Image of destruction in Mandalay, Myanmar, from Al Jazeera.
As if the ongoing civil war wasn't enough, Myanmar has now been struck by a very powerful earthquake, resulting in 2000 deaths and thousands more injured as of the time of writing. Estimates are that the death toll could reach 10,000. Infrastructure like roads and bridges are damaged, and the hospitals are overwhelmed. The earthquake struck during Eid prayers, resulting in even higher casualties as several mosques collapsed. 20 million people already required humanitarian assistance in Myanmar, and now the situation there will be even worse. International rescue teams have rushed into the country, and aid is being raised, though with USAID experiencing the... changes that it is, the United States will be of even more limited help than usual. So far, China has sent $14 million, while USAID has supplied $2 million. In Thailand, the death toll seems considerably lower, though there has still been significant damage; a skyscraper under construction collapsed in Bangkok.
Myanmar is located very close to the boundary between the Eurasian and Indian tectonic plates. In particular, the country is divided in two by the north-south oriented Sagaing fault. This fault is typically strike-slip; that is, each side of the fault moves horizontally past each other. The earthquake's depth was 10 kilometers, which is pretty shallow, and its proximity to the surface amplified the felt force of the earthquake. Additionally, the soft soil in this region tends to further amplify seismic waves through a process called liquefaction. Combine all this with the lackluster building codes due to many years of impoverishment and civil wars, and this explains why the death toll, and the expense to the country in general to repair damage, will probably be extremely high.
Last week's thread is here.
The Imperialism Reading Group is here.
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The bulletins site is here. Currently not used.
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Israel-Palestine Conflict
If you have evidence of Israeli crimes and atrocities that you wish to preserve, there is a thread here in which to do so.
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.
Here is a DeepSeek translation of the 10 tweets. Anyone who speaks Farsi can feel free to provide a better translation and I can delete this if better translation emerges. The AI overlords have spoken thus:
Here are the English translations of all 10 tweets by Reza_Mad (@maysam21901), numbered and translated individually while preserving their original structure and split threads:
Tweet 1
Mar 30, 2025 · 8:17 PM UTC
If war breaks out and we face a conventional attack, aircraft carriers will position themselves at a safe distance. Fighters will launch cruise missiles and standoff bombs from outside our air defense perimeter. B-52s will fire 1,000 km-range cruise missiles. Carriers will deploy Tomahawks. Growlers and F-35s will suppress air defenses. Primary targets: #Rasht
Tweet 2
Mar 30
Primary targets include Chabahar, Bandar Abbas, and Bushehr airbases; naval bases; shipyards; fixed HAWK and S-200 air defense systems; and early-warning radars. They will also attempt to suppress mobile air defenses activated to counter missiles. Attacks will continue for several days.
Tweet 3
Mar 30
In response, we will first minimize the impact of enemy missile strikes using our air defenses. Then, we will mine the Strait of Hormuz extensively, causing merchant ships to hit mines and creating major disruptions. We will also use existing submarines, cruise missiles, and ballistic missiles...
Tweet 4
Mar 30
...and long-range anti-ship ballistic missiles like the Abu Mahdi and Qadr-380 to attack the enemy’s naval fleet. Simultaneously, we will strike their bases in Bahrain, Qatar, and Iraq. If we are conventionally attacked, the enemy will gradually move their fleet closer to our borders to extend air defense suppression around nuclear facilities and create a corridor for B-2 bombers. We will try to prevent aircraft carriers from entering the Persian Gulf.
Tweet 5
Mar 30
To prevent war, we must activate diplomacy: engage in direct negotiations with the U.S. on peaceful nuclear energy while threatening that if America attacks us, we will first strike Israeli cities and facilities, then seriously pursue nuclear warhead development.
Tweet 6
Mar 30
In my opinion, a Trump-like figure is both a threat and an opportunity. If we negotiate directly and rationally, perhaps this 50-year hostility could end—provided both sides genuinely want peace. Israel and Iranian hardliners will sabotage efforts to ensure no agreement is reached. This is a major problem.
Tweet 7
Mar 30
After resolving this crisis (whether through war or diplomacy), our defense doctrine must change. Prioritize air, naval, and land forces over missiles and drones. Our navy needs real destroyers and submarines to project defense beyond coasts and into the ocean.
Tweet 8
Mar 30
Our air force needs long-range interceptors like the Su-35 in large numbers to defend beyond borders, fifth-gen fighters to counter neighbors’ future stealth jets, multirole fighters for offensive ops, AWACS, and transport aircraft.
Tweet 9
Mar 30
Our army needs tanks with active protection systems, mobile artillery, and truck-mounted towed guns. Artillery requires computerized targeting and fire control. If our defense doctrine doesn’t change, we will face heavy casualties in war.
Tweet 10
Mar 30
[Continuation of Tweet 9]
If our defense doctrine doesn’t change, we will face heavy casualties in war.
Notes:
Let me know if you need further adjustments!
Only inaccuracy I can spot is that Abu Mahdi and Qadr-380 are cruise missiles, not ballistic missiles. The rest is pretty accurate on the military terminology side. Reza's political commentary isn't great, but I mainly posted it for the military insights, which are pretty good.
You weren't kidding about the trash political commentary lol. Why would the dude who insisted on the assassination of Soleimani against the advice of everyone else be open towards peace?
Welcome to the mind of the Iranian moderate. First they supported "the doctors" in the Masoud Pezeshkian administration for reform, but now they hate them for destroying the Iranian economy and general incompetence. But they still dislike the hardliners for stuff like the hijab laws and perceived hubris. Which leads to this.