Dude that jumped the border into the DPRK seeking asylum. Damn near uncritical support.

It’s Not Just US Army Soldiers Going Hungry, Food Insecurity Hitting Other Branches of the Military: Expert

So, the biggest military in the world has tactics that are entirely geared towards fighting shepherds in deserts, wunderwaffen that cost exponentially more than the hardware they may end up outmatched by, and they still can't feed their soldiers in their own country living on bases. I hope there's a lot of Qdobas and Paneras in Taiwan otherwise China's gonna have a cakewalk.

One thing I'll never get over when visiting family in the US is seeing how strong military worship can be in some places. I remember going to some small rural town and having "US MARINE" bumper stickers or decals would have people honking their horns and a few going "YEAH! YOU'RE A HERO!" Another time a guy in a military outfit was buying groceries and some dad loudly said to his kid, "Go to that guy and tell him thank you for protecting us!"

Military people in my country are largely viewed as slackers or people too stupid to pick up a trade or go to school. The only people who do something similar to what I saw in the US are the far-right types that like the fashy aesthetic of it.

So I was browsing and I saw a user post a video of Pyongyang taken from a very tall building. The user kinda admits the city looks cool but finishes by saying "these buildings are all empty and there are impoverished people", first commenter say Pyongyang is the cleanest city because people are "not allowed to do anything" (?????).

May burn and suffer a painful death. I am tired of better than thou white ass cracker motherfucker gringos. The world will be a better place without them.

Lukashenko, to Ukrainian journalist, emphasis mine:

Lukashenko: "I've drawn this map specifically for you. Russia will crush your personnel and hardware over there. Those motivated, ideologically strong, Nazis as they are called, those ideologically strong men are no longer around. All of them have died already. Who is fighting here, then? Those you can catch in the streets and bring here. They are not prepared. Well, and a bit of military personnel. They will not be able to defeat this machine. Russia has changed. At present, Russia has cutting edge weapons at the front. There are plenty of drones now. Well, it is a totally different army now. And the most dangerous thing... I don't know whether I should tell you or not..."

Reporter: "Please do!"

L: "They have 250,000 volunteers! Russia has 250,000! Who are not at the front yet!"

R: "In reserve now?"

L: "Volunteers! They have been trained and they are in reserve. Do you understand how many people 250,000 are? Russia has fewer people at the front now. So they are staying on the defensive. Not because they cannot advance. They don't have to! And you keep walking like people who have had too much drugs and alcohol. You walk [with assault rifles] at the ready like German Nazis in movies. You walk towards these barricades. But you cannot even reach them. We can see it, and it is so. You cannot even reach the minefields. You are just getting slaughtered in thousands. Your counteroffensive cost 45,000 in dead and maimed. 45,000! So they are on the defensive. Your losses are 1 to 8. 1 to 8 at the front line. And 250,000 in reserve with cutting edge hardware. You will be crushed. Then they will do what you and your leadership fear the most. They will cut you off by advancing towards Moldova, towards Transdniestria. What will you do after that? And Poles rub their hands in glee. Pushed by Americans, they will cut off the western regions. You will have only this little bit left, if any at all. This is what will happen to you. And the state, the Ukraine you and I know, will cease to me. Our native land. Yours and mine."

R: "Has this history been determined? What you are saying now..."

L: "If you don't stop now, it will happen! If you don't start negotiations now. Russia suggests it. You don't want it? Well, if you don't want it, we don't need it! Russia is powerful enough. No West will help you in this regard. You have to take your head into your hands and act on the basis of reality. Act in the interests of this huge and beautiful territory. The West is already starting to understand that nothing will come out of it. Ukraine will not be able to survive even with the West's aid."

Argentina's primary election winner Javier Milei, the ancap, said that if he's elected he'll cut diplomatic ties with China because "they're Communists and I don't deal with Communists". Diplomatic, political and economic suicide, here we go!

Also he said the US and Israel would be "our top allies" if he wins, how original. He also gave names for a possible cabinet and how he's going to reorganize the government: A number of ministeries will be eliminated, state scientific institutions will be privatized (He's on the record saying "What have scientists done for us?, they need to be competitive") and the Central Bank will be "demolished". He mentioned the Ministry of Defense will be under a woman who is known for being a Videla apologist, she claims the last military junta did not carry out a genocide and denies 30,000 people were disappeared, tortured and killed by the state. He also wants a "voucher system" for education, public schools and universities are pretty much gone, instead, the state would give people "vouchers" for them to "spend on educative institutions of their choosing", thus "forcing schools and universities to compete among themselves". And probably his "top issue" is complete dollarization of the economy. His path will be most likely similar to Menem's neoliberal plan, first he'll "fix" high inflation (In the case of Menem it was hyperinflation of the late 80s), this will be seen as very positive by the general population. He'll most likely do this by cutting a deal with the IMF and other foreign entities, they'll let him "reign in peace" for two or four years, in exchange, Argentina will give up it's energy and lithium reserves (among other things, like labor reforms and shit like that), sealing our fate.

