Lemdro.id

saw this somewhere else too. ddos stuff. this one blames ru for archive.today mess. sounds about right.

It's that time of the year again

This is probably my fifth year doing this, I guess I just love teaching Arabic, especially to comrades.

I enjoy making things make sense, and Arabic is absolutely perfect for this! It's its own language, one that is based on its own (magical, as comrade mathemachristian called it) root system, and not just a mishmash of different languages. You'll love learning about patterns, verb forms, and how to derive words from the magical root system, you'll see how powerful and expressive Arabic really is.

I have my own course material that I constantly improve upon, and it helps me adapt the lessons and study plan to my students' interests as well as their pace. I truly believe that language learning has to be fun and engaging, and things need to make sense, starting from the dots on the letters.

Let me know if you have any questions about Arabic or how I conduct my classes. As for the money, it's pay what you can since this is something I do on the side and enjoy immensely.

I have been teaching @mathemachristian@hexbear.net once a week for more than a year now and I asked him if he'd like to talk about his experience learning Arabic so far, I think what he wrote deserves its own post:

Learning arabic is great fun. Deciphering the meaning of sentences, deconstructing them and reconstructing them in a new language is a very fun and rewarding puzzle in its own right. And arabic makes the reconstruction very easy because it is very regular. Once you start to really delve into it, it also becomes easier and easier to vibe meaning of arabic words you don't know, not just from context, but because arabic constructs them in a way that makes them deliberately similar to words of similar meaning. You just find the magic 3 letters and the word is (likely to be) revealed! What most people probably are intimidated by is the script, but it actually is very easy, and the standard font doesn't do it's beauty justice. It's just a cursive script. If you know a latin cursive you already mastered a worse cursive.

I'm also very much enjoying that the lessons don't follow the standard A1 then A2 then B1 and so on format that involves memorizing a lot of sentences and stilted dialogues. The absence of a verb for "to be" makes it very easy to start constructing your own sentences, bypassing tenses, conjugation &c. and leave them for later.

Plus it opens dialogues that are great fun. Arab people are overjoyed at someone being able to say some basic sentences, or read/write arabic it opens a lot of doors and is just awesome fun. Surprise your friends by casually having a notebook full of arabic writing lying around!

If you want, you can dm me from a throwaway account, or contact me on Element.

And like I said last year, if there is interest for group lessons I'd be more than happy to do that.

While Ukraine’s energy system, which had a pre-war generation capacity of 60 gigawatts, scrambles to keep the lights on, grid operators are also looking past the next drone swarm, pushing to diversify the country’s energy sources, says Lars Handrich, a German energy expert who works closely with Ukraine.

The plan is to replace the bulky thermal plants and centralized grid, which are vulnerable to drone and other attacks, with distributed renewables and modestly sized gas-fired plants that make less attractive targets for incoming fire. According to estimates from the Solar Energy Association of Ukraine, the nation installed at least 1.5 gigawatts of new solar generation in 2025—enough to power roughly 1.1 million homes—and grid operators intend to almost double the country’s renewable energy production over the next four years.

Ukraine is revamping its power sector as rapidly as it can, not for climate protection but for energy security.

The Mexican army killed the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, Nemesio Rubén Oseguera Cervantes, “El Mencho, ” on Sunday, decapitating what had become Mexico’s most powerful cartel and giving the government its biggest prize yet to show the Trump administration its efforts.

Oseguera Cervantes was wounded in an operation to capture him Sunday in Tapalpa, Jalisco about a two-hour drive southwest of Guadalajara and he died while being flown to Mexico City, the Defense Department said in a statement. The state is the base of the cartel known for trafficking huge quantities of fentanyl and other drugs to the United States.

The use of automatic license plate readers has exploded across the country in recent years. The cameras on roads and freeways that take images of the back of passing cars are popular with police for solving crimes.

But as President Trump's immigration enforcement crackdown has escalated in recent months, residents of various American cities are urging local leaders to stop using these cameras, citing fears of mass surveillance and concerns that local data could be aiding a federal deportation dragnet.

Many of the grassroots campaigns have targeted cameras made by Flock Safety, an Atlanta-based company that has contracts with more than 5,000 law enforcement agencies across the country. Some cities have grappled with the issue and decided to keep their cameras due to public safety, but in a number of places, the pressure has worked.

