The imperial core is continuing the process of self-cannibalization as the interimperial wars between Europe and the US over resource and territorial control continue. Greenland, populated with less than a hundred thousand heavily exploited people, is the newest territory to fall under Trump’s gaze. The main draw is the mineral resources present there, of which it boasts nickel, copper, cobalt, and platinum, and much more than remains unexplored under the ice. But the ice is melting, and profit must be made. There is an additional element of wanting Arctic territory to counter Chinese and especially Russian interests and aims; Russia is increasingly eyeing the northern Arctic route as an alternative to more vulnerable routes through the Suez Canal or around Africa, and is investing heavily in icebreakers for that purpose.
However, even if Europe possessed the desire to resist American annexations - and they absolutely do not, at the end of the day - they do not even have the ability. Denmark may, to a lesser or greater extent, make angry sounds and talk about national honour or some such, but their military would be trampled underfoot by even the New York Police Department, let alone a concerted military effort by the US. If Trump wants Greenland, he will have it. This will naturally increase the grumbling in Europe about reconsidering the Transatlantic alliance, and that grumbling may, in the medium-term future, as the American Empire continues its decline, lead to meaningful results. But in the short term, Europe shall have to bear whatever Trump throws at them, for they obviously cannot now ally with Russia, who was the natural counterweight to American interests for decades before 2022.
Last week’s thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
Please check out the HexAtlas!
The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
The RSS feed is here. Also currently not used.
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 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.
Just a reminder: the ceasefire only comes into effect on the 19th of January officially, this Sunday. There have been videos of Hamas fighters coming out from underground (so far it all seems like reposts of the same single video, but there may be more in the coming hours and days), and reports of Israeli massacres in Gaza within the past hour. If you see recent videos of Hamas fighters on social media, do not repost or share them! At least until the 19th. This is critically important for OPSEC reasons and the safety of Palestinians. I am not trying to put a damper on the situation or being a downer, i know OPSEC sucks at times, but this is very important. It’s only one video for now.
If hamas guys are posting videos on social media do you think the idf needs leftist to signal boost them to see them?
What’s the opsec here? Maybe I’m missing something
The videos weren’t from Hamas themselves, but people on the ground. It seems as if they sent one group of fighters with one car to make a public appearance after the ceasefire announcement, so I don’t think we’ll get any more, but there is a possibility. It’s more of a general statement that the ceasefire is not active yet, and to take precautions. Some people might think that it’s already in force right now, but that is not the case. The Israeli military is absolutely sadistic enough to use this current situation to continue their bombings right up until the final minute, we saw that in Lebanon. The next few days could get really bad. I know it sounds like I’m trying to pour cold water over everything, but I’m really not. I’m just trying to provide a warning and information.
SCMP: China runs final tests of hypersonic air-to-air missile in extreme Mars mission tunnel
This is the first official confirmation of the existence of this mysterious weapon, which could pose an unprecedented threat to US military aircraft, including the B-21 stealth bomber that is currently undergoing flight testing.
Bolsonaro says: “If I remain ineligible, I no longer believe in democracy”.
Former president Jair Bolsonaro insisted on Friday that he would be the candidate of the right in the 2026 election. The former chief executive also said that he will no longer believe in democracy if he remains ineligible by decision of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE).
“What would democracy be? Respecting due process, the Constitution, the laws. Why make me ineligible? Two eight-year sentences (…) If I remain ineligible, I no longer believe in democracy. Democracy is over,” Bolsonaro said in an interview.
Why? WHY? Bolsonaro literally tried to kill people and created documents detailing how he would kill them. His own vice-president had an entire plan to send him into exile in the US, literally nobody likes Bolsonaro.
Indicted by the Federal Police (PF) in November for the crimes of attempted coup d’état, attempted abolition of the democratic rule of law and criminal organization, the former president could be ineligible until 2061 if he is prosecuted and sentenced with the maximum penalty, in 2025, for the alleged crimes. Bolsonaro would be 106 years old when he could stand for political office again.
lol
man whose entire political career is about bringing back the dictatorship claims democracy bad
BREAKING: Biden pardons Anthony Fauci, Mark Milley and the Jan. 6 committee in an extraordinary use of presidential power against potential Trump “revenge.”
What the hell is this? How can you pardon someone when they have not been found to commit any crimes?
The Taiwanese political poll just got their yearly update:
https://esc.nccu.edu.tw/PageDoc/Detail?fid=7801&id=6963
Taiwanese separatism peaked in 2020 because the Hong Kong protests were still on people’s minds, and it’s being downhill ever since. Nobody is buying what the DPP is trying to peddle. Damn, it turns out sending one of your political opponents to jail on corruption charges for transparent political reasons would put a damper on your party ideology. The status quo reigns supreme. Eat shit, boba libs.
Dumb question, ‘unification’ means joining the PRC? In my understanding, the KMT started from an irredentist position, like the legacy official stance of the ROC but now it’s mostly business interests that want to do business with china, is that accurate?
But that’s not what the DPP was campaigning for last election.
The DPP had a very clear position in the last election: “Open up to the world first, then to China.”
The KMT, on the other hand, did not present a coherent position during their campaign and people just took that to mean “open up to China first, then to the world.” They lost, because people didn’t really know what the campaign was about.
I don’t think independence was ever going to be a serious consideration except for a minority.
Jon Elmer on the latest radio war nerd discussing specifics of the Palestinian resistance within gaza. A lot of topics covered won’t be new to the newsmega but Elmer brings a deep understanding of tactics and history all the same.
News from World Food Program, 2025-01-19, via ReliefWeb.