We're living in the wildest nightmare. Capitalism has brought this country to it's knees numerous times before, and the "libertarian" solution to capitalism is even more capitalism. I am contemplating more and more just leaving this hollow piece of shit behind and migrate to Spain, at least for a number of years. I just don't feel particularly safe here no more, this is a nightmare scenario, this isn't just your typical right winger taking power and getting kinda obstructed by democratic institutions, these are true Fascist demons taking power and going all in. I'm not sure he'll be able to fully implement his agenda, most likely he'll fail along the way, the problem is that this shit will bring high social tension, economic devastation and a massive drop in quality of life. Do I really want to live through this crap AGAIN? I grew up during the late 90s and early 2000s, I remember the December 2001 riots, I can still hear the echoes of the "Cacerolazos" (people banging pots to protest), I remember my school friends asking me if we could give them spare cardboards to their parents because these could be sold for some money, I remember the endless waves of unhoused people looking for food in the trash (who are more and more visible today) and, of course, I remember the police killing 30+ people during the protests as if this was 1978. No, I don't think I want to live through this again, even less when I'm a target for these lunatics. There is fight in me, but is there any fight in those around me?

Death and Eternal Suffering to all Fascists.

Marxism-Leninism is when the capitalists sell us the rope with which we will hang them.

Socialism with Chinese Characteristics is when we sell the capitalists the rope with which they will hang themselves.

It's a slow news week.

Every time I explain the war to libs I become 1% more pro-Russia and I'm a little concerned about it.

Like, can someone tell me what Russia or the separatists could have done differently that would allow the provinces some pathway towards secession or even just representation, while minimizing loss of life? There's an answer to that question, right? Help.

I've noticed a slight shift in the reporting on Ukraine in Danish media. There's less of the "Our superior Wunderwaffen will crush Russia!" stuff and a lot more stuff about how challenging things are for the Ukrainian armed forces, some even go as far as saying that the counteroffensive has failed.

Theyre still campaigning to give Ukraine F-16's and seems to think that this time superior Aryan technology will change the tide of the war.

Something suggests that at least some of the sources that western media get their Ukraine content from is winding down their bellicose stance.

I was pissed when the colonial government in hawaii did nothing to help us when we burn, and move mountains to evac tourists. And now that they've sent "aid", I'm even more pissed.

you want to know why?

Instead of sending extra volunteers, more firefighters, or further aid. Instead of stopping the landlord leeches currently using this crisis to further buy up land.

they sent a mortuary assistant to help identify our burnt corpses https://www.khon2.com/hawaii-fires/portable-morgue-unit-in-hawaii-to-help-identify-maui-fire-victims/

China puts dissident in 24-hour isolation for posting flyer about authoritarian state crackdowns

Then I was brought to an isolation room, and it was not explained why. It was around midnight at this point; we were arrested around 4:30 p.m. When I woke up the next morning, it sunk in that I was in isolation. Normal isolation is twenty-three-hour lockdown with one hour of access to a kiosk, a phone, and socialization. But for some reason I was put in double isolation, which is twenty-four-hour lockdown, with twenty-four-hour lights. At no point did I resist arrest, and I complied with the medical intake requirements. I felt very targeted. As the days went by, no one would really give me information.

I was trying to file a grievance, because the Bartow County Jail’s inmate handbook says that if an inmate is in an area without access to a kiosk, then the inmate can request a paper grievance form from the guard on shift. When I asked for this form, the guard said she didn’t have to do that. After I went to medical, because I was having some health problems while I was in isolation, the guard took pity on me and looked it up and there was nothing entered in the system as to the reason for my being put in isolation. Isn’t that funny?

Oops, why did I say China, it was the U.S. state of Georgia.

a friend of mine is argentinian and the news there... oh boy. fuck

Hawaii still refusing to do anything about the fires besides protect property and evac tourists

fuck this country

Hearing from a friend of a friend that's on the ground in the Maui fire area saying things are starting to get real militia-y. Apparently the firefighters lost water pressure in their hoses and were helpless to fight the fires because of water being used up by 3 golf courses owned by billionaires.

I've been informed that this web server has been knowingly distributing kremlin propaganda.

(I just want to make sure I didn't miss anything)

Hearing rumors that the Russian government is authoritarian. Yes, I know, I was shocked too. Even China's, and Cuba's. Can anybody substantial these rumors? It's the first I'm hearing these critiques and I have no response to them.