The liberal college towns of Flagstaff, Ariz., Cambridge, Mass., Eugene, Ore. and Santa Cruz, Calif., are among a list of at least 30 localities that have either deactivated their Flock cameras or canceled their contracts since the beginning of 2025 – with much of the activity happening in just the last three months.

"We are seeing a lot more momentum," said Will Freeman, a Colorado-based activist who opposes the cameras and runs the DeFlock.me website, which through crowdsourcing has mapped the locations of more than 76,000 license plate readers across the country. "I expect there to be more cities dropping Flock."

This photo was selected by public vote and featured as "Image of the Week" for Week 262 (February 15 - 21, 2026) of the Perseverance rover mission on Mars.

NASA's Mars Perseverance rover acquired this image using its Right Mastcam-Z camera. Mastcam-Z is a pair of cameras located high on the rover's mast.

This image was acquired on February 20, 2026 (Sol 1779) at the local mean solar time of 11:25:08.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

A controversial bill to allow federal immigration officers at voting locations this year died Friday without a hearing.

not even a hearing.

Ricardo Reyes, the executive director of VetsForward, told ABC15 the measure was a clear attempt at voter intimidation. "It brought back, you know, memories of being in history class and learning about the KKK being at the polls when Black people first started to vote," he said.

no kidding.

Trumpism is in crisis.

A mass movement in Minneapolis has repudiated his anti-immigrant policies, a key pillar of his administration. This forced him to retreat in Operation Metro Surge in Minneapolis amid mass rejection of his policies against undocumented people. The Epstein files have further exposed the rot at the core of Trump and his circle. And now, a significant blow has landed against another cornerstone of Trumpism: tariffs.

In a 6-3 decision, a conservative Supreme Court struck down this centerpiece of Trump’s economic policy, tariffs higher than any seen since 1930. Trump responded with fury, staging what can only be described as a temper tantrum of a press conference, and announcing a new global 10 percent tariff rate and on Saturday, raising to 15 percent.

But Trump’s bluster should not be mistaken for strength. While tariffs may continue in one form or another, the Court’s decision highlights the deepening crisis of Trumpism and opens new possibilities to organize growing discontent as class struggle from below.

Tariffs as a Political Cudgel

Tariffs have been central to Trump’s economic program. His broader fiscal policy has combined tax cuts for the wealthy with massive increases in military and Homeland Security spending, ballooning the national debt through the “Big Beautiful Bill.” Tariff revenue was meant, at least partially, to offset these costs.

But tariffs were never just a revenue stream. They formed the backbone of a neo-mercantilist economic strategy that treats trade deficits as weakness and seeks to rebuild U.S. industry not through incentives, but through coercion — the tariff stick rather than the carrot. Tariffs have played a central role in unraveling the neoliberal global order, straining relations with traditional allies and destabilizing the dollar.

They have also functioned as a political cudgel. Trump threatened no tariffs on Argentina if far-right leader Javier Milei won the election, but tariffs on Brazil over the prosecution of his ally, former president Jair Bolsonaro. These measures became pillar of Trump’s imperialist agenda in times of decay — a tool to reward friendly governments and individual businesses while punishing opponents. They can be be used for thinly veiled corruption in big and small cases, as when Trump granted tariff exemptions to businesses involved in constructing a new White House ballroom.

In short, Trump’s tariffs have operated both as weapons of U.S. imperialism and as mechanisms to funnel wealth towards Trump’s wealthy political allies.

Historically, tariffs were levied by Congress, which holds constitutional authority over taxation. Trump argued that he could impose tariffs through executive power under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), which allows the president to “regulate … importation” during national emergencies.

The Supreme Court overwhelmingly rejected this argument. Even two of Trump’s own nominees, Neil Gorsuch and Amy Coney Barrett, sided against him.

Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts emphasized that tariffs are taxes, and taxation is the purview of Congress. Roberts rejected the administration’s reading of IEEPA, writing that the president could not claim sweeping tariff authority “based on two words separated by 16 others.”

