this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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Image is of the Te Pati Maori (Maori Party) cofounders, Rawiri Waititi and Debbie Ngarewa-Packer. They have 6 of the 123 seats in the New Zealand parliament.


Officially confirming that the Republican primaries were a gigantic waste of time for everybody involved, Trump has massively beat everybody else in Iowa, and will very obviously be the Republican candidate for 2024. Given the abysmal state of the US economy (for everybody who isn't in the top 1-10%, which is mainly what national statistics reflect when they aren't telling blatant falsehoods), it's more plausible than ever that Trump may indeed once again become President - though I personally refuse to predict one way or another due to how volatile politics and geopolitics currently are. Project 2025 is coming, folks - either as the official Republican governance program, or as what the Democrats will do in 2026 after the midterms, stating that they have no other choice and have to reach across the aisle as they are the Adults In The Room™.

In other news...

Late last year, New Zealand voted in a new and very right-wing government, composed of the center-right National Party, the libertarian ACT Party (ACT stands for the "Association of Consumers and Taxpayers", good lord), and the fascist New Zealand First party. By what I can tell, this was the well-trodden path of "Vaguely center-left party does neoliberal austerity and causes a recession and workers fucking hated it and voted in a different party out of desperation," though the flooding and cyclones did add challenges to Chris Hipkins' short reign after Jacinda Ardern resigned.

It's worth noting that Hipkins was at least fairly China-friendly, meeting up with Xi Jinping on a five-day visit in the summer. They still do the whole "We have concerns about human rights" thing, but of all the countries of the imperial core, New Zealand is - or, perhaps, was - one of the most amicable. In 2021, China was New Zealand's single largest trading partner, with a third of exports going to China (more than Australia, the US, Japan, and South Korea combined), and they receive 22% of their imports from China too, more than any other single country.

Christopher Luxon, the new Prime Minister and sentient thumb, has said that he is exploring a closer relationship with AUKUS:

Luxon said New Zealand was interested in becoming involved in AUKUS Pillar 2: a commitment between the three partners to develop and share advanced military capabilities, including artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and hypersonics.

“We’ll work our way through that over the course of next year as we understand it more and think about what the opportunities may be for us,” Luxon said. “AUKUS is a very important element in ensuring we’ve got stability and peace in the region.”

This is not to say that Hipkins wanted nothing to do with AUKUS or Western organizations aimed generally against China - in fact, pre election, "he was open to conversations about joining Pillar II of AUKUS". But the current government is pushing down on the accelerator pedal.

The left-wing Maori party, Te Pati Maori, has stated that they want New Zealand to remain non-aligned, as joining AUKUS would erode the sovereignty of the country:

As Maori we cannot allow our sovereignty to be determined by others, whether they are in Canberra or Washington. Aotearoa should not act as Pacific spy base in the wars of imperial powers. Joining AUKUS will severely undermine our country’s sovereignty, constitution, and ability to remain nuclear free. There is too much at stake for our government to make a commitment of this magnitude without a democratic process.

In general, the party leaders of Te Pati Maori want New Zealand to be the "Switzerland of the Pacific", which is perhaps not the greatest analogy given all the problems Switzerland had and has, but we understand the intended meaning of desiring neutrality.


The Country of the Week is New Zealand! 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.


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[–] [email protected] 67 points 11 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 67 points 11 months ago (9 children)

If the US is intent on starting another war, I hope it loses, and loses badly. It's time for some humble pie.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 11 months ago (2 children)

BRICS at 100 % power

🇧🇷🇷🇺🇮🇳🇨🇳🇿🇦

BRICS at 99 % power:

🇿🇦

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 11 months ago (4 children)

There was an "Against Antisemitism" march in the UK on Sunday. The organisers appear to have used the police to forcibly exclude Jewish groups critical of Israel.

The incendiary banners that couldn't be allowed? One read Fight Facism, Antisemitism, Racism and another read We stand against antisemitism and we stand for a ceasefire now.

Non-Jewish right supporters of Israel's genocide were freely allowed to join.

The organisers response has just been to say "No we didn't" despite the evidence on video in the linked tweets and several different police sources telling them exactly that. The organisers refuse to comment further.

Evidence number 7648367 that these are just pro-Israel marches and organisations.

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

BREAKING | 3 US service members killed and 25 injured in a drone attack on a US base in northeast Jordan, near the Syria border, according to US Central Command.