Deeply disturbing to me if these nations have actually created authoritarian governments, quite unlike every other countries' governments. Authoritarian governments are deeply unnatural and it's always frightening when a leader manages to access the Tyranny Nexus deep under their government building and convince everybody through psionic networks to support them.

If 72 trillion stopped carrying this mega on their godly posting muscles the entire thing would collapse lol

Elon's so mad that Trump didn't come back to Twitter that he's now promoting Vivek Ramaswamy for president.

I'd link nitter but it's not working.

My mainstream TV news has an amazing segment. The title read:

No to retirement: Elderly who work are happier than those who retire

And then they go on to interview experts who talk about how elderly who work find purpose and enjoy the comradery with colleagues. Everything illustrated with the example of a smiling graphic designer who came out of retirement to do party time service work. Nobody talks about the elephant in the room: The elderly who are healthy enough to are also a lot happier than those who are too sick to work.

I'm so happy to live in a country with a free and objective press thatb doesn't just act as mouthpieces for elite propaganda!

Geopolitics Special Edition: the Moon

As you may know, the race is on for India vs Russia to be the first country to land on the lunar south pole, an unusually challenging site on the moon with treacherous terrains and craters stretching thousands of kms.

Fun facts about their predecessors

This will be India’s third attempt with their moon missions. The last mission, Chandrayaan-2 (which means “mooncraft” in Sanskrit), was launched in September 2019 but due to a software glitch, the Vikram Lander veered off course and crashed. However, the orbiter stayed on the moon’s orbit and in April 2021, with an optical camera (OHRC) with the highest resolution mapping the moon’s surface to date, was able to send back a photo of Apollo 11’s Eagle descent stage. The Americans did land on the moon. Checkmate conspiracy theorists.

Meanwhile, the last time Russia conducted a moon mission (Luna-24, which means “moon” in Russian) was in… 1976! It was actually the Soviet Union, and this will be post-Soviet Russia’s first attempt at a moon mission, practically a reboot of the space industry. Did you know that Luna-24 was the third time the Soviet Union carried back soil samples from the moon and was the first to discovered water in the regolith (moon soil)? The scientific findings were published in 1978 and almost nobody noticed.

Who will be the first to land on the lunar south pole

So, you have India aiming to have its first successful moon landing mission, and Russia who hasn’t been back to the moon in 47 years. And what makes this race particularly interesting is that both not only target the lunar south pole as their landing sites, but apparently also had their mission timeframe coinciding closely (merely a week apart) and will land relatively close to one another:

With India’s Chandrayaan-3 (Чандраян-3) targeting an error within 500m, and Russia’s Luna-25 (Луна-25) with a 3 km error.

Actually, both missions had been delayed by a year. Chandrayaan-3 was supposed to launch back in August 2022, but was delayed due to COVID lockdown affecting several projects. Meanwhile, Luna-25 was supposed to launch in October-November 2022, but the war in Ukraine caused several European collaborations to be ceased, forcing Roskosmos to reproduce the components indigenously.

India’s Chandrayaan-3 was launched several weeks ago, on July 14, entered Moon’s orbit on August 5, and is expected to land on August 22-23. Owing to its larger payload (3800kg vs Luna-25’s 1750kg), its journey will take slightly longer than the Russian’s.

Once landed, if successful, the Vikram lander and the Pragyan rover, both solar powered, will have about 1 lunar day (14.5 Earth days) to conduct its scientific missions. They are not designed to survive the cold and harsh night on the moon.

Meanwhile, Russia’s Luna-25 is a lander only without a rover, but is equipped with a plutonium-based radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RTG) that will provide heat and power throughout the night, and is expected to last for about 1 year.

The Luna-25 was launched on August 10, and is expected to land on August ~~17-19~~ 21-22 (updated dates):

Just less than 24 hours earlier, on August 16 11:57 MSK, Luna-25 switched on the propulsion system of its automatic station. The first activation was performed by a corrective braking engine that lasted 243 seconds. And the second - the soft landing engines, lasted 76 seconds. At 12:03 MSK, Luna-25 has entered the moon’s orbit.

All systems are functioning normally, communication is stable. From here, at a height of 100km lunar orbit, Luna-25 will spend the next 3 days making 36 orbits around the moon.

Which means that over the next ~~48 hours~~ few days, the most critical stage will happen - will a soft landing take place successfully?

If so, then Russia will claim the first landing spot on the moon’s south pole. If not, then the Indians will have their shot immediately after on August 22-23. The race is on for a nail-biting finish.

