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@xiaohongshu@hexbear.net and others discuss weakening Chinese domestic consumption and the importance of their trade surplus to the status quo

@LeninWeave@hexbear.net and @demerit@lemmygrad.ml on the fraught discussion of harm to Jewish versus Palestinian lives and the implicit racism of the Palestine exception

Previous posts of the week: Oct 27 | Nov 3 | Nov 10 | Nov 17 | Nov 24 | Dec 1 | Dec 8

Hey everyone. Remember how we used WMDs as a fake pretext for the Iraq war and now everyone knows that it was fake, even the naive & stupid people? Anyway...

Fentanyl will be classified as a weapon of mass destruction via an EO today, Trump says.

By the most conservative counts more than 70000 people have been murdered by Israel in Gaza since October 7, 2023. That works out to an average of about 90 people killed every day for 800 days. In other words, Israel has committed 6 Bondi Beaches every single day for more than two years.

And that's with the most conservative count of how many people have been killed.

A little bit of holiday spirit:

Thieves dressed as Santa and his elves steal $3K worth of goods from Montreal grocery store

On social media, an activist group calling themselves Robins des ruelles or Robins of the Alleys — a nod to Robin Hood — claimed responsibility for the heist.

The group says the stolen food, worth around $3,000, was redistributed under a Christmas tree at place Valois in Montreal's Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough, with leftovers going to various community fridges.

The group described Monday's raid as a "great food drive" and a political call to action.

“Harsh scenes following the "israel" occupation's targeting of a school housing displaced people in the vicinity of Al-Durrah Hospital, east of the Al-Tuffah neighborhood in Gaza.

Eyewitnesses report several martyrs at the site, including the remains of those torn to pieces by the zionist bombardment.

The number of martyrs has risen to 7 following the zionist bombardment targeting the training building of the Directorate of Education, located opposite Al-Durra Hospital.

The strike targeted the building while a wedding ceremony was taking place. The facility was housing displaced families from the Al-Barsh and Al-Andar families from Jabalia.“

Cw: dismemberment

https://t.me/Palresistmirror/83026

The slaughter of Palestinians has been so normalized that this won’t be reported or noted by a single mainstream western media outlet. White victims matter, brown victims clearly do not

Victor Grossman died in Berlin yesterday at age 97. He was one of a handful of humans who grew up in capitalism in America as Stephen Wechsler, escaped to socialism in the GDR, and then was forced to submit to capitalism in united Germany again.

From Junge Welt:

If you want to read the obituary from the same source:

I only learned of him last year, though the name must have crossed my eyes before. The quote I read went something like, "in the GDR you never had to despair that you needed to find a job. You never had to worry about losing income. You have no idea how good that feeling was. [...] If you didn't like your job, they tried to find something else for you, anything you wanted to do, you could do somehow..."

I think about that a lot. Hate my job, and just signed on for the money and because I have to pay child support. Fuck Germany, personally I think it's more neoliberal than even the UK (by European standard I mean)

So long, Victor...

Yep, that's me. You're probably wondering how I got into this situation …

[edit] I should be clear *** Ummmm let me be clear ***, this is real, from their recent IG post. All comments seem to be from bots.

The $1776 bonus for the murdertroops seems to be a pre-invasion bonus. They used to get a fancy meal instead.

Trump on Truth Social:

Venezuela is completely surrounded by the largest Armada ever assembled in the History of South America. It will only get bigger, and the shock to them will be like nothing they have ever seen before — Until such time as they return to the United States of America all of the Oil, Land, and other Assets that they previously stole from us. The illegitimate Maduro Regime is using Oil from these stolen Oil Fields to finance themselves, Drug Terrorism, Human Trafficking, Murder, and Kidnapping. For the theft of our Assets, and many other reasons, including Terrorism, Drug Smuggling, and Human Trafficking, the Venezuelan Regime has been designated a FOREIGN TERRORIST ORGANIZATION. Therefore, today, I am ordering A TOTAL AND COMPLETE BLOCKADE OF ALL SANCTIONED OIL TANKERS going into, and out of, Venezuela. The Illegal Aliens and Criminals that the Maduro Regime has sent into the United States during the weak and inept Biden Administration, are being returned to Venezuela at a rapid pace. America will not allow Criminals, Terrorists, or other Countries, to rob, threaten, or harm our Nation and, likewise, will not allow a Hostile Regime to take our Oil, Land, or any other Assets, all of which must be returned to the United States, IMMEDIATELY. Thank you for your attention to this matter!

