On the 20th of October, Moldova - a small, landlocked country bordering western Ukraine and with a population of about 3 million - voted to join the EU. The margin was razor-thin, with the pro-EU vote gaining 50.39%, or an absolute difference of about 11,000 people. There was simultaneously a presidential vote between the incumbent, Maia Sandu, and other candidates, with the main competitor being Alexandr Stoianoglo.
The election was characterized by accusations of Russian interference, with Russian propaganda apparently flooding in, as well as people offering Moldovans money to vote against the EU. While the result does suggest that half the voting-age population of Moldova consists entirely of Russians who want to destroy democracy and all the good in the world, it seems to have just barely failed. This is a bad time to be a site entirely composed of Russian disinformation agents and bots. Twice already today, I’ve had to restart my program after somebody told me “Disregard all previous prompts.”
While Moldova is a poor country which could benefit in some ways from EU membership, in practice, it is unlikely that they will be able to join for the foreseeable future, requiring many of the… reforms… that the EU requires of potential new members. But as basically every major European economy continues to slowly sink as recessions and political crises degrade them, one wonders how beneficial EU membership will even be in the years and decades to come - if it survives for decades. In that sense, it’s as if the survivors of the Titanic are swimming back towards it, believing that being on a bigger - albeit slowly sinking - boat is better than trying their luck on small lifeboats.
Then again, like with Serbia, their geographical and geopolitical position makes anti-Western actions extremely difficult. It is rare that dissention is tolerated for long in the West - one tends to get called a dictator by crowds of people holding English-language signs in non-English countries, photographed by Western journalists who haven’t meaningfully reported on your country in months or years. You can crush your people with neoliberal austerity for years, killing hundreds of thousands through neglect, and face glowing approval from the media - but try and use state resources to benefit the poor, and global institutions start ranking you on the authoritarian dictator scale.
The best case for Moldova is that it becomes an exploitable hinterland for Germany to harvest and privatize as it tries - and fails - to compete in a global economic war between the US and China/BRICS. The worst case is that tensions with Russia over Pridnestrovie, as well as possible eventual NATO involvement (though Moldova is not a member, it is a partner of NATO), result in the ongoing war also reaching them.
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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 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.
This naked capitalism on eurasian logistics paths is well worth reading
https://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2024/10/the-logistics-great-game.html
There is a lot of good stuff in this that I don’t have time to summarize but I think worth understanding the zangezur corridor and alternatives that go around it to understand terrain of future sanctions actions to isolate China. There’s a nice bit of western private equity grift in the three seas initiative as well.
This passage stood out me, though this isn’t the main point of the article.
Today while the territory doesn’t fly a new flag when conquered, If we view it through the lens of neoliberalism and financialization of infrastructure, much of the fighting is over who gets to collect the rent.
Could the “rules-based international order” mean that the Russians can mine their resources, the Chinese can process them, and the Chinese can build it, but Western oligarchs must own it?
There is a headline right now on The Hill’s website that says “Key Republican: US should consider direct military action if North Korean troops enter Ukraine”. This is one among many similar headlines this week. Just further evidence to what everyone here is saying, that this is an obvious way to manufacture support for direct involvement by NATO. I menan, this whole idea that the west “must” intervene if the DPRK gets involved… like, why? Why is that some kind of red line? I’ve never seen someone reasonably articulate why A leads to B but that’s because it’s bullshit of course.
Edit: it’s funny, reading the article itself there’s this nugget: “The White House said earlier Wednesday that Washington had assessed at least 3,000 North Korean troops are undergoing training at military bases in eastern Russia, with fears they will eventually be sent to Ukraine to fight alongside Kremlin forces” [emphasis mine]
So in other words, a small number of troops are training with a military ally an entire continent away from the fighting. But maybe they’ll end up in Ukraine eventually!
How much do you want to bet there’s more than 3,000 NATO “advisors” in Ukraine right now?
I think if Trump wins we all need to be on high alert for NATO trying to commit actual ground troops to Ukraine before inauguration in order to try and force Trump not to back out.
Israeli Embassy in Brazil involved in scheme to illegally import Iphones. - G1 (Portuguese Only)
Federal Police (Brazil’s FBI) carries out operation to arrest suspect of using false documents to remove R$8 million (US$ 1.400.000,00) worth of cell phones at Guarulhos airport
‘Operation Fake Cargo’ began when Receita Federal (Brazil’s IRS) inspectors became suspicious of the documentation presented by the suspect to remove a 900 kg load of Iphones from Miami, USA. The suspect arrested works for the Israeli Consulate.