EDIT: Unclear if its Al Tanf in Syria ,and they try to spin it with "Jordan" .

EDIT 2 : ITs Al Tanf Syria .. those Fuckers ! Those cowardly little fuckers ... So its 3 Terrorist Killed and 25 Injured !

source

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 11 months ago (14 children)

Liberal historians are being weird again.

They correctly see certain facts (about the British intervention in the Russian Civil War):

There was plenty of reason to see the intervention as nasty – for starters, lack of clear war aims, atrocities on which the Allies turned a blind eye, half-hearted support of reactionaries followed by ignominious betrayal – but the real reason it was judged so harshly was that it failed. Nothing substantive was achieved, while, as the British commander of Allied forces in the north, Edmund Ironside, noted at the time of the British withdrawal from North Russia in the autumn of 1919, the cost was to incur ‘the everlasting enmity of both sides – the Whites for deserting them, and the Reds for opposing them’.

Exactly - it was hopeless and unnecessary.

Apart from getting rid of the Bolsheviks, the aims of the Western intervention were remarkably ill-defined. Sometimes it was to protect British interests and keep the Germans, Turks, Poles, or Japanese imperial or territorial ambitions in check; sometimes to support ‘democratic forces’ in Russia, notably the transient Czechs; and sometimes just to back up the (anti-democratic) Whites.

So the support of "democratic forces" was just posturing, in other words.

A national claim the Allies did not support, however, was the Ukrainian one, or rather, any of the various Ukrainian claims that were on offer.

the Allies essentially accepted the Poles’ argument that Ukrainian nationalism was German-inspired and incoherent, with little popular support. In Reid’s summation, although Ukrainians today ‘view the Allies’ failure to support them as a tragic missed opportunity’, ‘in truth the scoffers were probably right. Split, by the end of 1919, between two paper governments, one allied with the Poles against the Russians and the other the reverse, they did not have the leadership or unity to win power, even with outside military aid.’

Sounds about right

Reid’s encounter with widespread and virulent antisemitism – both as practised on the ground in Ukraine by Whites, Poles and Ukrainian nationalists, and as tacitly condoned by the Allies – was ‘one of the most jolting aspects of researching this book’. The first major pogroms of the Civil War were conducted in December 1918 by the Polish army after capturing Lviv from Ukrainian forces. The local British representative, setting a pattern that was often to be followed in subsequent months, ‘dismissed pogrom “rumours” as “grossly exaggerated”’. Antisemitism was a core component of White propaganda [..] Altogether, the pogroms of 1919 in Ukraine were on a scale ‘not seen since the Cossack rebellions of the 17th century’, but the Whites weren’t the only ones to blame: Symon Petilura’s and Nykyfor Hryhoriv’s Ukrainian forces, as well as Nestor Makhno’s anarchist ‘Greens’, were also heavily involved.

and so on and so on. But then.

Reid’s problem is that, recognising a degree of similarity in the two episodes of foreign involvement in war on Ukrainian territory, she holds diametrically opposed value judgments of them: the early 20th-century intervention on behalf of the Whites was pointless, but current Western support of Ukraine in a war started by the Russians is morally imperative and, in global political terms, necessary. Present-day Ukraine is a democratic or democratically aspiring country that ‘for all its faults ... really does deserve the world’s help’, she writes in the recent second edition of Borderland. ‘Betraying the country would be moral and strategic failure on a par with the crushed Hungarian Rising or Prague Spring – and with much less excuse.’

It is so weird that liberals have this fundamental premise that Western powers have both the moral superiority and the means to sort out conflicts in far away lands. How is this different from the early XXth century British conception of a benign civilizing Empire? What kind of mental gymnastics they need to perform so that their heads don't split from the cognitive dissonance? How come they don't see the similarities that the Western powers are willing to support any kind of reactionary force so long as it is in their geopolitical interest? That they didn't give a shit about pogroms, because the main concern was to own the ‘the blood-stained, Jew-led Bolsheviks’? That they are supporting Azov just to hinder Putler?

Perhaps the real takeaway from Reid’s history isn’t so much a lesson as a premonition: that not too far down the track, we could be witnessing a shamefaced withdrawal of Western support that leaves the Ukrainians – like the Russian Whites a century earlier – to sort out the mess with Moscow on their own.

curious-marx

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[–] [email protected] 66 points 11 months ago (8 children)

https://archive.is/jlQvE

A Florida bill backed by the state’s chief financial officer would create a $5 million fund to help pay for former President Donald Trump’s mounting legal fees.