Trump’s Temper Tantrum

This is the most significant judicial rebuke of Trump’s second term. The Supreme Court has frequently sided with him, granting emergency requests, expanding presidential immunity after January 6, and supporting other major elements of his agenda. That it ruled against him here underscores both the extraordinary nature of his power grab and the shifting political winds amid a slowing economy, the Epstein revelations, and mounting opposition to his immigration policies.

Hours after the ruling, Trump held a press conference that was bizarre even by his standards. He lambasted the Court and suggested the court was influenced by foreign powers. He called Gorsuch and Barrett’s votes “an embarrassment to their families,” and said he was “ashamed of certain members of the court.”

Trump leaned heavily on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s dissent, which argued that in foreign affairs, Congress often grants broad discretion to the president. Paradoxically, Trump claimed the decision provided “certainty,” insisting that the administration could now move forward on firmer footing. “We waited months and that gave uncertainty. Now we have certainty,” he said, attempting to spin a clear defeat as a victory.

Tariffs are unlikely to disappear. He quickly announced a new 10 percent — and on Sunday, 15 percent — across-the-board tariff under a separate statute that allows temporary levies of up to 150 days. He also pledged to launch investigations into other countries’ alleged unfair trade practices, another pathway to impose new tariffs.

In addition to Trump’s policy maneuvers, he used the press conference to threaten countries around the world. “I can destroy the trade. I can destroy the country,” he warned — a stark expression of how he views tariffs as weapons for U.S. imperialism. At the same time, he indicated the limits the Supreme Court attempted to set, highlighting that he can destroy a foreign country but cannot charge $1 in tariffs. Listening to it, it sounded like he was threatening foreign countries.

He repeated familiar promises about reviving U.S. manufacturing, claiming factories are already under construction and will soon deliver results. In reality, there is no sustained industrial surge; the factories have not come back. And while data centers and isolated projects are underway, many face water and other resource constraints, underscoring the limits of the strategy. Further, some industries have been hard hit by the chaos created by none other than Trump’s tariffs.

Defeat at the Courts Won’t Stop U.S. Imperialism

As Carsten Brzeski of ING Research noted, “The Supreme Court ruled on constitutional limits, not trade policy. Trump’s tariff agenda survives with new legal foundations and a messy transition period.”

That messy transition raises serious questions. If the tariffs are unconstitutional taxes, consumers and businesses may be entitled to refunds. Some Democrats are already pressing the issue. Illinois Governor JB Pritzker called for $1,700 refund checks to households, and Pete Buttigieg echoed the demand. More than 1,000 businesses had reportedly sought tariff refunds even before the ruling, a number likely to grow.

Regardless of the policy details, the broader political meaning is clear: Trump is losing key pillars of support. But that will not tame either Trump or U.S. imperialism. Instead, Trump is, in his characteristic bluster, escalating in some spheres in order to cover up a defeat. After a “victory” for his administration in Venezuela, Trump is trying to strangle Cuba and deepen the island’s political and humanitarian crisis to force regime change. He has also moved naval forces toward Iran, raising the danger of intervention and broader imperialist escalation.

This Supreme Court decision will not stop Trump’s imperialist polices. His willingness to devastate other countries through economic warfare or military force must be met with firm and organized opposition by workers, students, unions and social movements.

With midterms approaching, Democrats are attempting to capitalize on Trump’s unpopularity. Polls show broad opposition to the tariffs and widespread concern about economic instability, and the president’s approval ratings remain deeply negative. He is weaker than ever due to the spectacular struggle put forward by the Minneapolis working class.

Meanwhile, instead of radicalizing the struggle, the Democrats and the union bureaucracy want to keep Trump in power because they don’t want him to be swiped by class struggle. After all, unleashing the activity of the working class would hurt the Democrats, who want to protect the bipartisan regime from class struggle.

Trump is a symptom of a capitalist system in crisis and of a declining U.S. hegemony reaching for new weapons in its struggle to maintain wealth and dominance, including a use of tariffs with the threat of ruining other countries. His promises to support the U.S. working class have been proven over and over to be a lie.

This Supreme Court ruling does not end Trumpism, or tariffs (at least for now). But it marks another crack in its foundation, and creates new openings for struggle from below that can provide an alternative for the way forward from a perspective of working-class solidarity.

The post The Supreme Court Strikes Down Tariffs, Showing Trumpism in Crisis appeared first on Left Voice.

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What a fucking Dingus!