News

Fortune, Bloomberg, and Reuters have all posted articles on how Europe and its industry is being fucked and pushed into recession. Ukraine has cut ties with Iran as they have supplied drones to Russia (and they appear to be very effective). Toyota has closed its factory in Russia. The ruble has jumped in value despite other currencies shrinking, suggesting that mobilization is no big deal economically to Russia. Germany’s economic downturn continues in September, as Scholz goes off to Saudi Arabia and the UAE to search for energy (hilariously, just after the German government expressed support for Iran’s protests/attempted color revolution over the oppression of women in Iran). Liz Truss is ready and willing to take on the evil Chinese empire. Belgium is shutting down a nuclear reactor - a move planned years in advance but has come at a very unfortunate time. Estonia’s PM has warned the country to prepare for blackouts if Russia switches off the power grid connection.

China has warned the US to not approach China from a position of strength, and to stop plundering Syria’s resources. The typical Chinese adult is now richer than the typical European adult - though, admittedly, this combines all of Europe, including the poorer countries - even so, China has achieved nigh-miraculous increases in median wealth over the last few decades. Inclement weather and lightning has killed 36 people in India in one day. Australia and the United States are in talks to build nuclear-powered submarines for Australia by the mid 2030s.

Kazakhstan has closed a trucking loophole which has allowed Russian trucks to cross the border without the correct paperwork, as Kazakhstan complies with sanctions on Russia and Belarus. Iran’s protests have continued, with counter-protests by the working class of Iran in support of the government - it seems increasingly obvious that many of the people involved have come across the borders and come from ISIS, and that attempts at a color revolution are taking place, especially as the United States (and Musk) expands internet access across the country and activates Starlink to support the protests. Meanwhile, Iran has called for more economic cooperation with Zimbabwe, and the top Iranian military commander has cautioned Azerbaijan to stop their shit, and for the UAE to be wary of Israel’s schemes. A migrant boat that sailed from Lebanon and sank off the coast of Syria has resulted in 89 deaths so far. There have been nearly 50 casualties from a bombing of a mosque in Kabul. Israel has summoned the Mexican ambassador over protests outside the Israeli embassy, with graffiti on the walls saying “Death to Israel”. Erdogan has complained about the US threatening to sanction Turkish banks using MIR cards, saying that this is not improving their relations.

Botswana is seeking to reduce its reliance on diamonds and diversify its economy, as well as help protect vulnerable people. Hundreds of people in Mali marched against the UN peacekeepers and carried Russian flags. South Africa has raised its interest rates by 75 basis points to 6.25%.

The Dow line is going down. The dollar’s strength is ever more becoming its weakness, as countries around the world find themselves increasingly negatively affected by the disadvantageous exchange rates (for them). The Fed is making a huge mistake. The US has more than 140,000 citizens with more than $50 million, adding another 30,000 in 2021.

Central banks around the world are raising interest rates and halting their economies, risking recessions, in order to fight inflation. The UN points to the example of Togo and South Africa as countries that have engaged with an initiative to accelerate green and digital job creation (perhaps our resident South African commenters have something to add?).

Conflict and Climate

The US is trying to find more ways to impose sanctions on Russia. Former NATO secretary general Rasmussen has denounced efforts by Macron to try and reach a diplomatic solution with Putin.

Indigenous activists are on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly and raising awareness of their efforts to stop the destruction of ecosystems. Thousands of young people across the world have staged a climate strike with walkouts from schools and universities to demand reparations from rich countries to poor ones. Jacobin has an article on geoengineering and how it could be used by progressive governments to actually achieve good results, rather than the current disastrous plans by capitalists like to fill the atmosphere with aerosols.

Dipshittery, Good Takes, and Hope

Most of the articles have been on the referenda, the partial mobilization, and things like that - with a few on China and a couple on Iran. For the ones I bothered to put in the update, we have an article by WaPo on whether China is an economic juggernaut or an ailing giant that will collapse in the near future, and the author comes to the conclusion that it’s both, but also mostly the second one. Hillary Clinton is being listened to again instead of being widely mocked by every single person in the country and laughed out of every public space, for reasons I cannot even begin to fathom. WaPo’s more conservative writers are here to epically argue that if Biden says the pandemic is over, then how come he’s using the pandemic to do student loan forgiveness? Facts and logic, good sir! I want a gold star for this because I never grew past the age of 15 even though I’m probably 46!

We actually have a plethora of decent articles today. The first comes from Responsible Statecraft, arguing - like others have argued - that the West may be getting ever closer together, but they are the ones that ever more isolated from the rest of the world’s opinions, not Russia. Palestine’s Authority President goes off at the UN about Israel, king. Jacobin has a couple easy goals by saying that “the problem with society is that we’re all so polarized! if only we had common-sense solutions…” is dipshit nonsense and that it equates the left, who wants to solve problems, with the right, who want to murder minorities and pollute the earth until the last river is converted to sludge, and also that claims that capitalism is eradicating global poverty is also complete nonsense and capitalist copium.

Jacobin also has a much more contentious article - that hypothesizes that the British left could learn a lot of lessons from the French left, and that Melenchon’s achievements have been much better than Corbyn’s, which, imo, is outwardly true but the socioeconomic and political conditions of both countries are so different that there’s no real way to transplant one strategy into another’s country.

In other good news, a zoo in Cuba has hired more sign language interpreters so that deaf visitors can better experience the zoo and the animals. Rail strikes are planned in early October by three UK transport unions. There’s a piece by CNN on how citizens in Atlanta are trying to resist the construction of a massive police training facility. And Indiana abortion clinics - all seven of them - are reopening after a judge blocked the state’s abortion ban from being enforced.

Collected from: HexBear