State Senator Ileana Garcia, a Republican, has filed a proposal to create the “Freedom Fighters Fund,” which would provide financial support for Florida residents running for president who face legal action.

data-laughing

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 11 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 65 points 11 months ago (13 children)

BREAKING: The Biden Junta has imposed a Energy Blockade on the Rouge Petro State of Texas!

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Officially confirming that the Republican primaries were a gigantic waste of time for everybody involved, Trump has massively beat everybody else in Iowa, and will very obviously be the Republican candidate for 2024

I hope that he milks the remaining primary season by doing the apprentice for a vp search

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[–] [email protected] 65 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)
The Guardian: The Houthis are not a group that can be bombed into extinction – here’s why

By Amal Saad, lecturer in politics and international relations at Cardiff University. The article is posted below in whole.


The war launched by the “axis of resistance” against Israel and the US marks the first time in history that a coalition of non-state actors has collectively come to the defence of another non-state actor, namely Hamas. Spearheaded by Iran, the axis includes Syrian militias, the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iraq’s Popular Mobilisation Units (PMU) and Yemen’s Houthis or, to give them their official name, Ansar Allah. For the past three months, the latter three have taken the initiative, launching attacks on Israeli and US targets in support of their Palestinian allies.

But rather than acknowledge these groups as having motives and interests of their own, the US, UK and Israel continue to reduce them to a transnational network of Iranian proxies whom they believe can be threatened and bombed into submission, a point made clear by yet another wave of overnight airstrikes. This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the underlying dynamics within the axis and of the unshakeable unity of its members, all of which could make western powers’ intervention in the region even more costly.

Unlike traditional western coalitions, which are created ad hoc by like-minded states to fight a common threat without any long-term commitments, the axis of resistance began as an enduring alliance that developed into a wartime coalition. Since its inception, what bound the core members together was the mutual provision of military and political support to confront Israel. While Iran furnished Hezbollah, Hamas and other Palestinian groups with longstanding military and financial assistance, Syria offered its territory as a secure supply route for Hezbollah and as a safe refuge for Hamas’s leaders. For its part, Hezbollah provided technical and military training to Hamas, including bomb and tunnel-making expertise, and along with Iran, smuggled weapon-manufacturing technology to the West Bank and Gaza.

In 2013 the axis formed its first wartime coalition, in support of the Syrian state. Hezbollah officially intervened in that war and persuaded Iran to deploy its Revolutionary Guards to Syria, while the newly formed PMU followed suit, further expanding the axis. Alongside the coalition’s role in Syria, Iran and Hezbollah directly intervened in Iraq in 2014 to assist the PMU in fighting Islamic State. The final addition to the axis were the Houthis, who received military and political assistance from Iran and, according to some reports, military training from Hezbollah, in their war with a Saudi-led coalition that started in 2015.

What makes the axis such a cohesive and durable alliance is its deep-seated ideological pillars and shared strategic objectives. All its actors subscribe to an anti-imperialist and anti-Zionist agenda, with the Palestinian cause as the focal point. Today, it shares two common aims: to force Israel into an unconditional ceasefire in Gaza, and to expel US troops from Iraq and Syria. In pursuing these aims, the non-state actors in this alliance are acting in accordance with their own political beliefs and strategic interests rather than following Iranian diktat. While Iran has offered material support to the non-state actors within the axis, such assistance has not translated into the kind of exercise of power that characterises sponsor-proxy relationships. This view is shared by the US intelligence official Brian Katz, who has argued that Iran’s non-state allies “are no longer simply Iranian proxies. Rather, they have become a collection of ideologically aligned, militarily interdependent, mature political-military actors committed to mutual defence”. In essence, the nature of this alliance is organic and symbiotic, as opposed to transactional and hierarchical.