DONALD J. TRUMP PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

https://xcancel.com/Ollie_Vargas_/status/2002166029389267437:

Bolivia's workers unions announce an indefinite general strike against the neoliberal austerity measures announced this week.

No dialogue or negotiation, all the measures must be repealed first. No honeymoon period for the right-wing govt.

🚨Urgent: MintPress is being financially censored by Indiegogo who is refusing to provide us with our $50,000 payout for our fundraiser:
https://xcancel.com/MintPressNews/status/2000673878603882702

Dear supporters,

Indiegogo has cancelled our fundraising campaign and will not provide us with our $51,000 payout that we raised through the fundraising platform for our campaign: Help Keep MintPress Alive.

Their reason: our project did not meet their guidelines.

This is an unacceptable reasoning that we were provided with only today, nearly three months after our campaign ended in October.

I have been trying to get our payout from Indiegogo since the campaign ended.

In addition, MintPress has used Indiegogo to raise funds to support our independent journalism projects for nearly a decade.

Indiegogo did say that all donations will be refunded back to donors.

But why now?

We don't know for sure, however, we suspect that this is part of a coordinated financial attack against MintPress as we were also recently banned from GoFundMe and Paypal for our journalism that exposes the architects of the forever war machine.

In the last year alone, MintPress News has exposed a network of Israeli spies from Unit 8200 working within big tech & media.

Our independent investigative journalism has been at the forefront of exposing the architects of the US forever war machine and Zionist influence over our political system and national security state.

We believe this is a coordinated attack against dissenting journalism that holds the military elite accountable that keep endless wars possible.

MintPress will not back down and ask ask that you stand with us.

MintPress is 100% reader supported and we are STILL AT RISK OF SHUTTING DOWN due to being financially targeted unless we meet our fundraising goals.

We need your support NOW more than ever.

We thank you for standing with us to support our 14 year long legacy of providing independent watchdog journalism and helping us push back against this censorship.

We are organizing and planning the steps we need to take against Indiegogo .

In the meantime we hope you will help us raise awareness against the sanctions regime that is targeting its own citizens and our protected right of journalism.

-- Mnar Adley Founder & Director

Communist unity in Nepal

Some of the main forces of the communist movement have united to create the Nepali Communist Party. The ten parties that have come together are:

1. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre).
2. Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Socialist).
3. Nepal Communist Party.
4. Communist Party of Nepal (Socialist).
5. Nepal Socialist Party.
6. Janasamajbadi Party.
7. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist-Socialist).
8. Communist Party of Nepal (Communist).
9. Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
10. Deshbhakta Samajbadi Morcha.

There was a major rally in Surkhet (Karnali), the Red Fort of Nepal last week. The party's coordinator, Comrade Prachanda, addressed the people and the party welcomed into its ranks many young people who had been part of the protests just a month or so ago.

Saw someone make the joke that "Nepal now has 21 communist parties instead of 30"

They're giving every troop $1776. Gotta shore up support with the rank and file before big actions.

Reuters: EU changes tack from using frozen Russian assets to joint borrowing for Ukraine

Buried lede:

The loan to Ukraine based on the joint borrowing would only be repaid by Ukraine once it receives war reparations from Moscow. Until then, the Russian assets would remain immobilised and the EU reserved the right to use them to repay the loan, according to the text.

So the assets are permanently frozen until Russia pays "war reparations" (however the EU chooses to define that). Still theft with extra steps.

"Expanding Domestic Demand Is a Strategic Choice"

Even stronger political signaling from Xi Jinping on the urgency of fixing China’s consumption + domestic demand shortfall problem. In a new Qiushi article published today titled “Expanding Domestic Demand Is a Strategic Choice,” Xi elevates weak domestic demand to a core issue of economic stability and security, making clear that the pivot toward domestic demand is no longer optional. The piece is very direct in identifying insufficient domestic demand as the most pressing problem facing the economy and calls for moving faster to close the consumption gap so domestic demand can become the main engine and anchor of growth: 扩大内需既关系经济稳定，也关系经济安全，不是权宜之计，而是战略之举... 要加快补上内需特别是消费短板，使内需成为拉动经济增长的主动力和稳定锚...