Hunger in Gaza: First aid trucks roll in as ceasefire takes effect (emphasis original. This is most of the story, but see ReliefWeb link above for the rest)
World Food Programme (WFP) trucks have started crossing into Gaza [xcancel] after the ceasefire came into effect. WFP trucks will enter from Egypt and via Ashdod, Israel.
WFP welcomes the agreed ceasefire announced Wednesday (15 January). We emphasize that this is only the start – not the end – of what’s needed to reach desperate and hungry families in Gaza. WFP needs US$300 million to meet urgent needs in the enclave over the next six months.
- WFP calls on all parties to do what is in their power to halt any further fighting and ensure safe humanitarian access - the war has left more than 2 million people fully dependent on food assistance, homeless, and without any income.
- We need all border crossings open and functioning reliably. We also need humanitarian teams to be able to move freely and safely across Gaza to reach those in need.
- If these conditions are in place, WFP is ready to scale up and distribute lifesaving food for over a million people in Gaza.
- The needs in Gaza are immense. Recovery will require a full-scale humanitarian response with all agencies coming together, including UNRWA, to provide lifesaving assistance to 2 million people.
WFP has enough food pre-positioned along the borders and on its way to Gaza to feed over a million people for three months. UNRWA has enough supplies to support another million. For WFP, this includes food parcels, wheat flour, commodities for hot meals, and nutrition supplements.
- WFP is working to help revive what remains of Gaza’s economy. To support local shops and empower people with the freedom of choice, WFP plans to expand its cash and voucher assistance to 100,000 people (once commercial activity and cash liquidity allow).
- WFP will also support whatever factories remain, wheat flour mills, and shops that can resume operations.
- Using specialized teams, WFP has begun repairing and removing rubble from essential roads/key supply routes to allow for faster transportation of aid, on behalf of WFP and humanitarian partners.
- WFP can send around 1,600 trucks of food (30,200 tons) each month to facilitate distributions for over 1 million people. In order to reach everyone in need, UNRWA’s support is critical. WFP is committed to bolstering UNRWA’s food assistance delivery efforts.
If commercial supplies of food and other goods are in place, and local banks have the liquidity needed, we will also provide cash to families so they can buy food and other essentials
- WFP’s goal is to provide immediate food aid and to support local food production, re-stock bakeries, and provide nutrition supplements for thousands of children.
- To reach people and make a meaningful impact, WFP also urgently need the international community’s support with funding, so we that can increase capacity and sustain our humanitarian staffing.
- Barely any food has gone into besieged North Gaza for more than two months. Winter cold and rain are further reducing people’s ability to survive.
- Food security in Gaza has been worsening, with people becoming weaker by the day; there is almost no fresh food (fruit, vegetables, meat, fish), shops are empty, bakeries have been unable to operate, lacking fuel, flour or both.
- So far this year, WFP has only been able to reach 305,000 people in Gaza and 177,000 in the West Bank.
- With supplies inside Gaza severely strained, most of the people reached received hot meals, or significantly reduced rations.
- WFP distributed 34,683 ready-to-eat meals (RTEs) across Gaza, reaching 151,840 displaced people. Less than ten percent of the 1.675 million targeted population received assistance. In Gaza City, families received two food parcels.
- Hot meals were served from 62 kitchens to 250,000 displaced persons across Gaza.
- Due to supply shortages, no bakeries in southern and central Gaza have been operational for over a month. In Gaza City, five bakeries are open but have cut production by 50 percent due to fuel shortages, with remaining fuel expected to last only two to three days.
- In December, WFP dispatched over 14,000 metric tons of food into Gaza but faced challenges due to insecurity and looting, leading to depleted January stocks. To reach more people, WFP further reduced its rations, reaching 1.4 million people, but the majority received just one 25kg bag of wheat flour instead of the full ration of two food parcels and two bags of wheat flour.
- Currently, all three crossings into south and central Gaza (Kerem Shalom, Kissufim, and Gate 96) are open but with severely limited capacity due to insecurity, including armed looting and attacks on aid convoy routes. In the north, West Erez (Zikim) crossing is operational but can only be used to supply Gaza City. Access to North Gaza governorate has been consistently denied.
- Around 80,000 tons of food is waiting outside Gaza or on its way into Gaza (Jordan, Egypt and Ashdod) – enough to feed over a million people for three months.
https://xcancel.com/MaxBlumenthal/status/1881071284639223890
car protest in front of butcher blinky homeI am so thankful for the ceasefire. Finally, the madness is over. It is not completely over but at least bombs have stopped.
It was something else to witness rednote and TikTok go from having no Americans to being overrun with them. I suddenly noticed a strong lack of overly dramatic posting and “ironic”’faces when speaking on TikTok. It was nice.
rump promised to end the conflict in Ukraine and prevent the start of a third world war
More promises from the US President-elect:
- All of Biden’s stupid orders will be cancelled within 24 hours.
- A phone call to Putin will be arranged in the coming days.
- “By the evening of January 20” the “invasion” of illegal migrants across the country’s southern border will be ended
- On Monday, there will be presidential decrees that will make everyone extremely happy.
He is going to make anime real?
- The US military will be tasked with creating the Iron Dome missile defense system to defend the US
??
- Elon Musk to head efficiency department. Trump also said that the US needs to protect geniuses, “because there aren’t that many of them”
- Documents on the assassination of the 35th US President John Kennedy, as well as Martin Luther King, will be declassified.
- Stop illegal immigration once and for all
- Keep transpeople away from women’s sports
- Develop large-scale projects in the field of artificial intelligence, for which Trump is even ready to use emergency powers
Trump also swore by God that he would never give up.
So what are the news heads predictions for the trump admin?