This was most recently demonstrated by Hamas’s surprise 7 October attack on Israel of which, according to Israeli and US accounts, Iran had no foreknowledge. Having said that, there does appear to have been a pre-planned “forward defence” strategy whereby Hezbollah, the Houthis and PMU groups would take the offensive and initiate strikes against Israel and the US should Hamas require such assistance. This strategy is being executed today by means of tactical military coordination, which is reportedly occurring within several joint operations’ rooms in various capitals across the region. Within this strategy, Hezbollah assumes the role of battle management whereby it directs, plans and coordinates military operations across the different conflict theatres. Three battle arenas outside Gaza are being fought in sync: Hezbollah’s moderate-intensity war with Israel, the PMU’s attacks on US and Israeli targets in Syria, Iraq and Israel itself, and the Houthis’ attacks on cargo ships in the Red Sea and occasional strikes on Israel. All fronts are synchronised to pause when the fighting in Gaza is suspended, as demonstrated by the temporary truce in Gaza in late November.

An alliance characterised by such a high level of coordination, reflecting a unity of purpose and vision requires the US and its allies to radically alter their approach to this conflict. The assumption that “sustained” military action against these actors will break their will to continue fighting is as misguided as it is dangerous. On the contrary, military solutions that expand the scope of the conflict will only invite more coordinated responses from across the axis. Western leaders would do well to reflect on the reality that they are not merely trying to protect shipping routes, but are waging an unwinnable war on an ideologically united and tenacious alliance of powerful non-state actors.

The US and UK strikes on Yemen have only increased the prospects of a full-blown regional war, given that the Houthis have now threatened to widen the scope of their campaign to include “all US and UK interests” in the region. Yet the Lebanese-Israeli front remains the most flammable, considering that Israel is champing at the bit for a war with Hezbollah. As the latter is the most powerful non-state actor in the axis of resistance, if not the world, such a war would be the most far-reaching and mutually destructive. Nothing short of a ceasefire in Gaza can prevent the region from turning into a powder keg.


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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (10 children)

🇫🇮🔥 It is official: Finnish state media YLE completely fucking losing it. Today, there's a thing about "Why Russia definitely probably shot down the plane and Ukraine is innocent. Even if Ukraine did it, it was Russia's fault". There's a thing about "Wholesome 100 innocent uwu Taiwan is in MORTAL DANGER of being RIPPED TO SHREDS and BRUTALLY EVISCERATED by the CHINESE HELL-DRAGON!!". There's even a thing about how unbelievably fucking dangerous TikTok is to life as we know it. I am reaching entirely new levels of Jokerification at an absolutely incredible rate.

But the best part is the podcast segment titled, and I am not shitting you here, "Why 10000 dead children in Gaza doesn't mean Israel is committing genocide". That is a direct translation. I was foolishly hoping that it was an intentionally ridiculous and exaggerated clickbait title for an actually decent take, but who was I kidding. Of course not. Since I'm feeling invincible today I went ahead and listened to it anyway so no one else has to. That's how this works, right?

The "expert" they have on argues that the definition of genocide "is just not about killing, but the intentions they have when doing the killing. Israel says that they're not intending to exterminate everyone in Gaza, ergo, therefore, you see..." They also, naturally, go out of their way to sneak in the word TERRORIST ATTACK just to be sure.

Expert continues: "Israel has said that they are the most moral army in the world and that they aren't indiscriminately targeting civilians..." so "it's really difficult to tell if they're doing a genocide or not." Yep, our hands are tied. I guess we just have to believe everything israel says, then.

Proceeds to talk about the role of the ICJ, and how they can't really do anything, but gives them props for upholding the good old "rules-based order", and then my brain shut out the rest.

I must reiterate that this is official state media. Finland really turned from "generally pretty fucking bad" to "most bloodthirsty genocidal lapdog of the american empire" almost instantly when they let us into nato. I think I need to get the heck out of here.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I will vote for Biden if he starts the civil war 2 in Texas

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago (2 children)

In 2004 the ICJ issued an advisory opinion ruling that Israel’s Wall is illegal. The ruling was ignored by Israel and the world. One year later (to the day) the BDS movement was launched. The power of today’s ruling isn’t just about what the I J ruled but will lead to the growth of BDS.

I think this is the biggest impact the ruling will have, strengthening the BDS movement

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago (5 children)

Some wierd Monastic Feudal Island Nation tried to run the Ansrallah Blockade with a fucking Oil tanker.... It resently also partiticpated into terror bombings against the UN Forces.. What do these fucking babarians expect ?

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

German train drivers begin six-day strike, hitting travel and the economy

Germany is bracing for widespread disruption to rail services after train drivers embarked on a record six-day strike Wednesday that will wreak havoc on travel plans, strain supply chains and deal a new blow to the sputtering economy.

Six days long strike!