Xi then argues that the real advantage of a big economy like China lies in its ability in domestic circulation, stressing that stronger domestic demand does not contradict opening up but instead strengthens China’s position in global competition: 大国经济的优势就是内部可循环... 要牢牢把握扩大内需这一战略基点... 更多依托国内市场实现良性循环 扩大内需和扩大开放并不矛盾... 国内循环越顺畅，越能形成对全球资源要素的引力场，越有利于构建新发展格局，越有利于形成参与国际竞争和合作新优势

The article then puts particular weight on consumption, emphasizing that boosting demand ultimately depends on: employment, social security, and redistribution, especially expanding the middle-income group so households both can spend and feel secure enough to do so: 扩大消费最根本的是促进就业，完善社保，优化收入分配结构，扩大中等收入群体，扎实推进共同富裕。 要建立和完善扩大居民消费的长效机制，使居民有稳定收入能消费、没有后顾之忧敢消费、消费环境优获得感强愿消费

Then Xi calls for more disciplined** investment, prioritizing new infrastructure, high-tech manufacturing, strategic emerging industries, reviving private investment, etc. 要完善扩大投资机制，拓展有效投资空间，适度超前部署新型基础设施建设，扩大高技术产业和战略性新兴产业投资，持续激发民间投资活力

One thing to note: the piece links domestic demand with supply-side reform, arguing that higher-quality, more self-reliant supply must not only meet existing demand but also actively create new demand, etc. So the near-term policy levers are still likely to be on the supply side.

Source

I'm tagging you here @xiaohongshu@hexbear.net, because this is a topic you often bring up regarding China's low domestic demand problem, so I'm interested in your take on this.

"Look at Minnesota where Somalians have taken over the economics of the state and have stolen billions and billions of dollars from Minnesota, and indeed from the United States of America, and we're gonna put an end to it." -Trump

do what now

https://xcancel.com/shanaka86/status/2000059624633106873

THE GRID WILL BREAK FIRST

Texas just received requests for 226 gigawatts of data center power. The entire state runs on 85 gigawatts. Here is what nobody is telling you. ERCOT's interconnection queue nearly quadrupled in twelve months. From 63 gigawatts in December 2024 to 226 gigawatts by November 2025. Seventy-three percent is data centers. The AI infrastructure buildout is now the largest in American history.

But here is the number that changes everything: 3%. Of the 226 gigawatts requested, only 7.5 gigawatts are actually connected and operating. Fifty-seven percent of the queue has not even submitted planning studies. Joshua Rhodes at UT Austin called it "laughable." His estimate for what actually gets built by 2030? Twenty to thirty gigawatts. Ten percent of the queue. The rest is vapor.

Meanwhile, Oracle just delayed OpenAI data centers from 2027 to 2028. The company carries $108 billion in debt. Negative $10 billion free cash flow. Credit default swaps at 126 to 141 basis points, the highest since 2020. And it owes OpenAI 4.5 gigawatts of capacity under a $300 billion contract. OpenAI loses $9 billion per year. It must grow revenue fivefold in two years just to pay Oracle. The circular financing everyone fears? We verified it. The $610 billion figure circulating through financial media is inflated tenfold. Actual executed investments: $63 to $70 billion. Still unprecedented. Still concentrated risk. But not the imminent collapse some predict.

The real constraint is not financial. It is physical. Electrons cannot be printed. Transmission lines take a decade. Generation capacity takes five to seven years. The hyperscalers have the capital. They do not have the kilowatts. This is not a bubble that pops. It is a ceiling that binds. Data center vacancy: 1.9%. Pre-leasing: 84%. The demand is real. The timeline to meet it is not. Position accordingly.

Read the full article - https://substack.com/inbox/post/181563975

President Maduro responded to the latest US imperialist threats:

“They want regime change in Venezuela to impose a puppet government that would hand over the constitution, sovereignty, and all our riches and turn the country into a colony. That is not going to happen – never.”

https://www.rt.com/news/629577-maduro-responds-trump-threats/

https://xcancel.com/Acyn/status/2001784490566578418

Jessica: Trump’s 1776 checks comes from congressionally allocated reconciliation funds, intended as subsidized housing for service members, a senior administration official confirms.

