Welcome again to everybody! Make yourself at home. Sit down around the fire place, if you have fire wood, please place it on the rack beside the fire. In the time-honoured tradition of our group, here is our weekly discussion thread!
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Two homeless people froze to death this week in Belgium and one of our party members went off in Parliament. He says that no one should sleep outside, we have empty buildings ready to be used, he calculated how many people were to be hired to accommodate 300 homeless people (8) and he said that no one in the government is doing something. Finally he closed his speech with an explanation of why there are so many refugees in Europe: we bomb them, we destroy their countries and we exploit their resources and wealth.
It was such a based speech and he was so passionate about it.
How did the parliament react?
Some of them applauded the guy actually. But the minister in charge of housing seemed like she couldn’t care less, which sucks.
the minister in charge of housing seemed like she couldn’t care less
Yeah guess I expected something like that. Did the speech get any coverage?
Seen it around social media and Reddit. I don’t know what the Parliament meeting was about actually. It didn’t seem like something big was in the agenda, it just randomly got in between some agenda points I guess.
Thanks!
I think I might propose to my partner, we’ve been together for 3 years, she loves living in different countries with me as I move around for work a lot, we have similar energy and are both Marxists, I love her dearly and think I’m ready to show that level of love to her.
Otherwise, I am writing a lot more, my therapist was right that it would help my depressive slump, been unmotivated and want to get back on track before I move to a new city.
Good luck!
Good luck!
This week is ´The Warmest Week´ in Belgium where the entire week is spent by people to collect money for charities. This year´s theme is underpriviliged people in poverty. My classmates and I were tasked by school to do an action to collect money for the org running the thing.
We all didn’t want to collect money, because we felt like asking rich people for money for us to donate would be stupid. We also do not want a one time charity thing to become our thing, because we all feel like we need structural changes to society instead of a week of donating money.
We eventually decided to start a clothing collecting org where we give away the clothes for free to people in need. So far I have collected 7 full bags of clothing and the other 7 or 8 people in the group are getting there as well. We are also dropping flyers in the neighborhoods of the city to ask people to donate. We hope we can keep this up for longer than this week.
Fuck a society where this is needed.
Based of you to do this. Comrades of mine, representing a communist group, did something similar. Perhaps opportunistic, but it’s a great way to make connections and raise consciousness - we put a small pamphlet in the bags detailing some of the failings of capitalism, pushing for worker solidarity etc.
Not to mention it’s just a good thing to do.
it’s not opportunistic if it helps increase class consciousness 🦾
Wife has got covid, tested positive the day we were supposed to leave for Christmas holidays. Just fuck all those countries that failed to contain the virus due to ineptitude
Are you two vaccinated?
Yeah
'Murican sciencethat looks like a shitpost
Maybe, but I wouldn’t be so sure of myself.
The Brits, famous for using the metric system. What a dark world we live in.
Belgian news put out an article today saying Putin is coming up with a new offensive. His offensive? Sending 80.000 untrained soldiers into minefields, with the sole purpose of exploding and clearing it.
Like… This is a serious news site. They receive tax funding. You can’t make this shit up.
At this point Russia could literally just stop advancing while still bombarding Ukraine and Ukraine would literally just collapse from economic decay and demographics lmao
Isn’t that what’s happening?
No, they’re advancing slowly around Bakhmut, suffering significantly lower casualties than the Ukrainians, and Surovikin, who’s literally nicknamed “General Armageddon”, is not just going to sit around with 300,000 fresh recruits. He’s just waiting for winter to take its toll on Ukraine and for their supply lines to degrade even further. I think he’ll either open up a new front and grind there, straining Ukraine even more; or he’ll send them to Donetsk and smash a hole in the Ukrainian lines and force a mass retreat. Maybe he’ll do both.
Surovikin, who’s literally nicknamed “General Armageddon"
You know, it mildly frightens me how many"endearing" nicknames the man has and how they are presented in a positive way. Cannibal, Armageddon. Way too USian for my tastes.
And hopefully your assessment is correct, because a grind with 300.000 mobilized with what, two months to re-train? And reported (by Russian media) issues with having them geared. That doesn’t sound promising at all.
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IIRC most of those nicknames came from Western media and defectors, and Surovikin seems quite proud of them (but they weren’t his own invention). Brutality-fetishizing seems to be very prevalent in the West, just look at how they nickname the new Sarmat missile “Satan II” or the “Son of Satan”
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Those aren’t conscripts, those are reservists. They already have had training before; one does get rusty, but no one completely forgets. Even if there are issues with supplies and whatnot, they can simply supply some units first while delaying the deployments of the other units.
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To put things in perspective, 300,000 is literally 150% of the original invasion force. If 200,000 soldiers, even with high-level blunders, can take 20% of Ukraine while inflicting a 10:1 casualty rate in favor of themselves, 500,000 soldiers will completely smash what’s left of the AFU
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The Ukrainians ATM are so undersupplied its beyond ridiculous. Iskanders, Kalibrs, Geran’s, Krasnopols falling left and right, the power grid is down, the trains aren’t working, railway junctions are rubble, highways are subject to attacks by drones, etc. Russia will win even without the new soldiers, even without advancing. They were ALWAYS winning, from the very beginning, simply because they trapped Ukraine in a position of attrition that favored themselves. At times, Ukraine had the momentum, but when we look back in the history books 100 years from now, the “Kharkov counteroffensive” probably won’t even be mentioned.
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How are our w*stern comrades enjoying their favorite pagan festival this year?
