for Brexit, and thus we have even more confirmation that the Labour party was explicitly working against him to sink his socialist ideas. Do you remember back near the start of the war when Croatia threatened to veto the NATO candidacy of Finland and Sweden? Apparently the US and UK are up to no good there.
Fukushima's post-meltdown history has been characterized by failure after failure to stop the thing from getting worse, and the latest solution, announced back in July and approved by both the Japanese government and the IAEA, is to release all the irradiated water into the sea after "re-treating" it, a process that they tried before and failed to do.
Biden's response to the deliberate killing of beloved Palestinian journalist Shireen Aby Akleh has been very poor, going along with the plan by Israel to hope that this all blows over.
For our resident South Africans, Counterpunch has an article on the electricity crisis in South Africa. Neoliberalism. Meanwhile, US diplomacy is failing in the Ethiopia-Eritrea war against Tigray, with thousands of soldiers and civilians dying every day of combat, starvation, and disease, after 700 days. And Jacobin writes on how Nigeria's underdevelopment has made it a target for capitalist exploitation.
The United States is using debt to prey on developing countries as the Fed raises interest rates ever higher. Puerto Rico's electrical grid company, LUMA, has only raised electricity rates and overseen power outages, prompting calls for a public power grid instead.
Non-stop protests in Haiti reach their fourth year, starting in 2018 when Venezuela was no longer allowed to ship oil there due to sanctions.
The Nord Stream pipeline exploding has highlighted the vulnerability of fossil fuels, which is probably about third on the list of important things it's highlighted, but important nonetheless. Corporations are really starting to get desperate in the fight against climate activism, calling it "woke capitalism". And scaling up renewables will require some pretty fundamental changes to how our power grids work, which China is, in some ways, pioneering.
I Love My Trans Comrades!
If the world wasn't on the verge of ending every three days then maybe we'd have less comments and maybe we'd have less locks.
I am blaming this Special Posting Operation on NATO.
Incredible work as always. And I don’t want to jinx it but pleasantly surprised by some of the positive American news:
Nearly 60% of Americans would support the US engaging in diplomatic efforts in Ukraine as soon as possible, even if that means that Ukraine would have to make concessions to Russia. Thousands of students in Virginia have walked out from their schools in protest of a proposed anti-trans school policy.
Of course the American oligarchs and political class won’t stand for diplomacy but I suppose it’s nice to hear the people wish for peace. I see too much sentiment against the Russian people in the Internet bubbles I poke around in so it’s nice to hear the American people would prefer us to pull a 180 and act as an arbiter of peace lol
and billions of dollars have been wasted on carbon capture projects that have largely failed.
Even if they hadn't, their ground-based CO2 sequestration schemes were (of course) never designed to help with the most pressing issue which is the greenhouse gases already in the upper atmosphere. Those gases are what are heating up the planet now and need to be reduced to prevent tipping points from being crossed, and I just don't see how that can be done apart from a giant space Statue of Liberty armed with a vacuum.
DPA full daily report says Ukrainian Forces are redeploying reserves to the Lyman from 3 different fronts immediately North and South despite outnumbering the Russians 3-to-1 and having Russia's only resupply route in artillery range
Russian reinforcements arrived just as Ukraine was attempting 5 different river crossings to the north and were all pushed back
Russian reinforcements have already recaptured Lampil to southeast of Lyman City and Stavky to the north
It's really a surprising that the RF is holding on and retaking territory already despite being outnumbered so heavily and being the attacking force
Numbers don't mean anything when you are out gunned by artillery, armor, and air support
ASB is reporting that after the redeployment of Ukrainian forces which concentrated 6000-9000 troops on that town, outnumbering Russian troops by 10-1, after several weeks of battle, Russia retreated from Liman to avoid encirclement.
A few more victories like that and Ukraine is screwed. Well, truthfully, they're already screwed. This seems to me to be the last gasp before the autumn rains hit and turn the country to impassable sludge, and then Russia deploys its forces.