Watters: So we’re stealing the money from troops and giving it back to troops

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, one of the Chabad who died in the Sydney Beach incident, was one of the most disgusting death cult racists imaginable. What kind of twisted person comments "Amalek"repeatedly under videos and pictures of Palestinians being bombed and killed??

(This is news in as much as it challenges the mainstream zionist narratives and if we can laugh about Charlie Kirk getting shot then we can laugh about this guy too.)

The new york crimes and their tortured use of the English language borders on the hilarious. Should we start saying "the military forces of President Donald Trump of the United States"? Maybe we should.

in pro-imperialist Al Jazeera news, they can't help themselves:

"Praise for people who died while trying to stop Bondi Beach attackers:

One of the bystanders who tried to stop the attack originally came to Australia from the former USSR to escape anti-Semitic persecution."

this isnt even in the articles body its the subtitle that sticks out when you open it

https://www.reuters.com/world/china/how-china-built-its-manhattan-project-rival-west-ai-chips-2025-12-17/

China seems to have made its first EUV machine for chip production. I dunno about chip technology much but this seems like a major step

The White House Chief of Staff isn't even pretending here.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/us/politics/trump-susie-wiles.html?unlocked_article_code=1.9E8.CqUR.OmemVrfrquEI

BREAKING: Putin is in love Sina News

From today’s Q&A where Putin answered more than 80 questions over 4 hours, on all sorts of topics. And yes, Putin admits that he is currently in love, and it was a love at first sight too.

The Second Great Neoliberal Offensive in Argentina has been nothing but a complete and utter disaster on all fronts. Nothing is working, absolutely nothing. At the very least, during the 90s, neoliberalism gained a massive foothold in the country and was able to produce some results, like getting out of hyperinflation and bringing it down to single digits, pretty much zero (at the expense of everything else). Sure, it failed completely, as the 2001 Crisis showed, but this time around there are no results to show. At all. Maybe the F-16s lol?

Argentina records negative foreign investment for the first time in over two decades

A top Canadian fertilizer company is the latest to leave Argentina, amid a wave of foreign companies selling their operations to local businesses

Foreign direct investment (FDI) in Argentina has fallen to negative levels for the first time in 22 years, amid a wave of international companies selling their operations to local businesses. According to a report by consulting firm PxQ, based on information from the Central Bank, FDI reached negative US$1.52 billion between January and November 2025, the first year with a deficit since 2003.

A Central Bank source confirmed to the Herald that the deficit has been caused by the sale of foreign companies to local capitals this year. The number remained negative even with Javier Milei’s government attracting some foreign investments with a scheme of tax breaks and other facilities known by the acronym RIGI.

The latest firm to confirm its exit from the country was Canadian fertilizing company Nutrien, which completed the sale of its Argentina-based nitrogen producer Profertil — the country’s largest fertilizer producer — to two local companies. Nutrien announced that it would leave Argentina in September but completed the sale last week. The company, the second-largest fertilizer producer in the world, held 50% of Profertil. The other 50% was in the hands of state energy company YPF until Thursday, when its board confirmed it too would also sell its share of the business.

Argentine companies Adecoagro and Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas are buying the operation via a joint acquisition. “Closing the sale of our equity stake in Profertil demonstrates continued progress towards simplifying our portfolio, enhancing earnings quality, and improving cash conversion,” Ken Seitz, Nutrien’s President and CEO, said in a communiqué. The company reported earnings of US$600 million for the transaction.

Nutrien has generated approximately US$900 million in gross proceeds worldwide from asset divestitures since the fourth quarter of 2024, they announced. That means Profertil’s sale represents three-quarters of such operations. The Herald contacted representatives of both companies but received no immediate response.

Wave of companies selling

Nutrien is the most recent of dozens of foreign companies that have decided to leave Argentina and sell their operations to local businesses since Milei took office in December 2023. While some exits could be attributed to multinational companies shifting their global strategies, others seem to have been caused by the country’s macroeconomy.

Florencia Fiorentin, chief economist of the Epyca consulting firm, told the Herald that import liberalization, exchange rate appreciation, and a sharp drop in local demand mean that “people are buying less” and, at the same time, “are buying more imported goods.” The trend has become evident in numerous sectors — from French-based supermarket company Carrefour looking for buyers for its local operation (they have 700 branches in Argentina) to U.S. entertainment giant Paramount selling the local television network Telefé to a local media holding.