I’ve got my outfit ready for a bit of midnight dancing on the Solstice. I’ve been wearing it all year! Might be a bit chilly to be outside in, though.
Or do you mean the other one, the one the church stole and pretended was Jesus’ birthday?
Edit: if whoever down voted this and commiewolf’s post dislikes the supposed blasphemy, we’re talking about Yule. A festival that predates Christianity, but which may have been borrowed by Christians, renamed, and reinterpreted. Odin worshippers would burn a huge log that would stay lit for so many days to keep the hall warm during the shortest days of the year. Hence the season’s best dessert: the Yule log. (It’s a tie with Panettone and mince pies.) As for which celebration came first, who knows, but the Solstices were significant long before the church was instituted and had formalised its calendar. This is not the only such festival. There’s also e.g. Samhain / Halloween and Eostre’s feast / Easter, with parallel, earlier stories of souls / ghosts, birth, rabbits / hares, and eggs.
Didn’t know that about Halloween, I just assumed it was some bullshit made up by the Americans in the US about the ghosts of the natives they genocided coming back to haunt them or something.
Nay. Samhein is Celtic in origin, if I recall correctly. It is worth reading up on, in my opinion. Later it became associated with All Hallows Eve and All Saints Day
I’ve been taking a break from politics for the past 2 weeks. Trying to get my mental health to a good place. Feel a little guilty not keeping up with stuff though.
Don’t feel guilty! It’s good to get out of the depressing news cycle. Got to look after yourself!
How’s your deportation process going if you don’t mind me asking? Hope all is well comrade.
I am actually looking forward to Christmas but as a family gathering.
I appreciate your concern, its been very tough. Mostly just working my ass off lately to make a living and settle in here. I’m a bit estranged with my family around here so its tougher than it would be but I’m staying focused. Hope you guys enjoy your Christmas, with plenty of pepernoten if there’s any left on the shelves.
Lmao yeah one of my coworkers had leftover pepernoten from Sinterklaas and brought them with her. They were all hard as fuck.
I hope you can find your place soon, I wish you all the best.
New week, new challenges. Also, Christmas.
How goes the strike?
Strike is done right now. Around 20k people marched in Brussels, half the public transport in the country was down, lots of factories etc went down. So it was a decent strike, but more needs to happen (and will happen).
One of the union reps said it best I think, when he called the series of strikes a marathon. They keep adding pressure to the government and the employers. Conditions keep getting worse and the unions and our party need to gradually gain momentum to persuade more people.
That’s excellent news!
Huawei is shutting down the telecom equipment sales branch in Russia. The branch employed approximately two thousand people. They are advised to either move to other countries or quit.
Is there a specific reason why they did that?
Not that I know of. However the suggestion to move to other countries is what other foreign tech companies did to avoid getting sanctioned (i.e. Wargaming, Harman, etc).
Also apparently Huawei is heavily involved in the current Russian satcom project Sphera. Can’t help but wonder if the matters are related somehow
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Congratulations comrade,
Do you have a favorite book from thus year?
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Thanks, I gotta check these out.
Do you have a list somewhere? I’m wanting to do something like this next year.
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That’s cool! What inspired this list? I’ll check out the ones you liked. I ordered an inkbook and it should be here today so it’s more motivation for me to read more instead of being on my stupid phone.
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Cool! Thanks for the resource. I recently got an inkbook ereader and it is honestly quite amazing.
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if you get an e reader I recommend getting one with Android as you’ll get more flexibility of what to read. I’m never getting another e reader that won’t run Tachiyomi.
It is worth it. I think the model I bought also reads audio books out loud too.
I’m watching the Harry and Meghan thing, might regret it though. I hope it’s not too much royalty propaganda.
My partner just convinced me to start watching it was well and it’s surprisingly good.
I’m always wary for the agenda these Netflix shows want to push, as they tend to be quite liberal. But it’s a pretty interesting insight in how things are going behind the scenes on Normal Island.
Like, the family has a (probably multiple) literal nonce but the black woman is controversial.
Also, Harry being proud of his Afghanistan tours is proper shit as well. Wanker.
Meghan making a cookbook to help Grenfell victims was a bit much as well. It is a pretty liberal show with some good parts lol. But it seems to be a reformist wet dream.
Some madlad in the group I collect clothes with for school wrote a statement we’re putting out saying structural change is needed, people shouldn’t be dependent on a week of grace from rich people and that the politicians wearing buttons for the nationwide action, while at the same time making budget cuts year round, can absolutely go and fuck themselves. And sent it to the school.
And it wasn’t even me lol. I’m shook y’all. People are getting radical.
Some comrades and I eventually managed to get a little over thirty big bags of clothing and a few boxes of care products to give away to an org in the city ✊🏼 I’m hoping it can become a regular thing
Talk about Christmas spirit! Great work, comrade.
My country is about to re-introduce mandatory military service, but with a twist, now it isn’t mandatory, but if you do it you’ll be “heavily helped” in regards to school votes etc, they’re basically coercing people with bad grades (basically 80% of young Italians, according to a statistic I just made up) to enroll and fight for nato interest, at least its 40 days and not 2 years like before (but still, in case of war [and the threat is there] it will be prolonged indefitievly)
Step 1: gut education, double gut public education
Step 2: lament falling grades and quality of life
Step 3: promise a way out in exchange for
murdering some children to further interests of the capitalnoble service to democracy
I gotta ask, anyone know what happened to Grace? I remember they were a pretty active mod on reddit and here for a while but then fell off the face of the planet.