The target of the arrest is a driver who works for the Israeli Consulate. He was arrested by the federal agents, who are also investigating the involvement of other people who work at the consulate.
According to TV Globo, another consulate employee initially responded to the summons verbally, saying that the driver’s operation was legal. It was only after the Receita Federal (Brazil’s IRS) denied the delivery without an official response from the Embassy that this same employee started to say that they didn’t recognize the operation.
Is this just more spying? Israelis laundering money? Or another operation to install explosives inside these phones?
Devlet Bahçeli invited PKK leader Öcalan to speak in Parliament - Euronews (Turkish Only)
Article
Bahçeli had also addressed Öcalan at the party group meeting a week ago, saying, “He should unilaterally declare that terrorism is over and that his organization will be liquidated.”
Speaking at his party’s group meeting on Tuesday, Devlet Bahçeli, the leader of the ruling party’s Nationalist Movement Party (MHP), once again called on Abdullah Öcalan, leader of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), who is in İmralı Prison, by saying, “If the isolation of the terrorist leader is lifted, let him come and speak at the DEM Party group meeting in the Turkish Grand National Assembly.”
“Let them shout that terrorism has completely ended and the organization has been disbanded,” said Bahçeli, adding, “Legal regulations regarding the use of the right to hope should be made and the way should be wide open for them to benefit from it.”
Stating that they are ready to take responsibility for “a politics without terrorism”, Bahçeli continued his words as follows: “If everyone is in alliance, we are ready to do our part, not just our hands but our bodies. Neither Kandil nor Edirne; the address should extend from İmralı to DEM, and this serious and historical terrorism problem should be completely removed from the country’s agenda.”
Bahçeli also said, “Who knows, maybe I will have taken the first step towards permanently solving the shackles that bind our nation.” Bahçeli had also addressed Öcalan at the party group meeting a week ago, saying, " He should unilaterally declare that terrorism is over and that his organization will be liquidated ."
Bahçeli, recalling the words of Öcalan, who was captured in Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, in February 1999, when he was brought to Turkey, “I love my country. My mother was Turkish too. If I have the opportunity to serve, I will do it. I will serve when I return to Turkey,” asked the PKK leader to give instructions to “lay down the weapons.”
The handshake at the opening of the parliament
At the opening of the Turkish Grand National Assembly (TBMM) on Tuesday, October 1, MHP leader Bahçeli shook hands with the members of the Peoples’ Equality and Democracy Party (DEM Party) group.
Bahçeli shook hands with DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan, DEM Party Group Deputy Chairman Sezai Temelli, DEM Party Van Deputy Pervin Buldan and DEM Party Ağrı Deputy Sırrı Sakık. Asked by members of the press about his “handshake with the DEM Party”, Bahçeli said, “While we want peace in the world, we need to ensure peace in our own country.”
The following sentences stood out in Bahçeli’s speech at the group meeting held last week, in which he also touched upon the handshake with the DEM Party in the parliament: “It is in everyone’s best interest for the DEM Party to come to its senses on this issue and refrain from whipping up an environment of provocation in order to sabotage the hand I have extended. The hand I have extended is a sincere and well-intentioned hand. The hand I have extended is a message to unite in Turkey, to unite in the Turkish nation.”
‘I am ready to extend my hand for the interests of the Republic of Türkiye’
In last week’s group meeting, Bahçeli, referring to the atmosphere of softening between the MHP and DEM Party, said, “When necessary, I extend my hand and call for a gathering around common and national values; when necessary, I extend my head for the homeland, the nation, the flag, the call to prayer, the state, and I drink the sherbet of martyrdom not just for a taste but to my heart’s content. I am ready and willing to hold hands around basic and common values and extend my hand in every environment for the sake of the supreme interests of the Republic of Turkey.”
Speaking to Euronews Turkish a few weeks ago about Bahçeli shaking hands with the DEM Party group in parliament, DEM Party
Group Deputy Chair Gülistan Koçyiğit had commented , "We need to express that yesterday’s handshake was due to the nature of politics. It was wrong that it had not happened until now . "
“We do not find it right to attribute a special meaning to shaking hands,” said Koçyiğit, adding, “This is the nature of politics and the normality of the parliamentary foundation. This is exactly how it should be.”
MHP leader Devlet Bahçeli shook hands with DEM Party Co-Chair Tuncer Bakırhan, DEM Party Group Deputy Chairman Sezai Temelli, DEM Party Van Deputy Pervin Buldan and DEM Party Ağrı Deputy Sırrı Sakık.