It’s the second time this month that members of Germany’s GDL Union have walked off the job in an ongoing wage dispute with Deutsche Bahn. The state-owned rail operator said the action would cause delays and cancellations to long-distance, regional and city commuter services until Monday. Freight transport will also face “considerable restrictions.”

Pre-booked tickets for travel during the strike will remain valid for future trips, Deutsche Bahn added. Passengers can also cancel their booking and receive a full refund. Some commuters expressed frustration at the train drivers’ latest action.

Seems pretty reasonable. The workers are understanding the difficult situation the passengers are going to be in so they offer solutions. However...

“I’ve always been understanding of strikes of all kinds. But my patience has now run out,” Ilse Terwey told CNN at Berlin’s main train station. “Nobody wins. Everyone loses. Passengers lose. The economy loses, the (railway’s) image loses.”

Listen to this absolute lumpen piece of doodoo. Oooh I like strikes but NOT this one! The economy loses? It's the goal, DUMBASS, no pay no economy for ya'll. The railway's image LMFAO, get a hold of this IDIOT, THE IMAGE OF THE RAILWAYS LOL. This pathetic LOSER will be taking the train for the rest of their miserable life and THEY WILL ENJOY IT. Also kinda weird from CNN to put this quote very early in their article huh? No word from the workers yet?

The longest industrial action in Deutsche Bahn’s 30-year history will pile more pressure on Germany’s vast manufacturing sector, which is already grappling with high energy costs, supply chain delays, elevated interest rates, and weak domestic and foreign demand.

High energy costs? Ah I guess you can blame NATO and your friend "the US". High energy costs are also impacting the workers you absolute idiots, so no wonder they're on strike.

The strike “is straining the nerves of the public” and hurting “the already tarnished reputation of Germany as a business location,” he (Joerg Kraemer) added.

That sucks lol

Deutsche Bahn’s current offer includes a staggered wage increase: 4.8% would be implemented in August, followed by an additional 5% in April 2025. Then in January 2026, employees could choose to reduce their weekly working hours to 37 hours at the same pay or opt for a further 2.7% salary increase. GDL has rejected that offer. The union wants a decrease in working hours from 38 to 35 hours per week with no reduction in salary. It has also asked for a pay increase of €555 ($603) per month and a one-off bonus of €3,000 ($3,260) to compensate for inflation.

DB's offer seems reasonable. Give them what they want or no choochoo train moves.

Germany’s supply chains are already struggling because of the crisis in the Red Sea. Earlier this month, Tesla said it would pause production at its huge factory near Berlin for two weeks from January 29 because assaults on container ships along the vital trade route had delayed the delivery of components.

Also quit supporting genocide if you want your shit to start producing again eh? Ansar Allah take my energy. But Germany wont stop doing it, this barbaric nation loves genocide (plenty of experience) so they will continue to support it.

germany-cool :CNN-cool:

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Breaking: Yemen strikes US military cargo ship in Gulf of Aden: twitter / nitter

Update: US sources dispute this claim.

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[–] [email protected] 64 points 11 months ago (3 children)

please Biden, drone strike the guy from texas, nothing bad will happen trust me dude

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago (8 children)

https://archive.is/qb97J

Some more wunderweapons failures of our military industrial complexes

Did you know a man bought all the spare B-2 windshields and used them in his daughter’s tree house? The USAF had to buy them back to replace a damaged Spirit windshield.

That's fucking right folks!

The B-2 Spirit

The B-2 Spirit is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. A dramatic leap forward in technology, the B-2 brings massive firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe through previously impenetrable defenses.

The revolutionary blending of low-observable technologies with high aerodynamic efficiency and large payload gives the B-2 important advantages over existing bombers.

The B-2’s low observability is derived from a combination of reduced infrared, acoustic, electromagnetic, visual and radar signatures. These signatures make it difficult for the sophisticated defensive systems to detect, track and engage the B-2. Many aspects of the low-observability process remain classified; however, the B-2’s composite materials, special coatings and flying-wing design all contribute to its “stealthiness.”

Obvious exception being the fucking windshields lmao

Whiteman Air Force Base (AFB), Missouri, is the only operational base for the B-2.

Spare B-2 windshields sold as surplus

Brion Edwards, former communications technician at Whiteman AFB and a reader of The Aviation Geek Club contacted us to share an interesting story regarding the B-2 Stealth Bomber.