Biden's New Ban on China Aimed in Wrong Direction, Expert Says

"One must wonder what the end game here looks like and what might be the underlying strategy that informs such actions," he said, adding that the Biden administration has revealed "a penchant for speaking out of both sides of its mouth."

It sent senior level officials such as Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry to Beijing "seemingly to mend fences and build positive momentum in bilateral relationship, and then in the very same breadth it adopts further restrictions and prohibitions that send an entirely different message," Simon said.

"How can we expect China's cooperation on key global issues when we continue to send such mixed signals? Our actions will likely have only very minimal impact at best. The political message to China, however, will be loud and clear: you remain a threat and our actions reflect that thinking," he added.

My day before the news update:

My day when I see the edit mark and I know there’s a news update:

My day after I finish reading through the news update and see the state of the world:

I don't know what compelled me to do this, but I recorded a voice summary of the headlines and comments presented in the first week's update. Lmk if it's helpful for those who would prefer to listen to the update instead of read @[email protected]

Soundcloud Link

Raúl Castro: in the US there is only one party like in Cuba - there are two, an American tells him: Democrats and Republicans - yes: it is as if in Cuba Fidel led one party and I the other.

this is the posible next president of Argentina

the last sight of many a commie

Looks like Russia has upped interest rates another 3.5% to 12% after the Ruble fell past 100 against the dollar which is the worst since last March.

Anyone who's been following the Russian economy more closely got any more context or takes?

And in critically important news, after a whole year of searching since the start of this damn war, I've finally found a bottle of Russian Standard.

I am a lot more happier than I should be for finding a drink I actually enjoy over everything else I've been experimenting with this entire time.

ATTENTION:

This post is now in mode. You may every seconds.

2,000-Room Luxury Resort Appears Overnight From Charred Maui Wreckage

that's probably what's going to happen.

I guess Trump is gonna get a mugshot down in Georgia, gonna be pretty iconic tbh get ready to see it everywhere

Do Bush next

Sorry everyone, no chad n cuck ranking this week. Two main reasons behind this decision:

1. I've mostly logged off this week and literally touched grass

2. I tried brainstorming ideas for this week's ranking but literally nothing politically significant has happened anywhere in the world except that Ecuadorian dude getting shot. The most interesting things other than that were the re-emergence of plane lady, Hezbollah weapon transport truck crashing, and my communist uncle in Beirut sending me a selfie from George Hawi's grave. In Ukraine-Russia, the most important event this week is Ukraine capturing half of a village with less people than comments on a hexbear mega. All these events combined would barely have an effect on the ranking.

The ‘disinformation’ craze is ruining what’s left of journalism

On the disinformation craze, with journalists acting like the concept was invented deep in a Soviet/Russian lab somewhere to destabilise Western countries - but WE MUST RESIST!

It's frankly incredible how quickly it all ramped up. This image, showing the number of mentions of "disinformation" in New York Times articles, for example:

The western media increasingly has nothing constructive to say about anything. We must kill, we must oppose, we must clamp down, we must sanction. When China and Russia and others are saying the opposite, it's obvious that all they can do is scream "Disinformation! Propaganda!" as they put their hands over their ears.

Part of the popularity of disinformation journalism for journalists themselves, newsrooms as a whole and media organizations, comes as a result of material need. As outlined at the beginning of this piece, most news outlets rely to some extent on financial aid from the government for existence in a variety of forms, including tax credits and being designated as “qualified Canadian journalism organizations.” Simultaneously, the government has expressed an interest in supporting journalism that supposedly fights disinformation, and has dedicated an incredible sum of money to journalism in general, amounting to more than $700 million since 2018 for a variety of publications. As such, there’s a vested interest in tailoring journalism to meet what the government is looking for, particularly if jobs, newsrooms and entire companies depend upon it.

Looking beyond the business case, disinformation journalism is attractive to journalists partly because it offers a sense of purpose. Legacy media no longer has a near-exclusive hold on readers, and it’s easier than ever to find a variety of news sources with varying perspectives and approaches. Instead of seeing this as a net positive, disinformation reporting allows journalists to point to it as a problem and hold themselves up as a solution. Their job is no longer to write about what’s going on, but to filter out what they deem to be illegitimate for readers. This has the function of reinforcing the role of legacy media, finding a purpose in the industry (the only “legitimate” source of information you can trust happens to be the sorts of places they work at) and trying to repair relations with readers.

The approach, however, has been a failure. As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, journalism in Canada has been hitting new lows in recent years with regard to its financial state. Things are also looking bad in terms of its perception among Canadians. A 2022 report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism found that trust in Canadian media from readers had dropped to its lowest point since 2016 (around when the disinformation craze started). At the time, about 55 per cent of respondents said they “trust most news, most of the time.” In 2022, just 42 per cent of respondents said the same.