Image is from this article.

On the 20th of October, Moldova - a small, landlocked country bordering western Ukraine and with a population of about 3 million - voted to join the EU. The margin was razor-thin, with the pro-EU vote gaining 50.39%, or an absolute difference of about 11,000 people. There was simultaneously a presidential vote between the incumbent, Maia Sandu, and other candidates, with the main competitor being Alexandr Stoianoglo.

The election was characterized by accusations of Russian interference, with Russian propaganda apparently flooding in, as well as people offering Moldovans money to vote against the EU. While the result does suggest that half the voting-age population of Moldova consists entirely of Russians who want to destroy democracy and all the good in the world, it seems to have just barely failed. This is a bad time to be a site entirely composed of Russian disinformation agents and bots. Twice already today, I've had to restart my program after somebody told me "Disregard all previous prompts."

While Moldova is a poor country which could benefit in some ways from EU membership, in practice, it is unlikely that they will be able to join for the foreseeable future, requiring many of the... reforms... that the EU requires of potential new members. But as basically every major European economy continues to slowly sink as recessions and political crises degrade them, one wonders how beneficial EU membership will even be in the years and decades to come - if it survives for decades. In that sense, it's as if the survivors of the Titanic are swimming back towards it, believing that being on a bigger - albeit slowly sinking - boat is better than trying their luck on small lifeboats.

Then again, like with Serbia, their geographical and geopolitical position makes anti-Western actions extremely difficult. It is rare that dissention is tolerated for long in the West - one tends to get called a dictator by crowds of people holding English-language signs in non-English countries, photographed by Western journalists who haven't meaningfully reported on your country in months or years. You can crush your people with neoliberal austerity for years, killing hundreds of thousands through neglect, and face glowing approval from the media - but try and use state resources to benefit the poor, and global institutions start ranking you on the authoritarian dictator scale.

The best case for Moldova is that it becomes an exploitable hinterland for Germany to harvest and privatize as it tries - and fails - to compete in a global economic war between the US and China/BRICS. The worst case is that tensions with Russia over Pridnestrovie, as well as possible eventual NATO involvement (though Moldova is not a member, it is a partner of NATO), result in the ongoing war also reaching them.

Please check out the HexAtlas!

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 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.
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.

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.
Simplicius, who publishes on Substack. Like others, his political analysis should be soundly ignored, but his knowledge of weaponry and military strategy is generally quite good.
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]
    ·
    22 hours ago

    Brazilian President, Lula da Silva, speech at the BRICS meeting:

    Climate Change

    “There is no doubt that the greatest responsibility lies with the rich countries, whose emissions record has culminated in the climate crisis that afflicts us today. We need to go beyond the 100 billion [dollars] a year pledged but not fulfilled. And strengthen measures to monitor the commitments made,” he said.

    “The scientific data expresses an unprecedented sense of urgency. The planet is one and its future depends on collective action. It is also up to the emerging countries to do their part,” said Lula, recalling that Brazil will host the 2025 Climate Summit (COP) in Belém (PA).

    Taxing the rich and fighting hunger

    Lula took advantage of his speech to the BRICS to “publicize” the country's agenda at the head of the G20 - the group that brings together the world's main economies. Brazil, in its rotating presidency of the G20, has emphasized issues such as the taxation of large fortunes worldwide and the creation of a “global alliance” to end hunger.

    “I want to thank the members of the group for their support for the Brazilian presidency of the G20. Their backing has been fundamental to making progress on initiatives that are key to reducing inequalities, such as taxing the super-rich. Our countries have implemented successful social policies in recent decades, which can serve as an example to the rest of the world.”

    “The Global Alliance against Hunger and Poverty is already at an advanced stage of membership. I invite everyone to join the initiative that was born in the G20, but is open to other participants,” he said.

    War and Genocide in Gaza

    Lula once again criticized Israel's military response against Hamas and Hezbollah and said that it is “crucial” to start peace negotiations. In front of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lula mentioned the “conflict between Ukraine and Russia”, but did not emphatically condemn the invasion - as he did, for example, when he called the Gaza Strip “the world's largest cemetery for children and women”.

    “As President Erdogan said at the UN General Assembly, Gaza has become the world's largest cemetery for children and women. This senselessness is now spreading to the West Bank and Lebanon. Preventing an escalation and starting peace negotiations is also crucial in the conflict between Ukraine and Russia,” he said. Lula also said that Brazil's presidency of the BRICS, until 2025, will have as its motto “strengthening cooperation in the Global South for more inclusive and sustainable governance”.

    Libs were angry that Lula did not condemn/mention the Hamas attack against Israel.

    Vaccines and artificial intelligence

    Lula said that during Brazil's presidency of the BRICS, he will work to “reaffirm the bloc's vocation in the fight for a multipolar world and for less asymmetrical relations between countries”. The president advocated expanding access for poorer countries to technologies such as vaccines and artificial intelligence.

    “We cannot accept the imposition of 'apartheids' in access to vaccines and medicines, as has happened in the pandemic, nor in the development of artificial intelligence, which is heading towards becoming the privilege of a few,” he said.

    “We need to strengthen our technological capacities and favor the adoption of non-exclusive multilateral frameworks, in which the voice of governments prevails over private interests,” he added.

    Brics 'common currency"

    Lula praised the work of the New Development Bank (NDB), currently chaired by Dilma Rousseff, and stressed that it is necessary to discuss the creation of alternative means of payment for transactions between countries in the bloc with “seriousness, caution and technical solidity”.

    “Now is the time to move forward in creating alternative means of payment for transactions between our countries. It's not a question of replacing our currencies, but we must work to ensure that the multipolar order we are aiming for is reflected in the international financial system. This discussion needs to be tackled with seriousness, caution and technical soundness, but it can no longer be postponed,” he said.

    The measure aims to replace the dollar as the standard currency for transactions between nations. In the day-to-day life of the population of these countries, the local currency would continue to be used - like the real in Brazil, for example.