‘I had the privilege of serving as a US Air Force communications technician at Whiteman AFB, which is the home of the B-2 Stealth Bomber fleet.

‘One day a maintenance NCO came in to pick up a laptop, because he was driving a few states away to pick up some spare B-2 windshields. He told me that over 20 years of service and thousands of hours flying transcontinental missions, a B-2 has never needed a windshield replaced. The windshields were believed to be indestructible. During a routine flight, a B-2 struck a Canadian Goose and the impact left a hairline crack on a windshield.

honk-enraged

The maintenance squadron placed and order with the Air Force parts depot, but they replied back that there were none in stock. The spare windshields had been in the warehouse such a long time with no orders for them, that someone thought they belonged to a discontinued air frame. The windshields were sent to the Air Force DRMO [Defense Reutilization Marketing Office] program, which sells surplus items to the public.

Lmao bruh

A stealthy tree house

‘The maintenance squadron reached out the company that manufactured the windshields to see if they had any spares, or could make a new windshield. The company stated they did not have any spares and the molds were disposed of a long time ago. If the Air Force wanted them to manufacture a new windshield, the company would need to retool an entire site, due to the windshields’ complexity. The cost would be astronomical.

Astronomical costs because of both the grift and the lack of industrial capacty

‘In the meantime, the parts depot reached out to DRMO to try and identify anyone who may have purchased a windshield. It turns out, that the windshields were sold as a lot to one individual a few years prior. After much effort, the Air Force was able to locate the man and sent a representative to his residence. The man still had all of the spare windshields in his possession and through an undisclosed amount, agreed to sell them back to the Air Force.’

God I hope he ripped them off

Edwards concludes;

‘I am sure you are wondering why someone would purchase surplus aircraft windshields? He used them in his daughter’s tree house. How stealthy is your tree house?’

Not that stealthy since the chairforce found it to pay a princely price to get their military secret windshields back.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Can't wait to frag my officer when I get conscripted into a state militia called something like "Abbott's Anti-Woke Warriors".

[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (8 children)

Im a huge supporter of nothing ever happens^TM^ tbh, there’s a 0% chance anything serious goes down between texas and the federal government.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (11 children)

Reports/rumors from the Twitter news aggregators:

  • Ansarallah fought a two-hour battle in the sea yesterday, forcing two US cargo ships to withdraw despite being protected by US destroyers. Apparently Ansarallah managed to strike a US warship directly.
  • Iraqi resistance announces that they are escalating their strikes on Israel, now hitting Israeli ports in order to further strengthen the blockade. Eliat and Ashkelon are already out of service due to Ansarallah and Gaza respectively; apparently there was just a very recent strike on Ashdod.
  • Hezbollah has hit another Iron Dome battery in northern Israel with drones.
  • And, of course, some rumors that the US is considering a withdrawal from Syria, though I don't know how much stock to currently put in those rumors.
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[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago (4 children)

In the aftermath of the Supreme Court's decision, numerous Republican governors announced their support for the Texas government in the dispute. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis additionally committed to sending more resources after previously sending the Florida National Guard to reinforce the Texas government.

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[–] [email protected] 63 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Uganda has Distance itself from its Judge ...

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Getting pre-emptively mad at the ICJ as a coping mechanism

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (5 children)

So the illegal zionist entity is supposed to report back to the court about its compliance with the measures in a month. What will happen when a month has passed and the genocide is still ongoing?

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

How do you talk to this voter

https://twitter.com/umichvoter/status/1749199308610556129

https://nitter.net/umichvoter/status/1749199308610556129?

"Oh, you don't want to vote for Joe Biden because of his support for Israel. Well, have you considered how much worse Trump will be for Gaza? Right now, Joe Biden is helping Israel tie Palestinians to train tracks, but he's telling Bibi that the trains have to go the speed limit when they run over the Palestinians, plus a small number of the train workers must get 4 sick days a year. Under Trump, the trains would be going dangerously over the speed limit and those small number of train workers wouldn't be getting 4 sick days. Have you thought about that, hmm?!"

smuglord

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (2 children)

three yankoids confirmed to have gotten owned in a drone attack in Jordan wholesome

cracker news network

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (8 children)

Pelosi said that pro-Palestine protesters are "agents of Russia" like 24 hours ago. And the libs are already running with it. Amazing.

https://np.reddit.com/r/PoliticalHumor/comments/1adijub/nice_try_russia/

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (3 children)

GOP senators seethe as Trump blows up delicate immigration compromise

The article doesn’t explicitly say what the GOP is giving up in exchange for everything they want on the border, but you have to assume it’s about money for Ukraine. The Cassandras on Hexbear will be proven right yet again, Biden will do anything to waste tens of billions more on Ukraine.