According to Fernando Morra, economist and former vice economy minister, the reasons for leaving are different for each sector.

For companies in the mass consumption segment, “the problem is that the economy has been stagnant for many years and there are no favorable prospects,” said Morra. For businesses in the tradable sector, like Profertil, the appreciated exchange rate scheme does not reflect increased productivity and has instead made the country expensive and uncompetitive, which discourages investment. He added that the liberalization of the exchange market for foreign companies “is seen more as an opportunity to exit than to enter.”

The trend shows no sign of stopping — in August, YPF acquired two production blocks in the Vaca Muerta geological formation, previously owned by the French multinational TotalEnergies. In February, Spain’s Telefónica sold its operations in Argentina to local connectivity giant Telecom. Last year, U.S. oil and gas company ExxonMobil transferred all of its interests in the region to Pluspetrol, a national company, in a deal estimated at US$1.7 billion.

There are no good economic indicators in milei's Argentina. Despite the neoliberal offensive, the "great opportunities" given by the "Chainsaw Plan" there is no movement. The country is starved of foreign currency, there's a non stop hemorrhage of reserves and the cheap exchange rate is sustained through ridiculous loans. Inflation is consistently rising despite being milei's "area of expertise". Salaries are crushed too.

Social indicators are not doing so well either. A few days ago a soldier being assigned to guard duty in the Presidential Residence has shot himself in sheer desperation because the man was in debt with banking institutions (2 million pesos, roughly around 1400USD while his salary was around 468USD). By the way, salaries for low ranking service members, as well as health services, have been gutted. It's not uncommon to see active-duty members picking up second jobs like Uber to compensate. This soldier's particular situation is well extended in our society, a lot of people are in debt with banks and other financial institutions and there's no way to solve it (other than debt forgiveness I guess). I have a friend who works in a call center for certain financial institution, her job is to basically call people who are in debt and remind them, in diplomatic terms, to enter paying schemes and solve it. She says she can't believe the amount of people in really bad situations, with their credit cards completely "exploded" and being millions and millions into debt. A lot of people she calls are very rich themselves, but a big number are also working class people, whose situation is terrible because they were forced to take loans to solve whatever issues they had, sinking deeper and deeper into debt.

This debt crisis comes paired with a mental health crisis. Not uncommon in our hellhole that is the "western world" though. In Argentina those responsible for taking up cases of suicide and classify them have stopped doing so. We don't know how deep this goes, last time suicides were recorded they were and an all time high. We know they're still very high because we can access them through indirect means, like police reports and internal hospital reports, and we can make some guesses here and there. But the crisis is very thorough, nobody is speaking about it and milei doesn't care either way. And with a terrible labor reform in the horizon it'll only get worse.

All this agony for nothing.

And as always: Death to "israel".

Haven't heard from Assange in a while but he made a legal complaint about the Nobel Foundation giving Machado the award. They have just dismissed his complaint.

https://alertas24.com/policia-sueca-desestima-denuncia-de-julian-assange-contra-la-fundacion-nobel-por-otorgar-premio-a-maria-corina-machado/

Pretty minor but I think it's notable to see Assange back in the news.

https://www.thecanary.co/skwawkbox/2025/12/16/israeli-prisonremoveds/

Far-right lawyers acting for four members of a group of Israeli prison guards exposed when footage of them anallyremoved a helpless Palestinian prisoner have announced the legal defence they will be filing if they are prosecuted: theyremovedd in ‘self-defence’.

A poll by Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies found that only 21% of Israelis believe soldiers thatremoved Palestinian prisoners should face criminal prosecution.

https://archive.ph/AsFdt

Venezuelan Navy Escorts Vessels in Defiance of Trump’s Blockade Threat

Pentagon officials, surprised by President Trump’s orders, scrambled to work out a plan to halt sanctioned tankers as Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela’s leader, vowed resistance.

Egypt Extends Detention of 6 Activists Arrested for Gaza Solidarity

The Egyptian Terrorism Criminal Court on Monday ordered a 45-day renewal of the detention of six activists, including a 16-year-old child, in Case No. 1644 of 2024, over a banner raised in support of Palestine.