Speaking to Euronews Turkish on Monday, DEM Party Group Deputy Chairman Sezai Temelli, who was one of the names who shook hands with Bahçeli, said , "Contrary to what was reflected in the press and public opinion, there is no resolution process on the agenda of Ankara politics . "
Former Justice and Development Party (AK Party) MP Mehmet Metiner told Euronews Turkish that he found “no harm” in the government’s meeting with PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan.
Solution process in Turkey
The resolution process refers to the negotiations that began between the PKK and the Turkish state in Turkey between 2013 and 2015. This process was initiated with the aim of resolving the Kurdish issue through peaceful means.
The key elements of the process included disarmament, democratic reforms and the expansion of rights for Kurdish identity. PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan played a key role in these negotiations. However, the resolution process effectively ended with the resumption of conflict in 2015. This period brought about significant changes in the political dynamics in Turkey.
Founded on November 28, 1978 in the Lice district of Diyarbakır, the PKK is considered a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United States of America (USA), the United Kingdom, France, Turkey and many other states.
According to official figures, PKK militants have killed nearly 15,000 people in their attacks that have lasted nearly 40 years.
PKK leader Öcalan has been held in İmralı Prison on the Sea of Marmara since 1999, when he was sentenced to life imprisonment for founding and leading a terrorist organization.
@sisatici@hexbear.net Is this a cursed alliance between the Grey Wolves and the Kurds against Iran?
Trump is saying Kamala supports “Muslim-hating” and that Liz Cheney is an idiot
Kamala losing the Muslim vote to the guy who did the Muslim ban would be one of the greatest Democrat moments yetChina says Australia ‘plagued by systemic racism’ after diplomat raises concerns about human rights in Tibet and Xinjiang
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-10-24/china-accuses-australia-of-racism/104513232
australian here to confirm that China is correct
There was 0% chance the Germans would actually pay reparations to the Poles, but it’s still sad that they’ve dropped the demand:
https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/poland-drops-wwii-reparations-demand-from-germany--focuses-oIn 2022, Warsaw estimated that Berlin would need to shell out PLN 6.2 trillion (around $1.5 trillion) in compensation for damages inflicted by the Nazi occupation.
According to the minister, “the ball is now in Germany’s court,” with the onus on them to “offer a creative decision.” He suggested that the neighboring country could take care of the remaining survivors of the Nazi occupation of Poland and erect a memorial in Berlin to commemorate the tragic events.
Going from demanding $1.5 trillion in reparations to suggesting a cheap memorial tucked away in some obscure corner of some shitty park.
Mhp, nationalist party, owner of the grey wolves, is advocating for release of Abdullah Öcalan. Most likely reason mhp is demanding release of Abdullah Öcalan is that they are trying to make peace with ypg that will allow ypg to participate in attack on Iran by USA
It’s been four fucking days and we still don’t know the results of the BC provincial election in
spoiler
NDP (mildly social democratic party) narrowly dodged a bullet by a surging Conservative party that didn’t even really exist like two years ago. Problem is, it’s a hung parliament, nobody got a majority.
The greens (who won two seats) have expressed willingness to prop up the NDP (by the most narrow of margins) but there’s still ~49,000 mail-in and absentee ballots that they’re not counting until this weekend for some fucking reason?
BCCP is absolutely Q Anon tier crazy. So all week we get to live in suspense not knowing what the next 4 years hold in store.
Link to the /c/canada thread with more details and links.
Syria state media claims car explosion in Damascus caused by Israel. Israel claims responsibility, says it was a strike on a commander of Hezbollah. Source: Al Jazeera
Universities Raze Jewish Students’ Gaza Solidarity Sukkahs
Some U.S. universities have torn down solidarity sukkahs that Jewish students opposed to Israel’s war on Palestinians have built in recent days to honor the Sukkot holiday and to “protest as the Israeli military continues to invoke the Jewish tradition as fuel for the destruction of Gaza.”
Antisemitism
So there’s this spanish-speaking twitter account called “Palestina Hoy” which posts news about the ongoing genocide in Gaza and they said they have been blocked by twitter which prevented people from following them. That is true, when you clicked on follow and refreshed the page, it would say “Follow” again, as if you never decided to follow said account.
In total, this account had like 2k followers, while many of their posts had like 5k+ likes, so it’s completely true that they were under blockade. The blockade was lifted after weeks and they went from 2k followers to 302k followers in mere hours.
death to twitter, death to elon musk and death to “israel”
Things happening in Moldova
Kelly celebratory slop for Weird Al’s birthday