Very, very critical support to Trump for trying to blow this up.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago (7 children)

Biden legit never changed Trumps policies on ICE, yet hogs and some of the worst state governments are going insane.

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[–] [email protected] 62 points 11 months ago

If the US does withdraw from Syria, I wouldn't be shocked if "ISIS" suddenly appears and does an attack.

[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (2 children)

archive.today • Where Is Hamas Getting Weapons? Increasingly, From Israel. - The New York Times

Israeli military and intelligence officials have concluded that a significant number of weapons used by Hamas in the Oct. 7 attacks and in the war in Gaza came from an unlikely source: the Israeli military itself. For years, analysts have pointed to underground smuggling routes to explain how Hamas stayed so heavily armed despite an Israeli military blockade of the Gaza Strip.

But recent intelligence has shown the extent to which Hamas has been able to build many of its rockets and anti-tank weaponry out of the thousands of munitions that failed to detonate when Israel lobbed them into Gaza, according to weapons experts and Israeli and Western intelligence officials. Hamas is also arming its fighters with weapons stolen from Israeli military bases.

[...]

[Hamas's] manufacturing abilities are now sophisticated enough to saw into the warheads of bombs weighing up to 2,000 pounds, to harvest the explosives and to repurpose them.

The top comment

So let me get this straight:

The Israelis apparently had ample intelligence warning of an impending Hamas attack a FULL YEAR prior to October 7 … and yet Netanyahu and his right wing cabinet chose to ignore those threats. Now according to this article, many of the weapons used in the attacks were from Israel themselves?

I’m sorry, I just don’t understand why Bibi Netanyahu continues to get a pass from Israel’s citizens to remain in power? He is an abject security failure and is steering his country towards less security and world isolation.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (2 children)

Hani Mahmoud reports on Israel bombing a United Nations school that was being used as an evacuation centre, and as people panicked & left the school they were attacked by low level Israeli attack drones.

Jesus christ, Israel is just a matrioska of crimes against humanity

https://nitter.net/SaulStaniforth/status/1750054537048543571#m

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (3 children)

lathe-of-heaven South Africa Joins the blockade movement against israel the US and UK. Says it is doing so to uphold the ICJ ruling that all parties must do their best to stop genocide.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (1 children)

"Today I heard the repulsive old man Yoav Gallant, refer to Gazans as 'human animals'... perhaps he was referring to our LIONS who crushed the necks of their swine army within their own territory" —Abu Obeida

twitter | nitter

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Don't get your hopes up. Texas said it would TEXIT the USA back in the 2010s and nothing fucking happened.

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[–] [email protected] 61 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (24 children)

It's 9.30am and there are very serious things being said in British politics this morning.

Ministers on TV saying that conscription is a real possibility and that Britons face a "call up" if we go to war with Russia, with the implied point they're making being that they are expecting that outcome eventually.

This being picked up obviously by all the major outlets. https://archive.is/TCWGD

If they want officer fragging they're going to get it because honestly I don't fucking think anyone is down with this.

https://news.sky.com/video/theres-a-1939-feel-to-the-world-right-now-former-minister-warns-of-possibility-of-conscription-13055178

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 11 months ago (5 children)
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[–] [email protected] 60 points 11 months ago (16 children)

So those two seals being declared dead without their bodies being recovered is a little weird right? Why wouldn't they be declared Missing In Action? Is it the military trying to cover up them being killed on a clandestine mission?

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[–] [email protected] 60 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (9 children)

Re: the Texas border stuff: it's hard to imagine kicking off a civil war over what is literally a lie. That lie being that Biden is purposely letting in immigrants in to destroy the country; especially when the facts appear like he's been just as or more effective than Trump in deportations... so like who's going to die for that? Is there any precedent for a war starting without any material basis whatsoever? Unless there's some other angle that we don't know about- but its hard to see who would benefit at all from something like this getting violent...

Like at least Haliburton et al really benefited from the US starting the Iraq war on a lie. Ultimately this things gotta just fizzle out

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 11 months ago (5 children)

I love ai generatated propaganda slop

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