The case dates back to April 28, 2024, when security forces arrested the defendants from their homes in Alexandria. Their only crime was raising a banner calling for the lifting of the siege on Gaza and the opening of the Rafah crossing.

The detainees are labor unionist Shadi Ali Mohamed, a founding member of the Permanent Conference for Workers of Alexandria, along with Omar Sami Al Ansari Goueili, Abdullah Ahmed Abdel Dayem, Shahab al-Din Ashraf al-Samadi, Youssef Yasser Mohammed Farran, and Mohamed Ahmed Hamed Diab.

According to the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), since October 2023, at least 200 people have been arrested and prosecuted in 20 cases before the Supreme State Security Prosecution (SSSP) for expressing solidarity with Palestine and opposing Israel’s genocide in Gaza. As of November 2025, 131 people remain detained in connection to 14 cases, with repeated detention renewals issued via video conference in routine hearings at the Badr Security Complex. These hearings allow neither the defendants nor their lawyers to address the court.

The six defendants face vague charges related to “joining a terrorist organization”, “spreading false information”, and “calling for unlawful assembly”, without any clear evidence. According to rights groups, their continued detention, including that of a minor, reflects broader violations of the guarantees to fair trials, children’s rights, and freedom of expression in Egypt.

World Cup news that no one asked for

Fans are going to be charged to enter the fan zones (not stadiums)

The first time.

I was just checking natopedia to look some random info, and they list Zelensky and Ngo Dinh Diem as an anti-imperialism figure, together with (not a joke): Tito, Peron, Zapata, Fidel Castro, Lenin, Mao, Nasser, Lula da Silva, Ho Chi Mihn, Che Guevara, Yasser Arafat and Khomeini.

Nation steps up measures to stimulate consumption China Daily

China has been implementing targeted pro-consumption measures to spur immediate spending while advancing structural reforms to unlock sustainable consumption growth, as the country moves toward a more balanced growth model anchored by its vast domestic market, economists said.

They said that a robust and expanding consumer base not only powers China's high-quality development, but also provides a stabilizing force for the global economy amid fluctuating external demand and geopolitical complexities.

At the annual Central Economic Work Conference held last week, Chinese policymakers placed "boosting domestic demand" first among eight key priorities on the economic agenda for next year.

President Xi Jinping pointed out in an article published on Monday in Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, that expanding domestic demand is crucial not only for economic stability but also for economic security. It is not a temporary measure, but a strategic move, he said.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called for accelerating efforts to address weaknesses in domestic demand, especially consumption, to make domestic demand the main driving force and stabilizing anchor for economic growth.

See, President Xi agrees that consumption should be the top priority. I’ve said that I am usually 6-9 months ahead of the government agreeing with what I’m saying.

Thanks for not announcing war with Venezuela, I guess????

look away for 2 hours

61 New

What the fuck was the point in that

NSW is planning to ban the phrase “globalise the intifada” cracking down on hate speech

intifada means uprising you fuckers

Apocalyptic scenes out of Gaza as devastating wind and rain uproot the minuscule shelter the people had set up amidst the genocide. Over a dozen have been killed during the storm as israel continues preventing the majority of aid from entering Gaza

https://t.me/emsekamel/486

CW: Suicide, self harm.

Suicide in Argentina: one death every two hours and record figures that exceed the world average (Original article in spanish)

Death to "israel"

US military OPSEC fail: The US accidentally revealed that RQ-170 Sentinel/Wraith Intelligence, Surveillance, Target Acquisition, Reconnaissance, and Electronic Warfare (ISTAREW) drones/remotely piloted aircraft are operating in the Southern Command area of responsibility, most likely overflying Venezuela. The Southern Command Twitter/X account posted a photo of a solider wearing an RQ-170 patch from the 432nd Wing of the US Air Force. Once this was pointed out, the tweets were deleted.

Source

A reminder that we only we what the US military wants us to see on the public flight tracking applications. They most likely have stealthy ISTAREW assets like the RQ-170 and RQ-180 overflying Venezuela, performing reconnaissance, intercepting communications, and jamming Venezuelan radars.

