Bulletins and News Discussion from December 4th to December 10th, 2023 - The Legacy of Kissinger - COTW: Laos
Bulletins and News Discussion from December 4th to December 10th, 2023 - The Legacy of Kissinger - COTW: Laos
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.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
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.
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A newspaper from 1981
"Venezuela is expansionist"
Cuba today reiterated its support for Guyana*
translated article
in its border dispute with Venezuela and accused the latter of claiming something that does not belong to it, according to Cuban Foreign Minister Ricardo Alarcón in a press conference. Alarcón gave a press conference, a few hours before returning to his country, after having stayed here for two days on an official visit. According to the Cuban Foreign Minister "Venezuela's claim is proof of expansionism and Guyana* has the full right to enjoy its entire territory with complete freedom." "We reiterate our solidarity with Guyana." * and we support their full right to be able to develop their territory, in all their regions," declared the head of Cuban diplomacy. Alarcón met with Guyanese personalities, especially with Foreign Minister Rasheleigh Jackson, during his stay in this capital.
Chavez also was against the esequibo claims and the right called him a traitor for it
seems like Maduro is throwing some meat to the right? Being a social imperialist?
Yea pretty much, in the last news mega someone posted about the reactions of the Right wing Venezuelan factions over the vote and everyone from the neolibs to the fash supported Maduro.
All of this while he sidelines the demands of the worker for a higher minimun wage, he is doing all of this for some natinal unity and support probably for the coming presidential election next year
It is a reaction to Exxonmobil and the Guyana government pressing their claims to the oil in the disputed region
Being a social imperialist?
His party is socdem, so yeah lol. Latin American socdems tend to be infinitely better than European ones, but ultimately, they’re socdems
Several of his military underlings are graduates of the School of the Americas, FYI. I imagine he doesn’t want to end up like Gaddafi
Several of his military underlings are graduates of the School of the Americas, FYI. I imagine he doesn’t want to end up like Gaddafi
Classic Jakarta Method
He needs to be careful with that shit. Right-wing nationalists can get very violent and will attack people they deem to be of the enemy nation. That would probably mean black and Indian Venezuelans accused of being from Guyana would be targets.
He needs to be careful with that shit. Right-wing nationalists
The same right-wing nationalists who supported Chavez because they thought he would go went full far-right when he was elected, but when they saw that Chavez was a true leftist, they immediately organized a coup against him.
That's already the case but it could stoke that tendency even more, yes.