The RQ-170 is not a top of the line drone like the RQ-180, it's designed to be "affordable" and give the US military the ability to conduct reconnaissance in airspace that is hostile to them in a more readily available platform. Iran has managed to capture one before. It doesn't feature comprehensive edge treatment and/or the most costly stealth/very low observable technology, but it's still stealthy enough for what the US needs to carry out these missions. It features an electro optical sensor (an array of various cameras) similar to the F-35s EOTS, and a conformal AESA radar/array, that can be used for SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar, kind of like a CT scan of the ground) imagery and to jam other radars and execute electronic attacks (it has done this in exercises with F-35, F-22s and B-2s), as well at satellite communications for remote piloting. Not much is known outside of that. The fact that it's likely overflying Venezuela over the past few months shows that it's still relevant, even if it's not as advanced as the RQ-180.

In related news, China had its first public flight of an RQ-170/180 class ISTAREW drone a few days ago, it's called the CH-7.

Pictures

An update on the oil tanker seized by the US Coast Guard and Navy today.

• A Panamanian flagged, Chinese/Hong Kong owned Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) under the name M/T CENTURIES.
• The vessel itself is not under any sanctions, and it's registration and flag, by all accounts, appears legitimate. It may have been using a false name, CRAG, while loading Venezuelan oil.
• It had loaded up to 1.8 million barrels of Venezuelan crude oil recently. I guess the argument will be that even though the vessel is not sanctioned, the cargo is.
• It was escorted up to the edge of Venezuela's EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) by what is believed to be the Venezuelan Navy on satellite imagery. However, upon leaving the Venezuelan EEZ, it was no longer under escort and was seized by the United States.

Due to the above facts, this is different from the previous US seizure of the vessel SKIPPER, which was sanctioned and operating under a false flag and registration, and became "stateless". This is a significant escalation, the US making the point that any vessel, even those not sanctioned, is subject to seizure if transporting sanctioned cargo (Venezuelan crude oil). This also opens up questions about legality under international law (lol), did the US contact Panama, China and/or Hong Kong before boarding and seizing CENTURIES? Will CENTURIES be returned to one of the aforementioned parties after the seizure and offloading of it's cargo (crude oil), given that only the cargo is under US sanctions, and not the vessel itself, or will the US keep CENTURIES? I'm pretty sure the latter is called "theft".

Source, Tanker Trackers

Marxists in Oufa, Russia got 15-20years in prison and work camps for organizing marxists reading clubs

https://www.revolutionpermanente.fr/En-Russie-les-marxistes-d-Oufa-condamnes-a-des-peines-allant-de-16-a-22-ans-appel-a-la-solidarite

Article is available in French and Russian. Translate away if you want an English text.

In the wake of the horrific massacre in Bondi, NSW, Australia the prime minister has announced an intention to adjust gun limits and start a buyback. Given that one of the killers had access to 6 firearms new limits are likely to be below that (A sport's shooter may want 2 or 3 calibres, and potentially shotguns for clay pigeon/lever actions for gallery so this is perhaps a bit stringent?).

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/dec/19/australia-news-live-bondi-terror-attack-latest-updates-antisemitism-liverpool-suspects-victims-funeral-hate-speech-preachers-ntwnfb?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-694498a78f087ccaa844eb94#block-694498a78f087ccaa844eb94

The NSW premier has announced an intention to crack down on [pro palestinian] protests and expressed that if it wasn't unconsitutional he would want to bill protestors for the cost of police presence.

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2025/dec/19/australia-news-live-bondi-terror-attack-latest-updates-antisemitism-liverpool-suspects-victims-funeral-hate-speech-preachers-ntwnfb?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-6944a9de8f086a70a358aea7#block-6944a9de8f086a70a358aea7

This is coupled with broadly uncritical adoption of fringe Zionist positions on what constitutes antisemestism :(

My heart goes out to the Australian Jewish community. Targetting random civvies halfway across the world for crimes some government that is ethnically related has done is completely unacceptable. Racist hatred is always beyond the pale, and the events at Bondi clearly show Australia needs to confront racism and right wing extremist terrorism festering in our culture.

I must also say though I am disappointed with the government response and lack of cohesive vision to protect other minorities that face homicidal hatred. Including our own indigenous people, and migrants from places like India, not to mention the rampant femicide.

Hatred festers here, I think it is misdirection to target left wing protestors and the broadly peaceful gun owning population, when this appears to be right wing religious nutters and intelligence failures/inappropriate gun licensing.